CRANIO PSYCHO THERAPY

Boulder County is one of those places where craniosacral therapy is a relatively familiar form of treatment.  We are fortunate to have access to a wide variety of health care practices in addition to those offered by conventional medicine. In general, craniosacral therapy is used to treat problems in the head, spine and pelvis.  These problems may have been caused by an external force such as being in a car accident, falling off a bike, running into a table corner, or by internal imbalances that then cause, for example, migraines, earache, sinusitis, TMJ and so forth.  Treatment involves gentle manipulation of the tissues that are responsible for alignment of the skull and spinal bones. This manipulation is achieved by the lightest of touches.  Imagine if you were trying to move a tiny floating petal from one side of a bowl of water, covered in thin plastic, to the other.  The relevance of this is that a primary diagnostic aid in determining correct – or incorrect - cranial alignment is the quality of flow of cerebral spinal fluid within the cranial and spinal membranes. 

Children are highly receptive to craniosacral therapy..  They do not have to deal with invasive or scary techniques, and most actually love the deep level of relaxation that treatments induce.  So when might you bring in your child?  Initially, as soon after birth as possible.  Typically, one session corrects the inevitable birthing compressions, and alleviates the years of problems and adjustments that the little body otherwise has to go through.  Colic is a good example of an immediate by-product of birthing-induced cranial compression, as is a diminished ability to nurse.  Later problems of birthing compression include poor sleeping, hyperactivity, a depressed immune system, frequent earaches, and poor motor co-ordination.  As the child grows, significant falls and knocks, although not palpable to the untrained hand, actually force the cranial and spinal bones out of alignment.  Again, a treatment after a knock takes care of a much more complex set of problems that would otherwise emerge later. 

Of course, for you as an active parent, the same criteria apply.  Any external force to your head or spine – including landing hard on your feet - as in taking too much air skiing – causes a shift in the bone alignments.  In fact, a toddler’s head slamming up into your chin is the number one cause of dental and jaw injuries in adults.  Immediate treatment saves years of subsequent problems.  Internally generated problems in adults such as migraines, TMJ, depression, chronic neck pain, sinusitis, lumbar pain, may actually be the result of an untreated childhood injury or incident.  For example, teenagers who are treated with orthodontic braces, and who do not have a craniosacral adjustment after their removal, have a considerable higher incidence of migraines and curvature of the spine later in adulthood.

So far, only traditional craniosacral therapy has been described.  With the addition of psychotherapy, the treatments are then able to address the trauma that children and adults experience either as a result of a specific physical injury, or from some form of emotional stress. When the emotional component of trauma is not addressed, the body displaces it into a physical entity.  This is the most ‘efficient’ way for the body to manage unresolved trauma, but of course produces all kinds of physical problems later on.  As demonstration of this phenomenon, individuals who receive post-traumatic stress treatments experience considerably less physical problems later, compared to those who do not.  So with children, whilst correcting the physical trauma of, for example, falling out of a tree, it is critical to work the emotional stress out of the body simultaneously.  As adults, many of us did not receive such help as children, and subsequently carry unresolved emotional stress in our bodies.  Interestingly, a new trauma, such as a car accident, will reactivate old emotional traumas, even those we feel we have worked on and put to rest. Therefore, both the physical problems, and the old and new emotional traumas need to be treated.  Craniopsycho therapy does exactly that.  Sometimes, an adult seeking help for migraines, for example, can only be fully treated when the psychodynamic component of the pain is addressed. In many cases the emotional trauma associated with the physical condition is as apparently unrelated as emotional, physical or sexual abuse in childhood, loss of a sibling, parent, teacher – and so forth.

Craniopsycho therapy is remarkably effective.  As a culture, we are only beginning to understand the inseparability of body, mind and soul.  Treating one without the others is at best partial, at worst unhelpful.  Integrated health care, from birth onwards, is critical for our well-being.

Alison Watt has had a practice in Boulder for six years.  She trained in psychotherapy at the Royal College of Arts in England, and in craniosacral therapy at the Upledger Institute in USA.  Prior to relocating to the States, after completion of her nursing training, she studied the sociology and psychology of medicine.  Later, as a professor, she taught medical students and social science under- and post- graduates.

Please contact Alison at 303 245 0408 if you have any questions about Craniopsyco therapy.  Alison is also a Moxie Moms partner