Meet Dr. Michael D. Raeburn, DC, CCSP
Dr. Michael D. Raeburn is the founder of Overlook Chiropractic, where he has served patients throughout the Overlook neighborhood and North Portland for over 15 years. A licensed Doctor of Chiropractic (DC), Dr. Raeburn holds the distinction of Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician (CCSP), a postgraduate credential awarded by the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians (ACBSP) and held by only a small fraction of practicing chiropractors nationwide.
What that means for patients walking through the door is simple: whether you’re a weekend athlete, someone recovering from a car accident, or a person who’s simply dealt with back or neck pain for longer than you’d like to admit, the evaluation you get is built on the same rigorous, injury-specific training used to manage athletes at every level of competition. Overlook Chiropractic was built around the idea that Portland patients — not just athletes — deserve that same level of specificity in their care.
What Makes CCSP Different
Earning the CCSP designation requires a licensed chiropractor to complete a minimum of 100 hours of postgraduate education specifically in sports injury care — covering injury classification, on-field evaluation, and return-to-activity protocols — along with a hands-on emergency procedures course and healthcare-provider-level CPR certification, before sitting for a comprehensive board examination administered by the ACBSP. It’s a credential that most chiropractic school graduates never pursue, precisely because it requires additional years of coursework and testing beyond the degree itself.
In practice, this means Dr. Raeburn’s training goes well beyond standard chiropractic licensure. He’s specifically prepared to evaluate and manage the kinds of injuries that come from car accidents, sports, and physically demanding work — not just general back and neck pain — including recognizing when an injury needs to be referred out for imaging or specialist care rather than adjusted.
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A Broader Toolkit
In addition to traditional chiropractic adjustment, Dr. Raeburn’s approach incorporates Network Spinal Analysis and Applied Kinesiology — two techniques that aren’t part of every chiropractor’s training.
Network Spinal Analysis is a low-force chiropractic technique that uses light, precise contacts along the spine, rather than the higher-force manipulation used in traditional adjustment. It’s designed to work with the nervous system’s own regulation of muscle tension and spinal movement, and tends to be a good option for patients who want an effective adjustment without a more forceful manipulation.
Applied Kinesiology uses manual muscle testing as an additional diagnostic tool alongside a standard exam, helping identify which specific muscle or muscle group may be contributing to a patient’s pain or movement limitation. Dr. Raeburn uses it as one input among several when building a care plan, rather than the sole basis for diagnosis.
Alongside acupuncture and hands-on soft tissue therapy, this broader toolkit allows care to be tailored to each patient’s specific presentation rather than applying the same adjustment to every case that walks through the door.
His Approach to Personal Injury and Auto Accident Care
A significant part of Dr. Raeburn’s caseload involves patients recovering from car accidents and workplace injuries — the exact population his sports-medicine training was built for. Sports injury management and auto injury recovery share the same core challenge: identifying precisely which structures were affected, how severely, and what sequence of care gets the patient back to normal function fastest without causing further harm. That’s the same evaluation framework Dr. Raeburn applies whether the patient in his office yesterday collided with another car on I-5 or twisted a knee on the soccer field.
Education & Credentials
Dr. Raeburn earned his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic West in 2006, following undergraduate study at Oregon State University (2001). He holds Oregon chiropractic license #273652 and National Provider Identifier (NPI) 1366644114, in addition to his CCSP certification. He has served patients at Overlook Chiropractic since founding the practice, seeing patients in both English and Spanish.