FAQS

What is Craniosacral Therapy?

It is a “hands on” therapy. This extremely gentle therapy uses no manipulation. The therapist listens, via the hands, to what is going on in your body, and in this way both identifies and relieves pains or tensions held in the body. Craniosacral therapy is a method of examination and treatment of the craniosacral system that has been devised to correct problems that affect this system. It is called craniosacral because it involves all of the bones of your skull, face and mouth which makes up the cranium and extends to the lower end of your spine, or the sacrum. The craniosacral system is a physiological system that exists in humans, as well as those animals possessing a brain and spinal cord. Its formation begins in the womb and continues to function until death. When there is an imbalance in your craniosacral system, your brain and spinal cord suffer. These organs are the core of your being. Without them senses, emotions and motor functions would not be capable of working effectively. 

What does Craniosacral Therapy do?

In response to physical knocks or emotional stress, the body’s tissues contract. Sometimes, particularly when the shock is severe or occurs within an emotional situation, the tissues stay contracted. Any stresses, strains, tensions, or traumas which have been “stored” in the body in this way will restrict the body’s functioning and may give rise to problems over the years. The effects may be both physical (such as neck or back pain, digestive disorders and emotional (such as anxiety or depression). The restrictions in the body’s functioning show up in the motion of the craniosacral system. Craniosacral therapists are trained to feel this subtle motion in the body, and can use it to identify areas where there is restriction. Then, using the hands to reflect back to the body the pattern it is holding, the therapist provides an opportunity for the body to let go of its restrictive pattern and return to an improved mode of functioning. The positive effect of Craniosacral Therapy relies to a large extent upon the client’s normal self-corrective physiological activities. The therapist more or less removes the obstacles that the normal self-correcting physiological forces have been unable to overcome. The therapist seldom dictates how the corrections should be made, but rather assists the body in its own natural self-corrective activities within the craniosacral system. The therapist simply removes obstacles, activates and empowers. This happens at a deep, unconscious level within the body creating awareness of restrictions that the body is holding on to. For example, if someone holds a mirror in front of you when you are frowning, you suddenly become aware of your expression and may well choose to relax your eyebrows. 

How is a session performed?

A CranioSacral Therapy session usually takes place in a quiet, private setting. We recommend that clients wear loose, comfortable clothing. Clients remain fully clothed, though most choose to remove their shoes. The session is performed with the client reclining on a massage or treatment table while the practitioner stands or sits, positioned at various times throughout the session at the client’s head, middle torso or feet. 

What might I experience during a session?

Experiences during a CST session are as individual as the clients and practitioners themselves. They also may differ from session to session. At times, a client may deeply relax or even fall asleep; at other times, he or she may talk a great deal, recalling hidden memories or expressing emotions. Some will remain still during the entire session, hardly noticing the practitioner’s evaluation and treatment, while others will experience sensations within the body as the evaluation process is carried out. At various times throughout the session, the practitioner will support a client’s limbs and spine while facilitating release of accumulated tension. This process is called energy cyst release or tissue release. During this release, the client might recall circumstances surrounding a past shock, trauma or injury. Releasing and re-experiencing past hurts assists the body in reversing dysfunction and restoring the previous level of mobility. This entire process has been named SomatoEmotional Release®. 

How many Craniosacral sessions will I need?

Response to CST varies from individual to individual and condition to condition. Your response is uniquely your own and can’t be compared to anyone else’s – even those cases that may appear to be similar to your own. The number of sessions needed varies widely – from just one up to three or more a month over the course of several months. 

Is there any condition for which CST shouldn’t be used?

There are certain situations where application of CST would not be recommended. These include conditions where a variation and/or slight increase in intracranial pressure would cause instability. Acute aneurysm, cerebral hemorrhage or other preexisting severe bleeding disorders are examples of conditions that could be affected by small intracranial pressure changes. 

Who is it suitable for?

Craniosacral Therapy is so gentle that it is safe and suitable for people of all ages, from babies to the elderly, and also in acutely painful conditions. Indeed, it is often appropriate when other therapies may be unsafe, such as during pregnancy, after an operation, accident, fall or injury, and for young babies. As a whole body therapy, Craniosacral Therapy may aid people with almost any condition, by raising the vitality and enabling the body’s own self-healing processs. But you don’t have to be ill or have any particular symptoms to benefit from Craniosacral Therapy. The alleviation of life’s stresses, and the increased sense of vitality and well-being that Craniosacral Therapy can bring are welcome to most of us at any time. 

Which conditions can CST help?

Craniosacral therapy is so gentle that it is suitable for babies, children, and the elderly, as well as adults and people in fragile or acutely painful conditions. Treatment can aid almost any condition, raising vitality and improving the body’s capacity for self-repair. Some of the conditions successfully worked with are: Arthritis,  Immune system disorders,  Asthma, insomnia, autism, lethargy,  Back pain,  Menstrual pain, PMS, Birth trauma, Multiple Sclerosis, Bronchitis and breathing disorders, polymyalgia and fibromyalgia, Cerebral Palsy, Problems during and after pregnancy,  Colic,  Re-integration after accidents, Depression Sciatica Digestive problems, Sinusitis, Drug withdrawal, Spinal Curves ,Dyslexia, Sports injuries, Exhaustion, Stress related illnesses, Fall or injury Tinnitus and middle ear problems,  Frozen shoulder,  TMJ (Jaw) disorders, Hormonal imbalances, Visual disturbances, Hyperactivity and ADHD, and whiplash injuries 

