Informed Chiropractor and Protocol Training through a Polyvagal Lens

Sep 29, 2026

Dr. Don and Brandi MacDonald introduce polyvagal-informed chiropractic training for experienced chiropractors worldwide.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, September 29, 2026 -- The Informed Chiropractor, led by Dr. Don MacDonald and Brandi MacDonald, has announced expanded educational programming centered on the MacDonald Safety Corridor Protocol, a polyvagal-informed chiropractic approach designed to help chiropractors consider patient responses to safety and stress during assessment, adjusting, and communication. The training is intended for experienced chiropractors seeking to deepen clinical observation, refine hands-on adjusting, and build clearer conversations with practice members.

The announcement brings together three related areas of the MacDonalds’ work: adjusting through a polyvagal lens, mentoring through The Informed Chiropractor Collective, and a pelvic floor protocol taught as part of the broader MacDonald Safety Corridor Protocol. The programming is offered through ongoing mentorship, live events, hands-on seminars, and educational resources available through The Informed Chiropractor.

A Practical Lens on Safety, Stress, and Adjusting

Dr. Don MacDonald, an Edmonton-based chiropractor and Palmer College of Chiropractic graduate, has been in practice since 1997. His clinical and teaching work explores how chiropractors can observe a person’s responses to safety and stress and apply those observations in the adjusting room. The MacDonald Safety Corridor Protocol reflects this focus by examining interconnected areas of the body that may influence a patient’s sense of regulation, including the upper cervical spine, ribs, diaphragm, pelvis, pelvic floor, and cranial structures.

Polyvagal-informed chiropractic refers to the use of concepts from Polyvagal Theory, a framework associated with the nervous system’s role in safety, threat, and social connection, as one lens for clinical observation and communication. The Informed Chiropractor presents this material as an educational model rather than a claim that any single theory fully explains every patient response. The protocol is taught to help chiropractors ask more precise questions, observe more carefully, and adjust with a clearer understanding of the person in front of them.

“After nearly 30 years in practice, I am still asking how chiropractors can become more precise adjusters and better communicators,” said Dr. Don MacDonald. “The MacDonald Safety Corridor Protocol grew from that question. It gives chiropractors a way to connect what they notice in the body with how they assess, adjust, and explain care.”

A Teaching Partnership Built Around Clinical Skill and Communication

A central feature of The Informed Chiropractor’s training is the partnership between Dr. Don and Brandi MacDonald. Dr. Don teaches the hands-on clinical and adjusting components, while Brandi brings her background in social work and her expertise in interoception, communication, and how people experience safety and stress. Interoception refers to the ability to sense internal body signals, such as tension, breath, or pressure, and can influence how a person interprets touch and care.

In seminars and mentorship sessions, the MacDonalds teach these areas together rather than as separate subjects. Their instruction connects what chiropractors feel through palpation and assessment with what they say before, during, and after care. This integrated format is designed to help participants develop greater clinical clarity while strengthening trust through communication.

Brandi MacDonald’s role includes helping chiropractors understand how patient conversations can support a calmer and more collaborative care experience. This includes language choices, timing, tone, and awareness of how a patient may be interpreting the environment. The intention is not to replace chiropractic technique with communication training, but to show how communication can support more informed clinical decision-making.

Mentorship for Chiropractors Seeking Another Level of Practice

The Informed Chiropractor Collective was created for chiropractors who have already invested in their skills and sense there is another level of connection and precision available in practice. The mentorship community focuses on adjustive technique, patient conversations, regulation, and the practical application of polyvagal-informed chiropractic principles.

Participants engage with ongoing education that addresses both the mechanics of chiropractic care and the dynamics of practitioner presence, practice member trust, and body-based communication. The Collective is designed for chiropractors internationally, including those who may be looking for a more grounded way to assess patient responses without relying on rigid scripts.

The MacDonalds have presented at chiropractic events in Canada and internationally, including Life West’s The Wave and Parker Seminars, and have spoken with chiropractors in more than 12 countries. Dr. Don is also the author of “The Underdog Curse,” a people-pleaser’s guide to growth and stress reduction, and a former president of the Edmonton Chiropractic Society.

Additional educational content, including interviews and practitioner-focused discussions, is available through the Dr. Don MacDonald podcast and The Informed Chiropractor YouTube channel. Updates on events and teaching topics are also shared through Brandi MacDonald’s Instagram profile and related Facebook pages for Brandi MacDonald and Dr. Don MacDonald. Email directly [email protected].

Pelvic Floor Protocol Within a Broader Safety Corridor

The pelvic floor protocol is one of the distinctive areas Dr. Don teaches within the broader MacDonald Safety Corridor Protocol. Rather than presenting pelvic floor work as a stand-alone technique or replacement for appropriate medical assessment, The Informed Chiropractor frames it as one part of a larger clinical conversation about pelvis mechanics, tension patterns, breath, the diaphragm, and nervous system responses.

The teaching introduces chiropractors to the relevance of the pelvic floor in relation to movement, body awareness, and the patient’s response to care. Detailed hands-on instruction is reserved for professional seminar settings, where chiropractors can learn within an appropriate educational environment. The emphasis remains on clinical reasoning, respect for scope of practice, patient consent, and awareness of when referral or collaborative care may be appropriate.

Dr. Don and Brandi MacDonald’s upcoming educational direction includes live gatherings and seminars focused on pelvis and pelvic floor work, communication, and mentorship for chiropractors seeking to integrate skillful adjusting with nervous system awareness. The approach is intended to offer a practical framework for clinicians who want to refine what they do with their hands and how they communicate what they observe.

“Our work is strongest when the clinical and communication perspectives are taught together,” said Dr. Don MacDonald. “Brandi helps chiropractors understand what a patient may be experiencing, and I help them apply that awareness through assessment and adjusting. The goal is to help chiropractors practice with more precision, care, and confidence.”

About The Informed Chiropractor

The Informed Chiropractor is an educational platform led by Dr. Don MacDonald and Brandi MacDonald. Based in Edmonton, Alberta, the organization provides mentorship, seminars, events, and digital resources for chiropractors interested in polyvagal-informed chiropractic, adjustive skill development, interoception, communication, and the MacDonald Safety Corridor Protocol. Dr. Don MacDonald has practiced chiropractic since 1997 and continues to see patients at South Side Chiropractic in Edmonton while teaching chiropractors in Canada and internationally.

Contact Info:
Name: Don MacDonald
Email: Send Email
Organization: The Informed Chiropractor
Website: https://www.theinformedchiropractor.com/

Release ID: 89204621

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