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Dear Dr. Upledger
When Stephanie first appeared in my office three years ago, she
was physically and mentally a wreck. She was not yet 40 and her health was deteriorating
rapidly. Her face was markedly pale. She hurt from head to tail. Steroid injections for
sacroiliac pain had been unsuccessful. She walked with a crutch-cane at times. Severe migraine
headaches plagued her daily and sometimes a single headache lasted for a week. She had
suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) since a traumatic incident during her
teenage years. She experienced numerous seizures daily, which had been questionably diagnosed
as myoclonic seizures. She had been to approximately 20 doctors in the last three years. She
was on seven medications and had numerous side effects, including severe memory impairment.
She had just finished her 16th course of antibiotics for a series of upper respiratory
infections, including several bouts of bronchitis and pneumonia.
We began a healing journey, meeting more or less weekly for three
years. Modalities used included CranioSacral Therapy, The Feldenkrais Method, SomatoEmotional
Release and Therapeutic Imagery and Dialogue. Stephanie was obviously experiencing chronic
stress and her muscles were hard as rocks. She had an old spinal fracture at T7-8, which was
a site of considerable pain. We began with CranioSacral Therapy, which brought overall
relaxation, both physically and mentally. The tight muscles softened and her mood calmed.
I attended The Upledger Foundation's Beyond the Dura Conference in 1999, and learned chakra diagnosis from Valerie Hunt. I checked Stephanie's chakras. The third chakra (solar plexus) was vigorous, but the fourth chakra (heart) was depleted. Imagine my surprise when she had a seizure, and the fourth chakra quickly became energized! I theorized that perhaps the seizures were not a pathology, but an ingenious way that her body had found to normalize her energy system! Perhaps the old spinal fracture site, between the two chakras, was inhibiting normal energetic flow?
I began using techniques from The Feldenkrais Method to bring more sensory awareness into
the spine. This helped her feel more "connected." I taught her Feldenkrais techniques to
relieve her occipital-atlantal, dural tube, and sacrum. She found these useful for pain
management, and began to feel more in control and less of a victim of her physical problems.
We used Therapeutic Imagery and Dialogue to speak with her body, including the unending
migraine headache. The headache said it was on constant duty to protect her from danger.
We negotiated with the headache, which was reluctant to leave her unprotected, but it was
delighted and relieved when told it could go on vacation. It wanted to go to the beach! We
asked it to board a helicopter with a romance novel and a Dr. Seuss book. It soon returned,
but we had many more conversations, with much reassurance that it could safely leave.
Gradually, the headache had longer periods of absence, and when it reappeared it was
less severe. Other parts of the brain, including the hypothalamus, reticular alarm system,
and corpus callosum, were brought into the conversation. The corpus callosum was afraid to
allow the two halves of the brain to communicate. We convinced it to allow just 10 percent
through as an experiment. Stephanie felt markedly different after that session, and found
an increase in creativity afterward. She was quite pleased with this, as her hobby is
writing fiction. We convinced the reticular alarm system to lower its vigilance and allow
more sleep. The hypothalamus had been living in terror. Reassuring conversation with it
helped her color to normalize and helped the overall functioning of her whole body. She saw
a bioenergetic therapist during times of high stress, which complemented her therapy with me.
Now Stephanie is a changed woman. She never needs the cane, and can walk the mall, as
well as perform physical tasks such as lifting boxes. She gets a mild headache two or three
times weekly, and the severe headache happens only once every few months. Her pain is under
control; seizures are occasional and are no longer an issue. PTSD symptoms are markedly
reduced. She dialogues with her headache, corpus callosum, and hypothalamus, which gives
insight into her emotions and physical symptoms. She uses self-help techniques from The
Feldenkrais Method to manage pain and stress, and uses the ear pull to normalize her temporal
bones. She has discontinued the most dangerous and debilitating medications, no longer has
disabling side effects, and has regained her memory. When I asked her to summarize the
effects of therapy, she replied, "I'm alive now. I don't think I would be without this."
Ann Harman is an osteopathic physician, CranioSacral Therapist, and Guild Certified
Feldenkrais Practitioner (cm). She teaches "Applications of The Feldenkrais Method for
CranioSacral Therapists" through the International Association of Healthcare Educators.
Dear Dr. Upledger -
Writing to report very exciting results from SomatoEmotional Release (SER) on
6 year old boy with severe feeding issues.
Born without lower intestines or anus...was reconstructed. Entire first year
in and out of hospital with multiple complications. Major Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD) and habitual fear with anything in or near his mouth.
Trust was also a major issue.
He has been getting OT by us for over two years and made great progress
through sensory integrative measures, but still not anywhere close to adequate
oral intake to remove G-tube. (He has been sustained on G-tube entire life,
but we were getting closer).
Then, just after two brief mouth sessions (I just returned home from SERI), he
went home that day and ate a complete meal. It has been four weeks now and he
needs at least weekly (yet brief) mouth input, but is sustaining this level of
eating. I plan to track him for at least 6-12 months and I am continuing to
collect data on this boy as his progress and process continues.
