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"A mind stretched by a new idea never
regains its original dimension"
author
unknown
The
well-being of my clients is a top
priority in my therapeutic massage
techniques and protocols. I have had the
great fortune of training in several
different modalities with many of the
most highly regarded teachers in this
profession, but my observations of
structural distortions and imbalances
contrasted with the limitations inherent
in the techniques I was learning. This
prompted me to think "beyond the box".
The process of modifying and integrating
a number of highly effective soft tissue
therapies to address the basic cause of
structural imbalances and body pain led
to the birth of
Structural Energetic
Therapy®
(SET) in the late ‘70’s.
Then, with the integration of NICS
Craniostructural Integration techniques
in the ‘80’s, the present form of SET
evolved.
I noted that the majority of my clients
presented with a basic distortion
pattern that involved an imbalance of
the pelvis. I was convinced that
balancing the structure was key to
reducing multiple pain syndromes. I
trained in Postural Integration, a
10-session body restructuring
methodology that uses deep tissue
myofascial restructuring, and was very
excited to be practicing what I felt was
state of the art bodywork in the mid
70’s. This model was initiated in the
‘60’s with Structural Integration, along
with CORE bodywork and Lomi bodywork, to
name a few. It is still considered to be
one of the more advanced and effective
forms of bodywork. However, clients with
very painful conditions throughout the
body (i.e. whiplash, lumbar
sprain/strain, degenerative disc
problems, hip and knee and foot pain,
shoulder and arm nerve entrapment
symptoms) needed to have these painful
areas treated first rather than
progressing through ten sessions before
addressing their primary individual
symptoms. My choices were to follow the
ten-session model and not pay special
attention to their initial area of
complaint, or to treat their primary
area of pain in the first session, which
was usually out of sequence and
philosophically contrasted the current
beliefs.
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To move out of sequence I needed to
disregard several strong beliefs
associated with the 10-session model.
One was that the fascia could only be
released within a certain sequence to
produce balance. Second, the core
distortion, or spiral, should not be
reduced because everyone has this
structural pattern. However, my
associates and other 10-session
practitioners had belief systems and
attitude blocks which Herbert Spencer
eloquently describes in this quote:
"There is a principle which is a bar
against all information, which is proof
against all arguments, and which will
never fail to keep a man in everlasting
ignorance – that principle is contempt
prior to investigation." Therefore,
I looked elsewhere and not to my
colleagues. |
My clients became my best teachers! They
insisted that I try new methods and
techniques. The majority of clients had
an anterior rotation of the left ilium
and a posterior rotation of the right
ilium. This created compensatory
curvatures and imbalances throughout the
spine and body that could well be the
basis of most body pain. This was also
referred to as the spiral or core
distortion as observed by other
10-session body workers. Clients
experienced elevated pain levels when
this distortion increased to the point
that the SI joint (sacrum and ilium)
could not maintain weight bearing
support and balance when they were
standing, which shifted their bodies
further into distortion (structural
collapse). In observing my clients, it
became obvious that accidents, life
experiences, and stresses would move an
already weakened body further into
distortion. As the degree of distortion
increased, the dysfunction and pain
increased. Thus, rebalancing this core
distortion to be weight bearing became
the focus of my work and investigation.
I began looking at the sacral-occipital
technique (SOT) chiropractic model and
discovered a new balance paradigm for
the body. The SOT practitioners sought
to balance the anterior/posterior tilt
of the iliums to provide a level base
for the sacrum and lessen the scoliotic
curvature (from the core distortion) and
other distortions of the entire spine
and body. However, there was one major
problem: while the client was on the
table, the use of SOT blocks would
reduce the rotation of the iliums and
the tippage of the sacrum, and the feet
and legs could be aligned to support the
shift. Yet, when the client became
weight bearing, the weakened ligaments
were not able to stabilize the SI joint.
The sacrum would again slip and tip to
the side recreating the structural
collapse.