History of Craniosacral therapy

Craniosacral therapy developed from the work of an American osteopath, Dr William Sutherland in the early 1900s. He discovered intrinsic movements of the bones in the head and his further research revealed different rhythms in the body. As a result of detailed clinical observation it has become clear that these movements, which can be measured with delicate scientific instruments, are a direct expression of health and offer a way of working with the physical as well as the more subtle aspects of life. Further observation showed that these movements are also inextricably linked with mental and emotional health. Restriction of movement corresponds to a reduction of the natural capacity to self-heal. Using the hands to feel these movements allows craniosacral therapists to facilitate change in areas of restriction. A limitation or absence of the movements implies a reduction in the expression of health which may result in, for example, numbness, a sense of something missing or disease. 

Coming Soon. 

SE maintains that the post traumatic stress response is neither physical illness nor mental illness. It is a description of someone’s attempt to manage overwhelming and distressing events. However, when the experience of trauma is unintegrated or “frozen,” people can develop symptoms relating to physical or mental health for which medical intervention is sought.

Trauma may begin as acute stress from a perceived threat to life or as the product of cumulative stress. Both can seriously impair a person’s ability to function with resilience and ease.

It may result from a wide variety of stressors such as accidents, invasive medical procedures, sexual or physical assault, emotional abuse, neglect, war, natural disasters, loss, birth trauma, or the corrosive stressors of ongoing fear and conflict.

The SE approach teaches that trauma is not caused by the event itself, but rather develops through a person’s attempt to process adverse events in the body, psyche, and nervous system. It is an embodied experience, which means it is felt and encoded in every system of the body.

When terrible events happen the instinctive response is for fight or flight – to escape or fight back. When neither of these are possible – you are too small / young / frightened / cornered/ captured/ weak/ alone etc, the human system shuts down and freezes at the height of the experience. This ensures survival. The human system is disregulated as a result of trauma i.e. the easy rhythm of getting things done, of rising to the occasion, completing, withdrawing and resting is knocked out of synch.

The result is that the system remains in this “frozen” state with all the physiological responses – behaving as if the event was continuing and this whilst people continue with ostensibly ordinary lives – rear families, go to work, care for relatives, get involved in community activities. This survival ability illustrates that the human system wants to complete the fight/flight response in order to return to equilibrium and well-being but as it is frozen, this is not possible. This situation forms the basis of the emerging symptoms as the person struggles to shake of the experience and return to “normal”.

Surviving trauma requires a huge charge in the system to enable the completion of the defensive instinct of fight or flight. When this charge cannot be used up, people suffer great distress resulting often in unexplained pains, aches, sleeplessness and medical conditions and behaviour reflecting the attempt to manage the overload e.g., addictive behaviour, over medication, explosive and inappropriate responses, depression, mood swings, painful confusion, despair, self harm and suicide. All of these also affect those sharing their lives.

People usually seek support when the impacts of trauma and how they have been trying to manage their lives is not working anymore.

When these become intrusive to living well in daily life, many people seek medical intervention for symptom relief, in the first instance. Then – often as a result of a referral by the GP – they seek other forms of help. For many this becomes an endless, repetitive, often despairing, search for ease and relief.

Many interventions e.g. medical intervention help to reduce symptoms in the short term. This relief is to be welcomed though it must not be seen as the resolution or integration of the impact of the events. Short term interventions do not educate the physiology to reorganise and re-establish equilibrium.

The purpose of trauma support must be to reset this rhythmic movement of ease and resilience.
It is important to note that, whilst every human being shares the same physiological response to trauma, each of us has a unique personal history. The meaning we make out of events will be unique and expression of the traumatic experience will reflect this unique history.

In addition, family style and cultural context and expression will influence our unique responses. They structure our memory, meaning and emotional responses and consequently our behaviours.
Of course, these responses are not compartmentalised but function together in a complex way to help us to survive.
Not everyone who has experienced trauma will need individual psychotherapeutic support. A significant number will do so. However, in addition what everyone needs is information and guidance to understand the impacts of trauma and how to work with that.

Although humans are designed to rebound from high-intensity survival states, rationalisations, judgments, shame, and fear of our bodily sensations, may impede our innate capacity to self-regulate in the aftermath of such events and leaves us with patterns of relating that reflect how we have managed to survive.

When the nervous system does not reset after an overwhelming experience, sleep, cardiac, digestion, respiration, and immune system function can be seriously disturbed. Unresolved physiological distress can also lead to an array of other physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioural symptoms including distressing medical conditions.

SE is designed to help clarify these patterns, and to develop tools for restoring our innate capacity to integrate the experience and live well.

The SE Approach facilitates the completion of self-protective motor responses and the release of thwarted survival energy bound in the body, thus addressing the root cause of trauma symptoms. This is approached by gently guiding clients to develop increasing tolerance for difficult bodily sensations and emotions and to be able to establish a greater capacity to engage with the environment in the present moment with a growing sense of ease and safety.

SE trauma resolution does not require the traumatised person to re-tell or re-live the traumatic event. Instead, it offers the opportunity to engage, complete, and resolve—in a slow and supported way—the body’s instinctual fight, flight and freeze responses.
This resets the nervous system, restores inner balance, enhances resilience to stress, and increases people’s vitality, equanimity, and capacity to actively engage in life.