About CranioSacral Therapy
Tell me more:
about
CranioSacral Therapy.
A Hands-on Therapy
with a gentle touch
If you’re wondering about CranioSacral Therapy, It is a hands-on therapy using gentle, non-invasive, and often subtle touch. Sometimes people even wonder if anything is happening at all… but don’t be fooled! It can powerfully affect the central nervous system and help improve how the whole body functions.
How Does CranioSacral Therapy Work?
You lie on a treatment table while the practitioner places their hands gently on your body – usually starting at the feet. They’re feeling for subtle rhythms, how your tissues move, and whether any part of your body is asking for attention.
Sometimes, that area might be where your symptoms are. Other times, the root cause may be somewhere else entirely. Your body is smart – it adapts to stress, injury, and emotional experiences in clever ways. The practitioner will move their hands to different areas during the session, often including your head and the base of your spine.
At the very least, you’ll feel relaxed and more connected to yourself. Sometimes the practitioner may ask gentle questions to help you explore past experiences and what they mean to you now. But remember – you are always in charge. You guide the session.
Treatments are done on a clothed body, with the receiver usually lying on a treatment couch. If this is not comfortable, we may have an adaptable couch, treat people on their side or even sitting, if need be.
What clients say…
Treatments usually last 45 mins to an hour, although there are occasions when you may organise longer sessions with your therapist (even multi-hands or intensive treatments). Appointments for babies and small children may be shorter, perhaps30 minutes.
What Does CranioSacral Therapy Mean?
cRANIO = HEAD | sACRAL = BASE OF SPINE
“Cranio” refers to the cranium (head), and “sacral” refers to the sacrum, the bone at the base of your spine. In CranioSacral Therapy, we often work between these two areas. Why? Because everything is connected through the nervous system, fascia, vessels, and other tissues.
Why We May Work Beyond the Head and Sacrum
Though the name focuses on the head and sacrum, we may treat anywhere in the body. The body is an interconnected system. Spinal cord nerves, connective tissues and fascia create links from head to toe.
How Does CranioSacral Therapy Work?
We use gentle touch to encourage subtle movement and fluid flow in the body.It’s like gently flushing a sticky pipe or unwinding a twist in fabric. Sometimes it’s active, like straightening a wrinkled sleeve. Other times, our hands simply hold still and support whatever the body needs to do. We listen with our hands and respond to the body’s signals.
The Body’s Inner Wisdom
A key principle of CranioSacral Therapy is the body’s ability to self-heal. This idea comes from our osteopathic roots and other bodywork traditions. We often call it the “inner physician” or “inner wisdom.”
It’s the part of you that knows what’s needed for healing. We don’t aim to fix or diagnose in the traditional sense. Instead, we listen closely and follow what the body is showing us. Our job is to create space and trust the body’s process.
Who & What is CST Good For?
From newborns to the elderly…
Because CST is, in its essence, about a way of connecting with another person, and supporting their own inner healing mechanism, really, it is for anyone.
It is quite beautiful to treat newborns whose systems may have simply become a bit misaligned during their nine months in utero or from that sometimes challenging birth process, and the speed and efficiency with which they self correct can be seemingly miraculous.
It is also fantastic to work with older folk who want to keep their fascia and their functioning as top notch as possible.
Used for maintenance of general health or regularly for more chronic problems, it is also something you can return to over and over. In short, I would put my stake in the ground and say it can benefit pretty much anyone!
It’s good for all sorts of issues…
We have found over the years that there are many issues and problems that respond very well to the CranioSacral Therapy touch!
It can be effective for a wide range of problems that bring discomfort, pain or dysfunction, not least because it is typically so relaxing to receive and this in itself complements and stimulate the body’s natural healing processes. In fact, as well as helping what you came for, you might find ignored, hidden or even forgotten problems are often resolved as well.
CST techniques influence movement and coordination, pain pathways, the digestive system, the respiratory system, heart function, the endocrine system… potentially the majority of the body systems. It hones in on areas that are holding tension, injury and even emotions helping to release whatever the body needs, and is ready, to let go of.
People often seek it out because it has been recommended to them by someone else (often with the proviso: ‘I’m not quite sure what they do but it really helped my x, y, z’!).
How will I feel after a session?
Can you describe how you feel after a hug?
A great evening with friends? A hot bath after a stressful day?
It depends on a few variables and is hard to put into words…!
Typically, you will feel relaxed both during and after a session, though some sessions may feel very different from others and all bodies are different.
Afterwards, you may feel very energised and raring to go, or you may feel tired and want to rest. It depends on what is going on and the way your body responds to what changed.
Ideally you would be able to arrange your day to allow for any of these responses!
How many CranioSacral Therapy Sessions Will I Need?
People often ask, “How many CranioSacral Therapy sessions will I need?” The answer depends on many factors — how long you’ve had the condition, what caused it and what’s contributing to it now.
Some people come for help with a specific physical issue, which may improve quickly. Others seek support for emotional patterns or life stress, which may take more time.
In most cases, it’s a mix of both physical and emotional reasons.
We typically suggest starting with three sessions. This gives your body and nervous system time to respond, process, and begin to shift.