Therefore, I began combining the SOT
techniques to reduce the rotations of
the iliums with the specific deep tissue
protocols that I had already developed
to address muscle imbalances of the
distortion. I was able to directly
address the fascia and other soft tissue
that was resisting the necessary
structural changes throughout the body
while the iliums were in balance on the
table after using the SOT blocks. With
this new approach clients experienced a
noticeable reduction of pain in the
first session. Confidence was building
that they could be pain free soon.
This was a major breakthrough, but it
had its limitations – sometimes it took
10 to 15 sessions to stabilize the
sacrum/ilium relationship, and usually
clients could not maintain this balance
for more than four weeks due to the
iliums once again rotating and the
sacrum slipping. However, this was still
better than not addressing this
distortion at all leaving the SI joint
imbalanced with no support for the
spine. Results from the pelvis in
balance were not only observable
throughout the whole spine, but
throughout the entire structure. As this
distortion decreased and the structure
became more balanced, painful symptoms
from the spine extending distally to
wrists and hands decreased, and many
knee and foot problems disappeared. The
paradigms had shifted again.
With these results, it was now possible
to observe how the core distortion
collapse affected all other structural
or soft tissue problems and painful
symptoms throughout the rest of the
body, and to begin treating them by
addressing the core distortion and its
direct effect on the area of client’s
symptoms.
Thus, the birth of
Structural Energetic Therapy® (SET) in
the late 70’s.
"You evolve, not by seeking to go
elsewhere,
but by paying attention to and embracing
what’s in front of you"
author unknown
My
clients continued to teach me. The body
was now trying to balance via the
correction of the iliums using the SOT
blocks. Now, all the soft tissue that
was holding the old pattern at all
levels resisting the move to the new
pattern of balance needed to be
released. Many of these areas were also
the areas of pain and inflammation and
were painful to touch. Since I would be
working into deep levels of fascia and
muscle in the first sessions, I needed
to develop an approach to working the
deep tissue that would effectively
release the conditions causing their
pain while respecting their pain
tolerances. This led to the development
of the three-step approach.
The Three-Step approach to deep soft
tissue treatment
The
first step releases the swelling,
fluids, ischemia, inflammation and
surface trigger points with their
related pain referral zones using
milking strokes with tolerable pressure
to clear surface and intermediate layers
of tissue. These very slow strokes allow
the client to accept the pressure
without resistance, and are applied with
the intention of releasing the surface
fascia and fluid with their direct
effect on the structural distortion.
‘The deeper you go the slower you go’
became my motto.
The second step is the directed
myofascial unwinding process. To unwind
the myofascial holding pattern, deeper
strokes are applied in specific
directions to facilitate a more precise
release into structural balance, rather
than releasing randomly. Many very rigid
holding patterns in deeper layers of
fascia soften and unwind more completely
and almost painlessly when these strokes
are applied very slowly without
exceeding the client’s pain tolerance
level. There is a direct relationship of
the client’s level of pain to the
resistance in the tissue with these
deeper strokes. Moving slowly, just
meeting the resistance of the soft
tissue, allows the release of the deep
holding pattern with minimal sensation
while working with the client.
The third step is the individual fiber
releases. When most of the holding
pattern has been released, the only
remaining tissues resistant to
structural balance are individual fibers
of muscles or fascia, scar tissue and
adhesions within the fascia. Having
prepared the tissue using the first two
steps of this three-step process, the
most resistant fibers can now be
isolated and treated with direct
pressure. Areas that were initially
painful to light palpation are now able
to be released with deep slow strokes
due to the previous steps. The deep
individual fiber strokes are similar to
the directed myofascial unwinding
strokes in that the deeper you go the
slower you go. This allows the tissue to
release under steady constant pressure
at a level tolerable for the client.
This three-step approach makes it
possible to work from superficial to
deep, including some of the deepest
muscles and fibers in the body in the
initial sessions, while staying within
the client’s pain tolerance. Using this
approach, significant long-term
structural change is initiated with a
significant reduction of pain in the
very first treatment session, and
subsequent sessions become even more
effective.
