Craniosacral Therapy is light-touch therapy that works with the expression of subtle rhythms in the body. These rhythms are known as ‘primary respiration’, because they underlie and are more fundamental to all other functions in the body.
Craniosacral Therapists learn to listen through palpation to the body’s subtle physiology and understand its messages. In places where there may be restrictions of motion or stasis within the expression of subtle rhythms, the practitioner can work with a range of light touch skills to facilitate a resolution, so allowing normal motion and natural function to resume. The emphasis in a ‘Biodynamic’ approach to treatment is to work with the underlying forces that govern how we function, rather than just the effects of those forces and the symptoms that become generated as a result of any dysregulation.
Practicing as a Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist also involves orienting to the whole person – body, mind and spirit. This includes the whole body as well as the subtle fields of function that surround the body. Michael Kern is the founder of the Craniosacral Therapy Educational Trust (CTET) and has been working internationally in the field of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy for several decades.
Unresolved patterns and healing
Unresolved experiences (e.g. from stress, overwhelm or trauma) become held in the body as places of inertia that create ‘shapes’ and patterns which influence and compromise the natural and optimal expression of primary respiratory motion. However, the body knows exactly how to heal and will heal given the right conditions, so practitioners essentially follow the innate, active and intelligent impulses of health to guide any therapeutic process. Essentially this involves trusting in the body’s wisdom and allowing the body to express its needs. In this way practitioners can become a humble servant of the underlying forces that organise our function. It has been found that states of physiological settling and stilling are optimal conditions that can support our impulses of health to express, thereby resolving any patterns of inertia and dysregulation. Therefore, facilitating these states of settling and stillness is a key skill in treatment.
Craniosacral Therapy Training
The Craniosacral Therapy Educational Trust (CTET) offers an in-depth training in Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, with graduates being awarded a recognised diploma and the designated letters BCST as part of the Trust’s membership of the International Affiliation of Biodynamic Trainings. Course graduates also become eligible to join an array of professional bodies, including the International Cranial Association, the Association Of Physical And Natural Therapists and the British Complementary Medicine Association.
The training courses at CTET are run on a part-time basis over two years, comprised of a mixture of classroom-based teaching in London, home study, home practice and practical experience at the Trust’s teaching clinic. An emphasis on hands-on practical training allows each participant to fully experience the power of the body’s innate intelligence and develop the skills and confidence to facilitate deep and effective therapeutic processes. Seminars include a lot of practice sessions on treatment tables which are amply supported by experienced tutors, helping each student to develop practical skills and direct experience, and so embody the principles of treatment.
