Dr. Desiree Curley, DC

Dr. Desiree Curley has practiced chiropractic care in Monmouth and Ocean Counties for more than 20 years and is the owner and clinic director of Essential Life Chiropractic in Freehold, NJ. She takes a whole-person, "triune" approach to care — treating the physical, chemical, and emotional factors behind a patient's pain rather than symptoms in isolation.

Dr. Curley earned her Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Life University in Marietta, Georgia in 2001, after undergraduate coursework at Life University and Ocean County College, and holds a Bachelor of Science from Excelsior University. She passed her National Board Certification through the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners in 2000 and has held an active chiropractic license with the New Jersey State Board of Chiropractic Examiners since 2001.

In addition to running her practice, Dr. Curley is an adjunct professor of Anatomy & Physiology at Monmouth University, where she teaches undergraduates the musculoskeletal, neurological, and organ systems that inform her clinical work — a rare combination of hands-on clinical experience and university-level teaching that few local chiropractors bring to patient care.

Her clinical focus spans pediatric and prenatal chiropractic, sports chiropractic and injury recovery, and spinal rehabilitation. She is certified in Webster's Technique for breech positioning, trained in the Bradley Method of natural childbirth, and completed advanced coursework in chiropractic physiological therapeutics and trigger point/soft tissue management at New York Chiropractic College. From 2007–2021 she also owned Sophos Auricular Therapy, providing ear-acupuncture-based support for smoking cessation, weight management, chronic pain, and addiction recovery.

Dr. Curley has served as team chiropractor for Freehold Elite Gymnastics, the Brick Pop Warner Dragons, and the Berkeley Shooting Stars Soccer Club, and is active in the Freehold community as President and board member of the Freehold Rotary Club and an Advisory Board Member for the YMCA of the Jersey Shore's Freehold branch. She has also guest-lectured at Ocean County College and held leadership roles with Kiwanis of Brick and the Women's Task Force of Ocean County.