INTRODUCTION: My Process Summarised   

Initial consultation

This includes a full history and an examination of both outer physical posture and movements as well as a cranio-sacral assessment of the inner health, vitality, rhythms and movements of the whole person.  The more anatomy of the whole person we include, the more likely it is to work out what is going on and how it all relates (i.e. to observe/feel where healthy and unhealthy relationships, between all the tissues and systems of the whole person, are located and how they communicate or not).

Subsequent Visits

The same process occurs every appointment because this is how I determine if anything has changed from visit to visit and thus can inform and reassure you about progress/developments.   What is improving? What isn’t?, and what next is emerging as the system builds in greater health and gradually releases the issues (patterns) interfering with your health?  This also us (together) decide what rehabilitation (self-healing and/or traditional physical, postural or breathing exercises etc. may be appropriate at each stage of your healing journey.

How many sessions are needed?

This is very individual depending on how many layers are present.   However, an approximate guide is as follows.  With simple problems things may improve relatively quickly (often within 1-3 sessions).   However, with complicated or chronic health issues, It may need more sessions but not necessarily in a short space of time.  Sometimes your body needs time to process the changes, so it may at times be better to space things out over time than treat too often and let things unfold naturally at a pace suitable to you.   In some people with complicated issues, I have found that if we can find the wholistic pattern behind the scenes and and support its resolution, these can sometimes also improve surprisingly quickly also.

However, with true chronic issues, there are often many layers to the presenting issue with may take more sessions, as well as time and patience to work through.   I should be able to help you get started with in a few sessions but there are some important things you need to be aware of that may come up on your healing journey.  It is not always easy but if you can understand the process, you will be better prepared to work through what comes up.  It is my experience that those with chronic health issues may often have strong psychological elements to their issues and I have developed a number of strategies to help safely guide/support clients through this should unsettling experiences come up.

Informed consent

I will do my best to support your healing journey.   Keep in mind I am trying to support the tissues come to a balance so you walk out in a healthier state than you walked in, but I also want to make sure your outer wants or concerns are also accommodated as best I can.

To make sure your are as informed and as prepared as possible for how I work, in your first session especially, and what might happen there are a few key things I will communicate with you, especially important if the issue is a chronic one.

Firstly: I will explain how I work and why.  

My treatment approach primarily utilises cranio-sacral/Biodynamic Osteopathy to help restore balance to the tissues, layers and systems of the whole person, with some structural work towards the end as needed.   This may help with a range of both acute, subacute and chronic health issues.  With acute and subacute issues, restoring balance to the whole body helps to take the load of the damaged/stressed areas and supports more optimal recovery.   However, I have seen a lot of people over the years with chronic and complicated health issues and it is not uncommon in these cases for there to be a strong psychological component to the problem pattern.   You need to be aware that cranio-sacral treatment can draw some of these issues to the surface.

Secondly, and also help you to gain some understanding of the various reactions and responses that you may experience as you proceed throughout your session.

I will talk through the process of what may happen in terms of the stages the body goes through as it heals (reaction, neutral, response and release) as well as give options and strategies for how to observe and, as safely as possible work through them to get a balance and release, prior to me even proceeding to assessment and treatment.

Thirdly, If you are happy to proceed, I will then perform the assessment itself and discuss with you how the findings all inter-relate and the treatment plan

Lastly. If you are happy to proceed to treatment, we will move on to treatment (mindful of everything we have discussed).

The four stages I regularly observe during a treatment may unfold and I will try to give feed back and support to help you stay the observer until either a balance or full release occurs.  However, if the sensations are too strong or you are not comfortable with the process and for some reason don’t want to continue, please let me know and I will accommodate this and perhaps discuss other options you are more comfortable with, which can include referral where appropriate.

Post treatment: I will discuss with you what may come up afterwards and where to go from here.   This could include teaching you various self-awareness exercises, and/or physical (stabilisation, flexibility, strengthening, breathing or other postural/gait exercises) to support your continued and ongoing care.  Be aware also that even when the body has come to a balance and released, the healing process will continue afterwards.   It is not uncommon for feelings, memories and sensations to come up (physical or psychological),  It is always good to give the session 24-48 hours to keep processing and settle although depending on what is going on, this can take longer if the issue is a chronic one.  If you have any concerns about what you are experiencing, please let me know so I can support you, through or discuss options for ongoing recovery

For more information on the healing journey: read the following or also refer to the education section.  Here there is more information for patients with a variety of health issues (understanding chronic issues, the Four stages of healing etc).