When Pam Baird gets a chiropractic adjustment from Dr. William Goss, she knows she’ll get far more than relief from painful, achy joints. She’ll probably get a corny joke, maybe hear snippets of a song he’s written or have a spiritual discussion. And it’s always worth her while.
“He’s very compassionate… He always asks about my family,” said Baird of Grovetown, who has seen Goss since 1988.
Goss, who is celebrating 40 years in practice in 2021, didn’t know what a chiropractor was when he was growing up.
“I graduated from Augusta College with a degree in accounting, but it wasn’t something I was passionate about,” he said.
It was important to his parents that he go to college and get a degree. Neither of them finished school. His mother dropped out in sixth grade while his father dropped out in eighth grade.
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“I came from mill people and firemen,” he said. “They all worked at King or Enterprise Mill. My uncle and grandfather were firemen.”
His parents saved for his education.
“They were determined their children were going to get an education,” he said.
The idea of chiropractic was sparked in him when he was about 21. He had problems with headaches and sinus issues. Dr. John Boutwell attended his church, so he made an appointment with him.
Not only did chiropractic help with his headaches and sinus issues, it also relieved him of a chronic ringing in the ears.
“When I got my neck adjusted, all that cleared up,” he said.
Since he wasn’t passionate about his accounting degree, he decided to go to chiropractic school, which was 14 quarters of school or about four years. After he graduated, he worked with Dr. Boutwell for a year before opening his own office. His first office was on Merry Street; he moved to Columbia Road 15 years ago.
When he sees a patient, he’s interested in their aches and pains, but he is interested in much more, he said. He wants to care for the entire person – body and soul. He believes that laughter is a medicine.
“I feel sorry for people who don’t have a sense of humor. I think God has an enormous sense of humor. I believe laughter and joy are huge,” he said.
Baird said his jokes can make people laugh or maybe groan.
“They are so corny,” she said. “I would bring my 15-year-old granddaughter with me, and he’d would come in and crack her up. She said they reminded her of her dad, and they were just as bad.”
Goss has a creative side too. Sometimes it comes out during appointments. He’s been known to break out his guitar and sing on site. On the walls of his office are framed copies of songs he’s written. He’s even recorded some of them with his son, Christopher.
“Music has always been extremely important to me,” he said.
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He recalls “the best band in Augusta” when he was growing up was Billy, Barbara and the Prophets. Group members were his backyard neighbors. They wrote and recorded their own music and inspired Goss to do the same.
“Songwriting is a great way for me to put happy moments, sad moments, impactful moments in a box and wrap it up,” he said. “When you sing about tough times and put it into a song, it’s a way to deal with it.”
He’s written many songs. Some deal with great loss such as the deaths of family and friends. Writing the song is therapeutic. It allows him to express the emotion he feels and release it.
He’s also written a book and a screenplay.
With some of his patients, he has other types of conversations.
“He always asks my opinion about whatever he’s recently read in the Bible,” said Baird. “Ninety percent of the time, I just say ‘I don’t know.’ Then he goes into great detail about what he thinks.”
Baird said the conversation is always thought-provoking, and she appreciates those types of discussions with him.
Goss just sees it as his way of relating to the total person. A person is more than a body, he said. People have emotions and intellect, and sometimes those are hurting as much as the migraines or sciatica they came in with.
“While helping someone’s body, if I can find a way to uplift their soul with a dad joke or give them a word of encouragement or tell how Jesus has blessed my life, hopefully that helps people in all their realms,” he said.
Even though he’s been in practice for 40 years, Goss said he doesn’t plan on retiring any time soon.
“Why would I quit something I love and am good at?” he asked.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
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