Hello friends

I’m Dr. Mike Saatkamp, a Chiropractor and special needs dad from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This page is here to give you some information about me and how I  intend to serve the community of special needs families. I've decided to lead by claiming my human-being-ness right up front. Like you, I work very hard, face my own quirks and flaws on a daily basis, learn everything I can to encourage and support my family, and sometimes even hit the ‘sweet spot’ in life and find reserves of strength and resilience I would not have expected. Like you, I’m an extraordinary fellow!

Here are a few details. I spent the first 9 years of my life growing up in Centerville, Ohio, just outside of Dayton. I have a really good memory, and my time in Ohio is etched into my neurons in a positive way, and when I have challenging times I often take a short trip in my imagination to my grandparents home in Kettering, or the Dunsinane Swim Club, where Erma Bombeck, the great columnist and author, would sit and test read her articles with the mothers who were there while their children swam. 

In the Summer after my 9th birthday, my family moved to Torrance, California. The first day we were there we went to Redondo Beach to play in the water. I have been enchanted with the ocean since that moment, and have never lived far from a large body of water since that time. 

The school system in California gave me a fantastic education, and my parents were super at encouraging me to read, look up facts, and keep myself engaged in sports and physical activities. I still maintain contact with many friends from that part of my life. 

When I was 20 years old, I was a student at UC San Diego studying Earth Science and Philosophy. I also attended a youth group at the Torrance First United Methodist Church, led by Rev. Truman Barrett and Patsy Barrett. The Barretts were powerful mentors to me in my life and introduced me to thought leaders around the world (through books and film), and maybe most significantly, to the profession of chiropractic. Rev. Barrett, was in fact, Truman Barrett, Doctor of Divinity, and D.C. (doctor of chiropractic). Truman encouraged and mentored me as I made the decision to enter chiropractic college in 1980. During that time I also learned that I had an uncle who was a Chiropractor in Wisconsin, Dr. William Patenaude, and that my grandfather on my dad’s side had been a Chiropractor prior to the great depression.

I engaged chiropractic college with relish, and have always been grateful to my parents, mentors, and instructors for their teaching, leadership, and craftsmanship. Upon my graduation in 1984, I moved to Plymouth, Wisconsin to work for my uncle. During that apprenticeship, I met my wife, Michelle. Michelle worked as a bank teller in downtown Plymouth. She is amazing and the sparkle of my soul's delight, even 32 years later. After a period of apprenticeship with Dr. William Patenaude, Shelly and I opened our own chiropractic office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In 1990, our first daughter was born, Helena Kathleen Saatkamp. Helena is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago, where she studied communications and marketing. She is the administrator for all Family Grit training, consulting, and product delivery. 

In 1991, our younger daughter Maren was born, 1 lb., 14 oz.’s. Due to Maren’s prematurity, and perhaps other factors we don’t understand, she has quadriplegic cerebral palsy. Maren grew up fully integrated in the Sheboygan County school system (where we moved after Maren’s birth), and was able to participate as a cheerleader. 

My life, of course, changed dramatically in ways I had never anticipated. I did a fairly good job of maintaining my outward poise, but I remember feeling like a boiling keg of stress hormones a lot of the time. Shelly, my family, and friends gave me the social support I needed to survive, but I certainly wasn’t personally flourishing. 

I began to study neurology in great detail soon after Maren’s birth because I knew that if I were going to be able to support my family emotionally, and physically, I was going to need to be on a learning curve that was pretty steep. So I entered a course in post-doctoral study of neurology under the supervision of Dr. F.R. Carrick, a world recognized clinician who has been a key contributor to the field of functional neurology. At the same time I began reading books by prominent psychologists, psychiatrists, nutritionists, and authors. In particular I was influenced by M.Scott Peck’s, The Road Less Travelled. In my life, perhaps no scholars have been of more service to my developing sense of positive humanity than Father Richard Rohr, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque New Mexico, and Joseph Campbell, the great mythologist and story teller. As you proceed through your workshops, listen to the Family Grit podcasts, and enjoy the online training programs, you will without a doubt hear echoes of Richard and Joseph.

