Full Body Release Postgraduate Workshop, Aug 06, Brisbane.

Posted by John Dalton on July 14, 2008

As adults we are no longer physically held in the way we were as
children. Full body release is a technique that holds us like a baby.
A team of cranio sacral therapists tune into a patient and literally
pick them up as they provide complete support for their system.
When provided with intentioned gravity-free support, our bodies
begin to release deep, full body patterns.

Wonderful and beautiful as it is, this is a technique that is used infrequently in practice as the logistics involved are prohibitive. A minimum of six cranio sacral therapists is required to make up a team. When each therapist has a busy practice this is not easily organised.

I use full body release as a post graduate workshop because it is an excellent tool for helping cranio sacral therapists gain a deeper sense of whole body patterns. They can take this knowledge back to their practice where it informs their one to one patient work.

Each participant at the workshop takes a turn leading a team and being a patient. At the beginning of the process the ‘patient’ is surrounded by the therapeutic team.
The team leader begins to tune into the patient’s cranio sacral system and calls in the other therapists as they are needed.

As the patient’s system begins to release and unwind it stretchs out. The team follow this and give support as the patient becomes airborne.

My role in the process is to monitor the patient and team and offer assistance where needed.

The patient’s body goes through and intricate ballet of movement that the therapeutic team must keep up and follow accurately, holding as the patient’s system releases. Like a big piece of cellophane that has been scrunched up for years, once given the right support, it begins to unravel.

There is continual communication between the lead therapist and the patient.

The process feels timeless but eventually draws to a natural close and the patient returns to the ground. Their system is settled by the lead therapist and the team takes a well earned rest. We then go through a debriefing process where we assess the effectiveness of the team.

What sketching is to artists, full body release is to cranio sacral therapists. It gives them a chance to deepen their palpatory skill and get a broader sense of full body patterns. When they return to their practices and are once again working alone with their patients, the benefits of the full body release seminar are evident.

The main feedback I get about this seminar from the therapists is how much more they can feel in their patient’s body.

Th4 - Fundementals of Cranio Sacral Treatment Approach

Posted by John Dalton on June 19, 2008

Every interaction that occurs between a patient and a cranio sacral
therapist follows the same general outline.

❍ Tuning in to yourself and then the patient
Tuning in means being open to receive whatever the patient’s
system wants to reveal to you. Tuning in is making yourself
available for communication.

It is important to approach the patient with as little going on inside
yourself as possible. Our thinking is often unconscious to us. We need
to tune into ourselves (make it conscious) to see what is going on in
there before we approach another.

As we tune into ourselves we can drop as much tension in our
bodies and unnecessary thinking as possible. Once we have made
a ‘blank slate’ of ourselves we can then approach the patient
and tune in to them.

❍ Following the body
This is giving the body the space in which to move and the
sensitivity to follow it.

❍ Holding against Restrictions
Following is important but it will be pointless if the therapist doesn’t
identify the restriction and hold against them at the right time.

❍ Waiting for Release
It is vital to allow the body time to release in. You may find yourself
in an awkward position or just get bored, but you must wait on the body,
trusting that it will release.

❍ Following through
Following through is continuing to follow the dance once the release
has occurred. It means avoiding just plonking the limb or whatever
part of the body you are working on, back on the table when you are finished.

❍ Reassessing
This means standing back and looking at the bigger picture in the
light of the new release you have helped to achieve. What difference
has it made? What does that difference prompt you to do next?

The above goes on in the larger scale of the whole treatment program,
in each session, in each technique and in each release within each technique.

So the fundamental cranio sacral treatment approach is

❍ Tuning in to yourself and then the patient
❍ Following the body
❍ Holding against Restrictions
❍ Waiting for Release
❍ Following through
❍ Reassessing