As
clients released dysfunctional
structural holding patterns, they also
released trapped emotional energy
blocked by chronically tightened soft
tissue. Wilhelm Reich referred to this
as character armor. Many of the emotions
and blockages were from early childhood,
and had been limiting psychological
development since their inception. The
blocked emotional energy behind the
character armor was also part of the
reason for many adult diseases that
clients were experiencing. With the
direct release of the core distortion
pattern, it became evident that clients
were releasing old behavioral emotional
patterns at an accelerated rate. The
deeper, slower strokes of the three-step
process encouraged clients to relax and
release without shifting tension to
deeper layers of tissue to block off the
expression of the emotional energy. By
going slower and allowing for the
release of the emotional energy, I had
moved into areas outside the norm of
deep tissue therapy, and was again
moving "beyond the box". The increase in
client’s well-being with the release of
this character armor and blocked
emotional energy proved that the release
of this negativity was part of the
complete healing process.
As I
mentioned earlier, the focus of this
therapy was on releasing the core
distortion pattern (anterior/posterior
rotation of the iliums) that was evident
in all my clients. It was also very
possibly the basis of 90% of the painful
symptoms and conditions they
experienced. With the use of SOT blocks
and specific soft tissue protocols, I
had achieved a level of success, but I
could not be confident that my clients
would not slip back into this distortion
through some life activity or trauma.
Consequently, clients would need
long-term treatment. I came to call this
a structural collapse syndrome due to
its effect on the overall structure and
the inability of the sacrum and iliums
to stabilize to maintain structural
integrity. The search to find a
long-term stable correction of the SI
joint continued to be the focus of my
study and investigation.
Enter
Cranial/Structural – the missing link.
Cranial/Structural soft tissue technique
was a natural progression in the
development of the Structural Energetic
Therapy®. This technique has the ability
to release and unwind structural holding
patterns, which greatly facilitates
structural balance and enhances the
body’s healing abilities. Consequently,
studying this osteopathic based modality
and integrating it into my therapies
became a necessity.
It was
my privilege to share clients with Dr.
Dallas Hancock, DC, LMT, as he was
developing his Craniostructural
Integration techniques. He discovered
that he could stretch and release the
adhesions and restrictions of the soft
tissue within the craniosacral mechanism
by using the sphenoid and occiput as
handles. Thus, he was no longer limited
to working within the existing soft
tissue restrictions of the cranial
motion. He observed that the torsion
pattern found in the pelvis was mirrored
in the cranium in the relationship of
the sphenoid and occiput via the
Sphenobasilar Synchondrosis, the joint
where the two bones meet. When he
released the cranial soft tissue
restrictions that were holding this
torsion in the cranium, he discovered
that the torsion of the iliums and
tippage of the sacrum released and began
moving into balance. This in itself was
a major breakthrough! Even more
significant was that, once released, the
pelvic distortion did not return, and
the sacrum/ilium relationship was able
to maintain structural integrity long
term. The apparent weakness of the
ligaments and connective tissue between
the sacrum and ilium appeared
strengthened to the degree that they
would no longer have a weight bearing
separation that had been the basis of
the structural collapse syndrome.
The
body began immediately unwinding
(releasing) the structural distortions
and chronic myofascial holding patterns
from the feet to the head, but a
substantial portion of the soft tissue
remained resistant to this change. So, I
combined Craniostructural Integration
techniques with my specific soft tissue
protocols to facilitate the maximum
reduction of the old structural
distortion, and found that clients were
attaining
and actually maintaining
a level of pelvic balance and structural
integrity within the first couple of
sessions. Previously this had not been
possible. Now we were really "outside of
the box" – a whole new paradigm.
This
was one more reason not to be restricted
to the 10 session series. Every step I
took to this point in developing
structural balancing techniques now paid
off in quantum leaps when coupled with
the Craniostructural Integration
releases. When I first started using the
Craniostructural Integration techniques,
they were in the initial stages of
evolution. What began as one untorquing
motion of the cranium evolved into the
current system of many sophisticated
cranial release patterns that include
structural as well as functional
releases utilizing kinesiology for
evaluation and confirmation.