When I began to collect the interviews for the online training programs, I knew with certainty that the material I wanted to share with the Family Grit community (which didn’t have a name at the time) needed to include real contact with the real people doing the work of forging a new and more positive world, in particular for families with special needs children. The fields I included are...

• Your personal story and positive psychology. In the online training program you will have direct exposure to many of the leaders and developers in the field of positive psychology, including Dr. Neal Mayerson, Dr. Donna Mayerson, Dr. Ryan Niemiec, Dr. Dacher Keltner, Dr. Maria Sirois, and Dr. Fred Luskin, Dr. Shauna Shapiro, and Dr. Kristin Neff, and Dr. Richie Davidson, Dr. Daniel J. Siegel, and Dr. Lou Cozolino. 
• Your personal Hero’s Journey. In this portion of your Family Grit training, mostly learned in our workshops, through podcasts, and in personal consulting with me, you will explore how you face the resistances and challenges in your life. For this learning, your online training program contains conversations with Dr. Dara Marks, author of Inside Story, and a screenplay consultant for Hollywood films. You will also enjoy my conversation with Catherine Ann Jones, actor, screenwriter, television writer, and author. Catherine was a writer for the popular TV show "Touched by an Angel", and is a wise and deep advisor to writers. 
• Your brain, movement and family health. This topic is consider a significant priority for all of us parents, so I spent many years learning and gathering understanding and wisdom that would be applicable to our community. I sought learning from one of the great teachers of movement in the world, Anat Baniel, founder of the Anat Baniel movement trainings, Dr. Robert Melillo, founder of Brain Balance education centers, Dr. Mike Merzenich, professor emeritus of neurosurgery and neuroscience at the University of California, San Francisco, and Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas from UC Berkeley. A great deal of your Family Grit training material will be devoted to your understanding how movement enhances your brain in specific, positive ways.
• Nutrition, energy, and your family's health. I personally put on a lot of weight and generally did a poor job of maintaining my nutritional health for many years after my children’s birth. Because this is a key component of all of our lives, I brought experts on nutrition, stress, and how our health is damaged by poor food choices and stressful conditions. Your Family Grit mentors include Dr. Greg Fricchione, Dr. Rand Swenson, Dr. Robert Sapolski, Dr. Rick Hanson, Megan Cowan, and Dr. Martha Herbert. Each of these experts will contribute to your understanding of nutrition.

Preparing for, collecting, and learning from these interviews has been a significant part of my own personal Hero’s Journey through life. It has been a privilege to be mentored by many of the great minds of our time, and I am honored to be able to deliver the Family Grit training and learning material to you through the internet, personal consulting, and in the Family Grit - The Hero’s Journey for special needs families workshops. You can learn more about our mentors on the mentors page of our website. They are truly remarkable, and will bring you knowledge, understanding, and social support. These are some of the world's leading experts in their areas of expertise. 

Along the way during the time I was fully engaged in raising my family (which of course never stops!), I completed over a thousand hours of training in neurology, and completed a clinical course in neurology from Logan College of Chiropractic. I earned fellowship status in the American College of Functional Neurology and Rehabilitation, and became licensed to provide nutritional education by the state of Wisconsin. To prepare for the interviews, I attended conferences taught by many of the Family Grit mentors, in particular those that explored movement and the brain in great detail. Through all of this, I was acutely aware that my family was being strengthened by the learning. I hope to empower you with the knowledge, and join you on your own Hero’s Journey through the online program, Family Grit workshops, and personal consultation in the areas we learn about together - our personal stories, movement and the brain, and nutrition, energy, and the brain.

Each of these topics engages me fully, and I’m eager to share them with you and learn with you and your family. That’s mission and purpose, and I intend to serve with vitality and vigor as long as I am able.

Sincerely,

Dr. Mike Saatkamp

chiropractor and special needs dad