The Biodynamic approach to Cranial work evolved in the last 10 years of Dr Sutherland's life and was further developed by Dr Rollin E. Becker D.O. The key concept is that of the "Breath of Life" which arises out of the Dynamic Stillness and in its expression, brings order and form to the body. The Breath of Life generates a number of slower rhythms or tides as well as the faster "Primary Respiratory Mechanism". It is this Breath of Life that carries the organising principle of our bodies. The practitioner brings to the therapeutic process a presence and awareness that facilitates the therapeutic action of the Intelligence inherent in this Breath of Life.
In the Biodynamic approach, the application of the body of knowledge of Craniosacral Therapy is applied in a fundamentally different way. The practitioner does not determine what needs to be addressed in the client and applies techniques to address it. Instead, the practitioner appreciates that the client's own body knows both how it arrived at the state it is in and it also knows how best to progress from there to better health. The practitioner facilitates the therapeutic process by becoming a skilled active listener who brings all their knowledge of anatomy, physiology and life processes in general to the treatment but they defer to the greater intelligence being expressed in the clients own body as it self-heals.
My own discovery of this approach was when I noticed that the less active I was in treatments, the more actually seemed to happen. With a friend, in 1997 I decided to take this approach to the limit and to see what would happen if I brought all my skill and knowledge to a treatment, but did not actually "do" anything. To my astonishment, the treatment unfolded in front of me without me having to actively apply any corrective techniques other than to pay a non-interventionist attention to the process.
Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy has the concept of the "inherent treatment plan" and this is what I was experiencing for the first time. The body does indeed have its own intelligence and it is capable of self-healing. It knows what is required and it knows the most optimum order in which to address the challenges that the body is experiencing. The practitioner aims to facilitate the best environment in which this intelligence can operate.
In fact there was a point about three-quarters of the way through this treatment when it became quite clear that I should now actively work with the process which was unfolding.
It is the case there are times when the practitioners own skills and knowledge are actively required. There are times when the client's body needs to communicate with another person or needs to engage with an external resistance or spaciousness. It is at this point that the gentle manipulative skills of the therapist can be brought in, to work collaboratively with the innate intelligence of the client.
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last updated:
11 April 2005