Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Coco Rowlette.
Dr. Rowlette, before we jump into specific questions about your practice, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I hadn’t seen a chiropractor until 2011 when I had heard and felt a pop in my chest when coughing during my second month of pneumonia. I was living in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the dead of winter, attending the University of Michigan full time and working at Costco part-time. I was running out of money and hope, and now every breath was painful. When I walked out of that first appointment after receiving a chiropractic adjustment (the pop was my rib), it was easier to breathe and I was relieved to find a healthcare provider that both believed my experience and offered new solutions for recovery.
My undergraduate focus was gender studies and creative writing, more specifically, poetry. There was something about chiropractic that intrigued me in a similar fashion. The chiropractor balances science, philosophy, and art in daily practice, which lends itself to the gray area; it is not a black and white approach to healthcare. That gray area of possibility surrounded my previous studies and I seemed to fit there. By January 2015, I moved to Atlanta in order to attend Life University and graduated to become a doctor of chiropractic in June 2018. About a month after graduation, I met Natalie Phoenix, who had just rented what is now Phoenix Wellness Center. Combined with my business, Coven Chiropractic, we opened our doors together in November that year. Since then, the wellness center has become a home for healers and a safe place for our patients and clients. I could not be more proud of what we have built with love and commitment to our community.
Has it been a smooth road?
Graduating chiropractic school, in general, was an extremely grueling experience. Twelve-hour days, fitting in clinic hours, endless studying, the Atlanta-Marietta commute, and trying to balance school and the semblance of a personal life often felt impossible. There were many nights, hours into pouring over my notes over and over again that I thought, “this is inhumane, this is too much, I can’t sustain this much longer.” Luckily, my willpower outgrew my physical and mental limitations and I was able to get through it all relatively unscathed, although my body took some time to recover from the constant stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response). In addition, the five months between graduation and our grand opening were riddled with uncertainty, doubt, and the stress of more potential energy than kinetic. Once I was able to share my love of chiropractic with our community, it became clear my efforts were more than worth the struggle.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Coven Chiropractic story. Tell us more about your practice.
Coven Chiropractic is my small business within Phoenix Wellness Center in Little 5 Points, Atlanta, Georgia. I am the sole chiropractor in the wellness center, and I specialize in correcting subluxations (translates to less-than-dislocation) in the spine and extremities. Although most patients initially come to me with a musculoskeletal complaint (stiff neck, sharp low back pain, decreased range of motion, etc.), my primary goal is to optimize the patient’s nervous system by removing pathway interference that could be caused by joint displacement or hypertonic musculature. I also look at the body as a whole to determine how posture, nutrition, and personal habits may contribute to the issue.
In addition, I practice cupping and gua sha in order to address the accompanying soft tissue. I like to think I’m known for serving healthcare with love in a safe, understanding, and fun environment. My office is bright, colorful, and filled with plants and silly personal treasures such as my Buffy the Vampire Slayer figurines. Together with Phoenix Wellness Center, I’m most proud of our commitment to serving those who might not otherwise feel comfortable in a healthcare setting. We see you, we believe you, we will listen, we will make space for you, we think you are beautiful, we know you have been overlooked and undervalued, we want you to feel comfortable and find some peace in our presence.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I’m hoping, as a society, we can stop the rapid polarization of thought, which inhibits thorough communication, inspiration, and progress. It seems to me that we are prioritizing fitting ideas into dichotomies to solidify legitimacy according to each opposing group rather than combining our resources. I wish for healthcare to neglect this trend by opening communication between the medical community and “alternative” practitioners, as it seems obvious to me it best serves the patient to consider the problem from multiple perspectives. In the Covid era, I find it hard to predict what will happen in the next couple of weeks, let alone in ten years, but I have complete faith in the sustainability of the chiropractic profession and wellness pursuits.
Pricing:
- Initial Visit for Chiropractic (includes health history discussion, chiropractic exam, an adjustment, and cupping): $140
- Chiropractic Adjustment: $50
- Cupping: $35
Contact Info:
- Address: 483 Moreland Ave NE, Suite 1, Atlanta, Georgia, 30307
- Website: https://www.drcocorowlette.com/
- Phone: (470) 440-5545
- Email: drcocorowlette@gmail.com
- Instagram: @coven_chiropractic
Image Credit:
Greta High and Paula Harding
Suggest a story: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
