About Dr. James Whittlesey
Most of the time the doctor gets all the information about the patient, but the patient doesn’t know much about the doctor. I would like to change that.
My name is James Burke Whittlesey. I was born in Greenbrae, California. I graduated in 1986 from Life Chiropractic College West in Hayward, California. And I have spent the last 30 years doing post-doctoral work on how to find and correct the causes of chronic health problems. I have two great sons Alex and Nick and a cat named Beeker. Alex is a teacher and Nick is a management consultant. I love to surf. Every week you’ll find me out surfing at the local beaches. I also enjoy building surfboards. I am also passionate about photography. I love documenting the beauty of the world. I speak Spanish.
I was lead to become a healing practitioner because at age seventeen I suffered a severe injury. I was crazy about rock climbing. I was planning to photograph my upcoming climb in Yosemite. Outside the camera shop I noticed the building had a very interesting facade and in my enthusiasm I decided to climb it. Six feet up the side of the building I changed my mind and jumped backdown to the sidewalk severely injuring my foot. This was going to be my first big summer of climbing. I was going to climb some of the major routes in Yosemite Valley. The injury put an end to my career as a climber and mountaineer. I felt that my life was ruined. I desperately went to many doctors. None of the medical treatments from casts to surgery helped me.. While waiting for my friend at his chiropractic visit, I asked the doctor if she could help me. Miraculously, her chiropractic care finally helped get me back hiking and into the outdoors.
My recovery gave me back my physical vitality and my passion. I really enjoyed helping people and I wanted to help make the world a better place. So I took the big leap, worked hard and became a chiropractor and functional medicine doctor. I am still studying and learning new and better ways to help people. There are natural solutions for most health problems. The body is a natural system just like the ocean or the wilderness and it can take care of itself very well unless there is some sort of stress, interference or deficiency. If you remove the stressors and the interferences and correct the deficiencies, the body will come back into balance, healing itself.
I believe with all my heart in how I practice and always strive to improve. My unique practice provides the Novato, Marin and Sonoma area with much needed quality natural health care. I integrate over twenty techniques and functional medicine developed by the finest minds to help people get well.. I hope I can help you, because I hate to see people to suffer.