New
Frontier
Long-term pelvic balancing was seldom
accomplished prior to incorporating the
Craniostructural Integration techniques.
Now the structure of the body would
start to balance as soon as the cranium
was mobilized by using these new
techniques. At this point, the basic
difference between Dr. Hancock’s
Craniostructural Integration techniques
and my therapeutic techniques began to
emerge. His techniques did not involve
any soft tissue releases beyond the
cranium and dura, but soft tissue work
was an integral part of the therapeutic
techniques I was using to facilitate the
release of the soft tissue restrictions
throughout the body that maintained the
old structural patterns and inhibited
structural balancing. Every one of my
sessions began with a structural
evaluation, cranial evaluation and
cranial correction/mobilization,
followed by specific deep soft tissue
myofascial techniques to release the
most restrictive soft tissue of the of
the old structural pattern. Using this
combination of techniques, the release
of the distortion throughout the whole
structure was initiated with cranial
releases, and the client’s initial area
of discomfort was addressed by the soft
tissue work.
Basic
differences in the results that Dr.
Hancock and I were achieving with our
clients also developed. The release of
the core distortion pattern using both
the cranial techniques and specific soft
tissue protocols facilitated the process
of unwinding into balance more quickly
and efficiently than using the
Craniostructural Integration techniques
alone. After a more complete release of
the core distortion pattern using the
integration of craniostructural and the
soft tissue releases, secondary patterns
began emerging. Not only did I need to
develop new soft tissue protocols to
address these changes, but also
additional cranial techniques to release
the new structural sub-patterns. Thus,
the cranial techniques used in
Structural Energetic Therapy® are now
referred to as Cranial/Structural
Therapy verses Dr. Hancock’s
Craniostructural Integration.
As
time went on even more sub-patterns
emerged, and the work took on another
new flavor. A new evolution had come.
Each sub-pattern had a cranial
distortion associated with it. The
release of the cranial distortion
initiated the release of the sub-pattern
structurally, but it could not be
totally released without the application
of the specialized deep soft tissue
protocols. At present there are at least
12 distinct sub-patterns with many
individualized variations.
Also
of interest is that the progression
through the sub-patterns is unique to
each client. There appear to be a number
of reasons for this. These sub-patterns
can be related to:
-
additional injuries that were not
directly related to the core distortion.
-
how
the client compensated for the core
distortion.
-
body
personality characteristics.
-
the
strength and development of the
musculature based on the client’s
previous
physical activities.
-
the
client’s overall condition and muscle
tonus.
-
the
client’s general physical and emotional
health.
-
the
blocking of emotional expression.
-
pattern injuries such as one-sided
sports activities, or internal rotation
of arms while working on computers.
These
are just a few of the characteristics
that illustrate the individuality and
uniqueness of each client. Consequently,
in the process of unwinding into
balance, some clients will progress
through many sub-patterns, others will
only experience a few, and each client
will respond at a different rate to the
corrections. The structural sub-patterns
are challenging in that they need to be
evaluated with body reading and
kinesiology at the beginning of each
session. However, the cranial correction
and specific soft tissue protocol, when
properly applied, will alleviate the
majority of their symptoms and
ultimately bring the body into balance
long term. This creates a therapy that
focuses on the unique needs of each
client, not on a predetermined
progression of treatment. Clients
receive totally individualized treatment
based on their structural distortions,
life history, and overall physical and
emotional health. Their treatments are
discontinued when they can maintain
structural balance and resume normal
life activities pain free.
Combining
Cranial/Structural techniques with
specific protocols for deep soft tissue
releases results in the maximum level of
total rehabilitation possible for each
client, physically and emotionally. This
is
Structural Energetic Therapy®,
and it will continue to evolve and
expand as the awareness and
understanding of the variety and
uniqueness of our clients and their
needs grow.
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