CranioSacral Therapy

also known as Cranial Sacral Therapy, Cranial-Sacral Therapy, Cranio work, Cranio Sacral Therapy, Craniosacral Therapy

CranioSacral Therapy is a very gentle therapy that allows the fascia of the body to move in optimal ways. Returning fascia to its optimal movement can relieve many different symptoms. A CranioSacral session can be helpful after any type of trauma to the body.

Fascia is a tissue in the body. For example, when you cook a chicken and pull up the skin, there is a white layer before the meat which is fascia. It is a strong tissue that wraps around all of your muscles, bones, and organs. Your brain sits inside a big water balloon and that water balloon, the meninges, are made of fascia. You have this tissue everywhere in your body. Fascia provides both structure and protection. For structure, fascia helps the body hold its shape. It is said that if you removed all of your bones from your body you would still look like yourself because of the fascia. For protection, the body has a lot of movement allowing the tissue or organs to move freely. If trauma happens in an area the fascia locks up to protect the tissue or organ in that area. The problem can be that sometimes it does not unlock. This locked fascia can cause lack of movement in the tissue or organ around it. This can bring many symptoms and often it is painful.

CranioSacral Therapy came from Cranial Osteopathy. It has evolved in many different ways over the years. William Sutherland, John Upledger, Franklyn Sills, and Hugh Milne have all been a part of this evolution.

Polarity 

Polarity Therapy addresses the body as an energy field. Instead of just noticing the tight muscles in your leg, I would address this by looking at how the energy is flowing through the leg. It is a different paradigm of treatment. It allows the body to be seen as a whole as opposed to individual parts. The flow of energy can be addressed in many different ways. A session may involve holding the body, placing my hands on the client in different places so the energy will shift. I may rock the body, trying to match the frequency and movement of the energies of the body. This allows the body to notice and perhaps change how its energy is flowing.

Polarity Therapy is the work of Randolph Stone, a German man living in the US in the early 1920’s and 30’s. His travels to India greatly influenced his work. Polarity Therapy has aspects of Ayerveda, and also Energy Theory and Quantum physics. Polarity has been practiced in a myriad of ways and has become an umbrella for many different types of energy work. There are practitioners that apply these theories to music, sound, dance, movement, percussion, money, business, shamanism… The list is long. Each practitioner will have their own version of treatment.

SomatoEmotional Release Therapy

This work is based in CranioSacral therapy. Over the years therapists noticed that often when the fascia would begin to release the client would tear up, cry or laugh, i.e., some sort of emotion would be expressed at the same time. The theory developed that the emotion was causing the fascia to hold. They also found that if a client started to tell a story about their past, as the story unfolded the fascia would release.

S.E.R. allows for talking and storytelling during the CranioSacral session. The combination of both physical work and listening intently to the client allows for the tissues to move in ways that doing either on its own would not allow.

Even though S.E.R. involves talking, it is not counseling. The talking is a part of the treatment that will allow the tissues of the body to heal. If I believe that the work you are engaged with would best be handled by working with a trained Counselor or Psychologist, I may discontinue the treatment and refer you to an appropriate professional as it would be out of my scope of practice.