Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST)

Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy ( BCST )

Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST) is a light touch, non-invasive form of touch therapy, that is wonderfully relaxing approach to healing through touch. The therapist directly supports their clients’ ability to self-repair and find a natural balance by following the unwinding of the tissues. Our Nervous System responds really well to a light touch approach, and influences our entire body. BCST is some of the lightest work you will receive, with some of the deepest results. This therapy is suited for all ages and a wide range of acute to chronic conditions. Regular sessions support good maintenance of health.

How is BCST performed?

BCST is performed on a fully clothed body. We ask that you wear comfortable pants (with no belt) and a warm shirt. Craniosacral sessions involves the practitioner placing their hands on the patient, which allows them to “tune into the craniosacral rhythm”. The practitioner then uses delicate manual techniques to release restrictions and relieve undue pressure on the brain and spinal cord. When the central nervous system is free of restrictions, the body is more able to return to its highest levels of health.
The hallmark of a biodynamic craniosacral approach is a direct orientation to the universal and conditional forces of life. In this approach, the practitioner:

Settles into a still and receptive state of being
Clearly negotiates a relationship with the client and their system
Orients to the presence of primary respiration
Waits for a shift within the client’s system to this formative ordering force
Creates a container within which decisions are made by the Breath of life and the primary respiration it generates.

Benefits

Craniosacral sessions are beneficial for acute, sub-acute and chronic pain. BCST sessions also well suited for maintenance of wellness and stress reduction. Some conditions which Craniosacral work can assist are:

Menstrual Cramping
Migraines
Muscle Tension
Muscle Spasms
Nightmares
Osteoarthritis
Personality Disturbances
Postural Deformities
PTSD
Raynaud’s Disease
Scars
Sciatica
Scoliosis
Stress Related Disorders
Tinnitus
Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
TMJ Dysfunction
Vertigo
Whiplash
Birth Traumas
Chronic Depression
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Chronic Pain
Constipation
Degenerative Disc Disease
Digestive Disorders
Dyslexia
Edema
Fibromyalgia
Frozen Shoulder
Headaches
Herniated Discs
Impingement Syndrome
Inflammation of the nerves
Insomnia
Low Back Pain
Lupus

Brief History

Craniosacral work ultimately originates with the discoveries of osteopath William Garner Sutherland. As a senior at the American School of Osteopathy in 1899, he became fascinated with the bones of the cranium. Though he had been taught that these bones fuse in adulthood, their structure seemed to imply that they were designed for movement.
While looking at a disarticulated skull the thought struck him, “beveled like the gills of a fish." Thus began Sutherland’s life long journey of investigating whether the living skull expresses motion and whether this motion is physiologically important.

When Sutherland expressed his theory to his instructors, he was laughed at, and told not to explore such crazy ideas. So he did what any good scientist would do, he started experimenting on him self. And after graduating he started experimenting on his patients. Eventually he took his findings back to the college of osteopaths, where they wanted him to help teach them. Thus Cranial Osteopathy was born. Sutherland continued to study up until his death, and what he found was the less intention places on the body, the more the body revealed and responded. This is when he moved into a more Biodynamic approach.

Many practitioners have carried on the work of Sutherland within the field of osteopathic practice. Outside of the osteopathic community, Dr. John Upledger began to teach something he called CranioSacral Therapy. His endeavors have been paramount in the creation of a defined craniosacral profession and practice outside of the osteopathic framework.

Franklyn Sills, with a group of other enthusiastic students, studied the work of Dr. Randolph Stone DO. Sills was fascinated by what Stone called primary energy and the neuter essence. He discovered that Sutherland was a major influence on Stone in this venue. Franklyn also introduced the work of Sutherland and Rollin Becker DO to the wider craniosacral community and helped people orient to what Becker called the inherent treatment plan. Franklyn’s use of the term “biodynamics” was derived from Dr. Becker’s use of the term “biodynamic potency,” which denoted the ordering forces present within the human system. Franklyn included the dynamics of how the practitioner and client come into relationship and the healing of personal and interpersonal wounding, as a primary focus in training and session work. Franklyn also developed terms like the negotiated relational field, the holistic shift and the mid-tide to help clarify some of the perceptual territories that emerge in session work. Over this period of time, Franklyn and his colleagues taught trainings in Switzerland, USA, Spain, Australia and Germany and the biodynamic approach to craniosacral therapy has now spread around the world.