Many people, particularly those with chronic conditions ,require a variety of approaches to bring their body back in balance. This is why I have endeavored to learn a number of different healing techniques. The following is a brief description of some of the techniques I use, along with links to resources to more information about each one. I encourage all my clients to learn all they can about the work that I do, and always feel free to ask as many questions as they like.

Craniosacral Work
I consider myself to be primarily a craniosacral practitioner. Working with the craniosacral system is most of what I do and what I have helped the most people with. Craniosacral work is as subtle as it is powerful and addresses the body as a whole. The gentleness of touch that is used makes it suitable for the most fragile of clients and conditions. This has allowed me to work on 2-day old infants and ICU patients, and to address both broken bones and post-surgical wounds, when more direct forms of work would be painful and dangerous.

Craniosacral work is equally successful when used to treat more common complaints, such as low back pain, headaches and joint pain. With the client relaxed, I gently place my hands on areas I feel may be related to the client’s complaint, usually the head, spine and sacrum. I then monitor how these areas move with the involuntary rhythms of the client’s body, such as their breathing, to locate restrictions that may be causing pain or interfering with the client’s health.

Though craniosacral work is much of what I do, and where I begin every client’s treatment, I recognize that there is no one answer that will help everyone, all the time. Below, I have listed some of the other techniques I use to help my clients heal.

Muscle Energy Technique
This is a highly specific method of loosening and lengthening tight, painful muscles. The muscle to be addressed is held in a stretched position, while the client is instructed to activate that muscle against the resistance of the therapist. While this technique directly engages the muscle, it is the effort of the client that is doing the work, so that no outside force is introduced. This ensures the safety of the client.

Strain-Counterstrain
This is another gentle approach, which attempts to moderate the nerve signals sent to and received from tight, painful muscles. With the client relaxed, the therapist positions the client’s body in such a way as to maximally shorten the particular muscle to be addressed. When a muscle is shortened in this way, the muscle spindle fibers at the ends of the muscle send a message to the central nervous system that the muscle is shortened as much as it can be, and any signals holding that muscle in a state of tension are interrupted.

Myofascial Work
Connective tissue, or fascia, as it is also called, is woven around every organ, muscle, nerve, blood vessel and bone in the body. Frequently, disruptions in this tissue, such as adhesions from injuries or surgery, will interfere with the optimal functioning of the body. By balancing the connective tissue, so as to alleviate the stresses and strains within it’s fine meshwork of fibers, the body can move more freely and return to a heightened state of health.