If you connect with the therapy, you may choose to continue over a longer period. Many people do, in fact, I’ve been receiving treatment for over 25 years and still benefit from every session!
‘Learning and receiving CST is like I’m opening up a new universe…’.
Image copyright to UII
Can you give me a bit more?
What are you actually treating?
In short we are aiming to treat…
So What is SER then?
SomatoEmotional Release™ is…
an elegant way of working with the body-mind-spirit to help release emotional issues or memories within its tissues
(‘somata’ – Greek for body)
It’s still CranioSacral Therapy!
Ever had the experience of a therapist working with you and you suddenly feel emotional, or have an unexpected memory appear, or see an image or something that reminds you of a time / place / event?
As odd as it may seem if you have not had this happen, if it does, we view it as your body showing you there is something connected to the place we are working. It can be really helpful to explore what that is. We see it as your inner wisdom communicating. So it would be rude not to listen right?!
So we may begin to ask you about what is going on for you. We may pose some questions to help you elucidate what the image means for you, what happened or what you are feeling. Again, this is totally guided by you and however much you want to explore the experience.
When emotions happen…
It is still the case that most healthcare approaches separate mind and body – you can have either physical therapy or psychotherapy. This way of working emerged from the many years Dr Upledger spent working with people, and him noticing that some physical symptoms would not fully release and heal until an emotional component was taken care of too.
Seeing a link between the physical tissue and emotional and mental aspects, he began to draw on a few different avenues of mind and body work and use ideas from those approaches to help clients link it to what he was feeling in listening to and following the body’s tissue releases.
The process gradually developed into what he called SomatoEmotional Release™ (SER™)
SER in Practice….
still CranioSacral Therapy!
There are times in CranioSacral Therapy when we notice signs in the body that suggest an emotional component.
These signs tell us there may be more going on beneath the surface. It’s not always dramatic—sometimes there’s an emotional outpouring, but often, it’s much more subtle. By following these cues, we can gently support the process and ensure it remains safe and helpful.
Imagine something happened in your past, but you couldn’t fully express how you felt. Maybe it wasn’t safe. Maybe you didn’t know how. There are many valid reasons for this. When those emotions go unexpressed, it’s as if they get ‘stuck’ in the tissues of the body. We adapt around this, often without realising. Over time, it can contribute to physical pain, tension, and dysfunction. It may even affect our emotional wellbeing and how we show up in the world.
In a CranioSacral Therapy session, when we feel safe and supported, the body can begin to release. Always—only—at its own pace, in its own time.
What difference does ‘doing’ SER make?
Bringing awareness, understanding and sometimes a different perspective to our life story, SomatoEmotional Release® can facilitate huge change. This can occur in a myriad of ways and is frequently gentle and creative, as we listen and follow both mind and body.
SER® facilitates personal growth, helps us move from illness, unresolved issues and lack of potential, towards health. Our CST tools combine to work alongside all aspects of our nature – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual – and in the right hands become an ingenious tool for sorting out our lives and redesigning our futures.
It really can be quite extraordinary work.
“Quote” from an email
From a client who had struggled for years with a brain injury
This last session gave me more balance. A few days ago I was aware of a new subtle layer of feeling. Then there were tiny dots of awareness, understanding, intelligence within it. That was wonderful. My original self is being restored. This morning when I woke up I was so, so happy! Inner processes are speeding up. The best part is that my growing self is at last able to experience such a level of relaxed happiness.
T h a n k y o u x x
Try it Out!
So whether you are looking to receive treatment for yourself or are a healthcare practitioner looking to expand the work that you offer (or both) you will find that CranioSacral Therapy can help with many conditions.
Please contact a practitioner near you to find out more about what is going on in your body from your craniosacral system’s perspective.
Please be aware that we do not make any diagnoses about medical conditions, unless we are otherwise qualified to do so..
We also highly recommend that anyone with a medically diagnosed condition, choosing to use CranioSacral Therapy, does so with the full knowledge and cooperation of their medical specialist.
What Can You Expect from Our Practitioners?
From a 10-Step protocol to unique ways of following the whole body
Practitioners who have trained with us at different levels will use different elements of the total offering that is a CranioSacral Therapy treatment.
At CST1 and 2 levels, our practitioners are able to complete a 10-step protocol and some specific mouthwork techniques that listen and follow the body and the tissues.
Further classes enable practitioners to gain more experience in locating the source of problems, symptoms and areas that may be holding issues. Through initiating a dialogue with you, your tissues and any emotional issues that may be held within and compromising function.
At an advanced level, we may have studied additional areas of physiology or anatomy, but the principles of treatment – listening to and following the body, and understanding that it knows exactly what it needs to do – remains the core ethic and approach of our treatments.
Many practitioners also integrate the techniques we use with what they do in another core therapy, if that is not CST – always ask your practitioner about their work – we are really happy to share and tell you about the approach.
ANd if you’re really intrigued….
Want to know a little more about how this evolved?
This is Dr John Upledger, the evolver of this work. Find out more about him, his history and:
That’s all cool, and actually, I’m interested in becoming a CranioSacral Therapist!
Awesome! In which case please choose the most appropriate pathway:
