CranioSacral Therapy and Beyond
D. Scott Sonnenburg
Upledger Trained, Advanced Level CranioSacral Therapist
HeartMath Certified Coach/Mentor
Author of “A Gentler Path”
What is CranioSacral Therapy?
I will admit I often struggle to explain just what it is I do, so I will start with the official blurb from the Upledger website.
CST was pioneered and developed by John E. Upledger following extensive scientific work from 1975 to 1983 at Michigan State University. CST is a gentle, hands-on approach that engages the CranioSacral System—a whole-person system composed of its anatomical structures as well as the dynamic functions and mechanisms that support health in the body, mind, and spirit.
CST is a complementary treatment that releases tensions deep in the body to help reduce pain, relieve dysfunction, and improve whole-body health and performance. By facilitating the body's natural and innate healing processes, CST is increasingly used as a preventive healthcare measure for its ability to bolster resistance to disease.
CST is a physical experience, true enough, but it can also be profoundly spiritually and emotionally healing. If physical issues have not responded to traditional or other alternative modalities, there is usually a hidden reason that goes beyond the physical body. Finding the true cause of an issue is the goal of the work, as is releasing it gently and compassionately.
CranioSacral Therapy is intuitive work, and every session is different. I go where the client takes me, using tools like therapeutic imagery and dialogue, somatic awareness, active imagination, and stillness practice, to name a few.
Through these techniques, our goal is to identify and resolve internal conflicts that may have persisted for years. These are then brought to awareness, where they can be released. Profound “aha” moments can be had when the client connects the dots regarding various aspects and relationships between their physical body and internal landscape. The result is often pain relief, more energy, and a deep sense of relaxation and well-being.
CranioSacral Therapy allows us to use the body to access the mind and spirit because there is no concrete division between them, and, as has been said, “your body speaks your mind.” Getting people more in tune with themselves at these deeper levels by leading the way to a realization of this mind/body/soul interface is, at least for me, a primary goal of therapy.