His parents feel CranioSacral Therapy (CST) and SER along with the sensory
integration has been the most helpful and effective. (This is a child who has
been around the country at the "best feeding programs" for behavioral tx.)
I'm meeting with this boys' GI doctor to discuss possible research ideas with
his clinic patients. So I am expecting more good things to come from all of
this.
Susan V. Kratz, OTR, BCP
Brookfield, WI
Dear Dr. Upledger -
Besides being a personally transforming and healing experience, I witnessed
two "miracles" or major therapeutic effects of basic craniosacral techniques being taught in CranioSacral Therapy I, November 8-11,
2001 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The first is nearly complete (90% perceived) hearing recovery in one ear of a
student. She says that her left ear had been nearly deaf since childhood,
during which time she also was tested and treated for this hearing loss with
no success or clue as to why the hearing loss even occurred. After the 3rd
day of class (frontal, parietal, temporal, and sphenoid techniques), she
realized that same evening that her hearing in that ear was nearly recovered,
all but 10% she estimates. This was shared with the class on the 4th day.
The second, maybe less dramatic "miracle", was that a massage therapist with
whom traded massages the day after CSI completed said that for the last two
nights (after the 3rd and 4th days of class) he has had no back pain and has
been able to sleep through both nights without awakening because of this. He
said he had had the back pain for 10 years.
And last, but not least, I have experienced major release and healing in
several parts of my body (neck, throat, pelvis, head) that were previously
making my life miserable every day, to a certain degree. The most profound
release occurred with the sphenoid technique taught on the 3rd day of class. A
rather interesting side note is that the occipital base release caused nearly
2-3 lbs (yes, pounds) of fluid (mucus, lymph, blood, and CSF) to drain out of
my head. I have also felt great emotional healing in conjunction with these
physical benefits. I was finally able to release emotions and energy that I
had been holding since an accident at the age
of 5 (over 20 years)- this was causing great imbalance, strain and pain in my
body, especially the endocrine system. My colleagues at work, friends, and
family are commenting on how much more happy and relaxed I look as well as a
dramatic improvement in my posture. Today, I sat through an entire 2-1/2 hour
theater movie without squirming or pain in my neck or back as
I always had before.
All I can say, is that this work is what I have been waiting to find for
almost all of my life, and through learning it, I have been able to heal
myself- which was totally unplanned and unexpected in a conscious way. Tonight
was the local CST study group, and the facilitator shared that she had similar
transformational experiences and paradigm shifts, too. CST is an exciting tool
to use with my clients and patients. Since my class and upon returning to
work, I have had very positive response to the CST techniques I am now
blending in with my massage and bodywork.
Thank you so much for the work that you do and share with others.
In touch,
Shelley Y. Sides, Massage Therapist
Member American Massage Therapy Association
Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork
Dear Dr. Upledger -
I am a PT in the Buffalo, NY area.
I had a patient who came in with a diagnosis of calcification
of the disc between T4-T5 via MRI. She was 12 years old
at the time. She initially complained of L sided headaches,
neck pain, easy loss of balance and poor sleep. Her mom
reported that her daughter had poor homework habits and
generally had become a "couch potato". Normally
she did very well in school and was extremely active in
school sports. At her initial evaluation I found that the
following: 1) normal cervical AROM except for moderate L
scaleni, levator scapula and upper trapezius myofascial
restrictions. 2) Increased tonus in L temporalis, massetter
and lateral pterygoid muscles. 3) 1-3 second duration of
her ability to stand on her L leg before loosing her balance.
4) Likely outer dural membrane adhesion at T4-5 with facilitated
segments at this level as well 5) left sided torque during
flexion phase in cranium with specific dural restrictions
in L tent, squamal portion of L Temporal bone. L temporal
bone with flexion lesion, sphenoid with left sided flexion
and side bending lesions, left temporoparietal suture restricted.
6) CSR at 15 in spinal dura below T5 and 8 above T5.
Initially I started with temporal rock/wobble
and circumferential techniques whereupon she immediately
still pointed, started to unwind in upper cervical region.
After a few minutes of this she promptly vomited. I had
asked her if she wanted to hold for the morning and she
stated that she wanted to continue. I then was drawn to
the upper thoracic and began assisting her in unwinding
the upper thoracic with significant heat release. At this
point she remembered that she had whacked the upper part
of her back when was 7 years old doing flips on a trampoline.
We finished at this point her CSR normalized to 11 cpm throughout
the system. The next session she reported 3 days of total
relief before her symptoms came back (less intensely though).
I continued working with her temps, sphenoid, added O-A
and sacral techniques for 3 more sessions where by then
her pain had totally stopped as well as her vestibular symptoms
and she was able to return to her normal activities. I did
see her again in 3 months later for 2 visits as her symptoms
returned mildly. As it turned out she had a growth spurt
in that time (2 inches). Some residual upper thoracic dural
restriction were found and released and she was able to
return to her normal activities.
Working with her was very educational
and rewarding.
- David A. Wojtowicz, PT
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