These questions and answers are intended as general guidance for clients and cover some of the points about which I am often asked.
Q. How do I find out if this therapy is going to be useful for me?
Q. How many treatments will I need?
Q. What frequency of treatments is best?
Q. Is there an age limit?
Q. What are the contra-indications for cranial work?
Q. What happens in a treatment?
Q. What am I likely to feel during a treatment?
Q. What am I likely to feel after a treatment?
Q. I came in with a headache and you have hardly touched my head?
Q. What conditions do people come to you with?
Q. So you have to be ill to benefit?
Q. How does it work?
Q. Is there any proof of this?
Q. What is the difference between Craniosacral Therapy and Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy?
Q. What is the difference between a Craniosacral Therapist and a Cranial Osteopath?
Q. How long does a treatment take?
Q. Is this always sufficient time?
Q. How much do you charge?
Q. How do I book a treatment?
Q. How do I find out if this therapy is going to be useful for me?
A. Things that might help you decide:
Q. How many treatments will I need?
A. The usual answer to this is that the longer one has had a
condition, generally the longer it takes to clear. An equally sweeping
generalisation, might be:
Q. What frequency of treatments is best?
A. Weekly is best for most people, as that allows time to
integrate the work from one treatment and keep a level of continuity
of treatment which our bodies appreciate. Again this is not a hard and
fast rule. Some people come to see me fortnightly and others only
occasionally.
Q. Is there an age limit?
A. Definitely not. I have worked very successfully with babies
to people in
their eighties. In fact, because the treatment is so gentle, it is a good
form of therapy for people at both ends of the age spectrum. See the
section on mothers and babies.
Q. What are the contra-indications for cranial work?
A. Very few if the practitioner is following the needs of the client's
body. The main concerns are where there has been a
recent fracture or a current injury, particularly to the head; where there
is a tendency to internal bleeding especially in the head and brain; when there
is very high blood pressure or increased fluid pressure in the head.
There are certain techniques that are avoided during the first three months
of pregnancy. In general, it is important to check this out with your
practitioner.
Q. What happens in a treatment?
A. First we will discuss what your wishes are for the treatment. I
will take your case history. A more complete physical examination may be
necessary if you have a structural problem.
The main treatment usually takes place with you lying, lightly (but fully)
clothed on a treatment couch. I will make light
contact using my hands, mainly on your head, feet, spine and back of your pelvis. Other
areas of the body may be contacted depending on the treatment required.
I will communicate with you about this as we go along.
Q. What am I likely to feel during a treatment?
A. This varies. It is very gently work indeed. Sometimes it
just seems like you are resting on my hands. Some people feel nothing at
all and are unconvinced that anything has happened at the time but then
feel the therapeutic effects over the succeeding few days. Most people feel
relaxation, an easing of old tensions and pains, a settling in their body,
warmth, lightness. Sometimes people feel a short intensification of
symptoms prior to their resolution, which is experienced with a sense
of satisfaction.
Q. What am I likely to feel after a treatment?
A. Usually people feel relaxed, refreshed and lighter than when
they came in. You are likely to experience an ongoing improvement in your
condition and energy levels over a course of treatments.
I will endeavour to tell you if I expect you to have any
particular after effects from any given treatment.
Q. I came in with a headache and you have hardly touched my head?
A. The body is a highly integrated system and sometimes discomfort
experienced in one part of the body may have its origins in another part
altogether, strange as this may seem. I will encourage you to be
aware of your own body to determine for yourself whether the treatment
is making a difference.
Q. What conditions do people come to you with?
A. A large range. In 2001 for example I saw: - infants
with a variety of symptoms resulting from difficult births; people with after
effects from accidents, infections and surgery; conception
difficulties; support in pregnancy;
conditions associated with ageing; conditions resulting from stress and
trauma; recovery from long-term ill-health; breathing problems; backache
and other painful conditions.
Q. So you have to be ill to benefit?
A. Not at all. I also see people who are simply trying to
improve their health. Throughout life we come into contact with
conditions which have taxed our bodies; through stress, accidents,
operations, difficult births (either as the child or the mother)
or dealing with difficult conditions including social, mental or
emotional. Craniosacral treatment can help us reduce the ongoing
burden of carrying the resulting physical compensations. These
compensations are actively maintained by our bodies and it can
occupy a lot of our vital energy in doing so. When this vitality
is freed up it is then available to us for our present day life.
Q. How does it work?
A. The therapist endeavours to provide the conditions which your
body requires in order to marshal its own recuperative powers to
affect a change towards greater health. This is achieved through a
variety of ways. From very gentle support of your body where your body needs
it, through helping areas of contraction and strain to resolve, to
active reduction of stress on areas which are under pressure. All this is
done in the context of an awareness of a subtle whole-body movement which
takes place in the very core of our bodies. This movement continually
tries to re-establish the best state of balanced health possible for
us at all times. This movement is called the Primary Respiratory Mechanism
and is described in the cranial links section.
Q. Is there any proof of this?
A. Some of the research which is available on-line is described in the
cranial research section.
My own clinical experience in 2001 for example was roughly:
Q. What is the difference between Craniosacral Therapy and Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy?
A. Very broadly speaking, it is the difference between "the
therapist evaluating what needs to change in the client and making those
changes" and "the therapist listening deeply to the
clients body, appreciating its inherent ability to make the required changes
itself and facilitating a therapeutic environment which helps those changes
to take place".
Q. What is the difference between a Craniosacral Therapist and a Cranial Osteopath?
A. Both work with what has been called the "cranial concept".
A Craniosacral Therapist belonging to the
CranioSacral Therapy Association
has had a minimum of one year's postgraduate training specifically in cranial work.
Being postgraduates, they will already have been a health care practitioner with knowledge of
anatomy and physiology.
A Cranial Osteopath is someone who has had an Osteopathic training with some additional
training in the cranial approach.
It is a good idea to ask your practitioner about what training they have had and what
professional body they belong to.
Q. How long does a treatment take?
A. A typical treatment takes a " therapeutic hour ". This
actually means
about 50 minutes to allow for greetings, farewells and writing up notes.
Q. Is this always sufficient time?
A. An hour is sufficient for most people, most of the time, but
everyone's pacing is different. Longer treatment times can be arranged
and some people prefer an hour and a half or even two hours.
Those who opt for longer treatments find the additional time can
provide a valuable added spaciousness to the treatments.
Q. How much do you charge?
A. I charge £40 per hour.
Q. How do I book a treatment?
A. To book a treatment with me, go to the
contact section. To find a craniosacral
therapist in your area, go to the
cranial links section.
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last updated:
03 January 2006