April|May 2005 The Woman Today

by Maureen Patterson

For as long as she can remember, TerriCooper always wanted to be a chiro-

practor. An energetic, confident, 5-foot-tall dynamo

who grew up in Tomah, Wisconsin, Terri wasnever told that she couldn’t do something.

Except once.“The power of words is an amazing

thing. When I was 15 years old one of mymother’s sisters told me I was too short tobe a chiropractor,” Terri recalls.

She listened. Instead of heading to chi-ropractic college after high school, sheattended nursing school at the Universityof Wisconsin Oshkosh and didn’t like it. “Itruly feel that people do not take enoughresponsibility for themselves. As a nurse,you have a tendency to see the same peopleover and over again that continue to do thesame thing,” she says. “I’ve always feltthat if you always do what you’ve alwaysdone you’ll always get what you got.”

The death of her childhood chiropractorof a brain tumor prompted her to rethinkher life. “It was like this light bulb went offin my head and I said, ‘I’m going to dowhat I want to do and not what somebodysays I’m supposed to do,’ ” she says.

Terri enrolled at Palmer College ofChiropractic in Davenport, graduating in

1991. She interned with renowned chiro-practor Dr. Susan Welsh in Tampa, Florida.For a year and a half, she saw 80 to 100patients a day, including football andhockey players from the Buccaneers andLightning. Her tiny frame didn’t stop herfrom wowing the pros. “It was great fun,”she says.

When not working, Terri, then a Doctorof Chiropractic, took more classes, earningher Certified Chiropractic Sports Physiciancertification in 1992.

She loved her career and life in Tampa.There was just one hitch: The love of herlife was back in Iowa.

While at Palmer, she met Terry Cooper,then a branch manager at PetroleumEquipment & Service, Inc., and now itspresident. They’d become engaged beforeshe left for Florida, so she followed herheart to Iowa.

She opened Chiro-Sports in Cedar Rapidsin 1993. A combination of her sports certi-fication and experience, networking, com-munity involvement, and incrediblepersonality propelled her practice to success.

But her patients needed more care thanshe could provide. A lifelong learner, Terriinvestigated acupuncture. She obtainedcertification and a license after more than300 hours of instruction.

She traveled to St. Louis or Chicagoevery other weekend for classes, leavingher daughter, Catheryn, at home with Terryand taking her newborn, Cole, so she couldkeep nursing him, even in class. “Whenpeople say, ‘I can’t do it,’ I say, ‘Ha! Youcan do whatever you set your mind to do.It is within your grasp. Anything is pos-sible,’ ” she says. The Coopers now alsohave a 15-month-old daughter, Carli. Theylive in Marion.

In 2000, Terri had an experience that

rocked her world. She met a chiropractorwho performed NeuroEmotional Technique(NET), a noninvasive therapy that releasespent-up emotions in the body. Shortly after,she began the 250 hours of instruction toget certified. She’s now the only NET prac-titioner in the state, and she renamed herpractice Wholistic Wellness Clinic, PC.

“This was the last piece of the puzzle. Inot only could help people on a physicalend with the chiropractic and the acupunc-ture, I could also help people on this emo-tional end so I could help balance thatwhole body/mind/spirit,” she says.

She also works for balance in her ownlife. “I’m really okay asking for help,” shesays, whether that means having someonewatch the kids or clean the house or askingher husband for a hand. “I think that if youcan acknowledge your limitations and youcan honor those limitations, you’re a muchhappier person.”

In addition to individual NET sessions,Terri conducts Emotional Release Techniques,which help people let go of blocked emo-tions in a powerful group setting. ERT ses-sions are open to the public. Topics includeweight control, guilt, motherhood, and anxiety.She also arranges NET retreats to Florida.

Her hobbies include gardening, playingthe piano, and physical fitness. She takestime for family and friends as well as forherself. And she’s a lot of fun.

Says friend Julie Kraft, “There are fewpeople out there you just genuinely wantto be around because you’re hoping someof that positive energy rubs off on you. That’swhat I love about Terri. She is this pistolpacked into 5 feet. It’s pretty amazing towatch her go.” ◆

Dr. Cooper performs traditional chiropracticcare on a patient.

Terri Cooper is In Touch

Cedar Rapids chiropractor and

acupuncturist balances body, mind, spirit.

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