Hi! I'm Caroline Barrow | CranioSacral Therapist | Brighton UK
I currently work Fridays. If you'd like to book a session then sign up below to receive a booking link.
What is CranioSacral Therapy?
We can start explaining CST by saying that it works on the system connecting the cranium to the sacrum (at the bottom of your back) which , through nerves, fascia and fluid, connects to everything else... but it quickly becomes so much more.
It works with the subtle rhythmic movement that originates from the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. The gentle tension from the movement of this fluid affects the membranes (the 'meninges') that line the skull and spinal column. This rhythm reflects throughout the body and can be picked up by a practitioners hands placed only lightly on the body. Anomalies in the rhythm help us assess, and show us areas where there may be restrictions and problems, which helps us know where to start and where to work.
With a surprisingly light touch our hands may work with fascia or fluid, they may work with energy or rhythm, they may work with structure or the more subtle parts of us that are only just beginning to be accepted by the medical world. We learn to listen profoundly to a client's body to know where to focus. This is, for me, the beautiful paradigm shift that this work takes us through. Once we learn to trust that the client's body knows best - and help empower our clients to know this too - then we can learn to let our hands follow what is asked of them.
CranioSacral as a therapy has evolved down a few different avenues, which can feel like very different approaches. My training path, developed by Dr John Upledger, arose after he spent 7 years researching the possibility of movement of the cranial bones, described by William Garner Sutherland, who developed cranial osteopathy. Upledger also noticed that emotion was often released as tissues released. This led him to expand his hands-on approach to include what he calls SomatoEmotional Release - a way of working with feelings, memories or emotional responses that may arise, while staying very in touch with the body tissues.
Practitioners and clients find that it also helps relieve dysfunction from many sources, often uncovering and addressing the deeper causes of our symptoms. The types of problem we find people seek treatment for are very varied but may include stress and tension-related disorders, musculoskeletal pain, migraines and headaches, brain and spinal cord injuries as well as many other acute and chronic conditions.
Perhaps we are all like complicated tangled balls of wool, and to get untangled we may need a gentle pull here, a knot moved a bit there and the strands gently teased out of the tangles. This also means that CST may work in places that are not where the symptom is, and often other niggles clear up along the way. As a 'job' this keeps it really fun and interesting, as no two treatments are ever the same.
In general, CranioSacral Therapy can improve our body's ability to take better care of us. Like many alternative or complementary approaches, CST can be useful as a preventative therapy to help keep us in optimal health.