Sharon Williams Chiropractic

Dr Sharon Williams was working a packing job in her final year of high school when she first heard the word ‘chiropractor’.

Weighing up medicine or physiotherapy for her future career,  a conversation between a few older women at work caught her attention. They were talking about seeing a chiropractor (she had never heard the term), and what interested Sharon was the way they described how that chiropractor had taken the time to explain what was happening with their bodies.

Curious, Sharon rang a local chiropractor that week. In a generous half hour, he explained that the nervous system controls every cell and organ in the body. If any interference occurs due to falls, accidents, poor posture, birth trauma and so on, then people may not be as healthy as they could be. 

Sharon was fascinated. Once she fully understood that chiropractic improves the nervous system function, helps restore function and improves health, her mind was made up that this was the career path that she would like to follow

Sharon completed a Bachelor of Science in anatomy and physiology, followed by a Graduate Diploma of Chiropractic. After practising in Sydney for three years, she returned to Canberra in 1989.

There, she took over the Kambah practice of Dr Marcia Cerutty, a chiropractor then in her 70s who spent two months walking the 26-year-old Sharon through her patient list before handing over the baton. “Marcia made me observe for two months. So I met everybody twice.” Sharon laughs. It was a generous handover, and one Sharon still remembers with appreciation. 

A chiropractor in Kambah for nearly four decades

It’s Kambah Village, where Sharon has worked ever since then. “The bank that once occupied the shopping strip has long gone, and so has the shoe shop”, she comments – and she has watched the neighbourhood change from the same room for 37 years.

She has also watched families return to her clinic across different stages of life, including people she first saw as children who later came back with babies of their own, as well as older relatives within the same families.

“One of the reasons I chose chiropractic was there’s always constant learning because there’s always more to learn about health.”

~ Sharon Williams

In the years following her original qualifications, Sharon completed certification in applied kinesiology, which uses muscle testing as part of a broader assessment. In 2004, she became a Diplomate of the American Chiropractic Neurology Board through the Carrick Institute in the United States.

Sharon also enjoys being able to show people what she was observing, particularly when muscle response or movement patterns gave them a practical way to understand what was being discussed.

More than just the spine

Studies have shown that chiropractic can assist with back pain, neck pain and headaches. But Sharon’s approach extends beyond spinal adjustment alone. 

Her consultations include discussion of physical habits, stress, diet and many other factors that may contribute to musculoskeletal discomfort thereby ensuring a wholistic approach. The aim is to give people a clearer picture of what might be influencing how they feel and move and also to provide them with options to maintain and improve their health.

She communicates clearly with people about the advice discussed during consultation, especially when everyday habits are part of the conversation. For Sharon, awareness and education is a part of the process: noticing patterns, understanding what might be contributing to discomfort, and talking through what could be considered between appointments.

When she isn’t working, Sharon enjoys comedy, travel and seeing new cultures. Her partner is Sicilian, which had taken them overseas to visit family and led to some great European adventures.

On the wall of her treatment room at Kambah Village sits an illuminated board of the human spine and nervous system. Press any vertebra and it lights up to show how everything connects:

It is the same type of image that the chiropractor showed her all those years ago in a half-hour conversation that changed everything.

For clinic details, opening hours and contact information, visit Sharon Williams Chiropractic’s website.