Integrated Positional Therapy
Integrated Positional Therapy (IPT) incorporates the osteopathic techniques of Muscle Energy Technique (MET) and Strain-Counter strain (SCS) to realign the body’s structure. The heart of IPT lies in getting the pelvis, “the foundation” of the body, in perfect alignment. If the foundation of a house is not structurally sound the imbalance will show up throughout the entire structure. The same is true in our body. If the pelvis is out of alignment, it will affect everything from head to toe. Each session begins with a postural assessment. The treatment itself involves placing affected muscles in a position of comfort/passively shortening the muscle for 90 seconds (Slacking) effectively resets the memory of the muscle that is causing it to remain tight. Assisted stretching using active isometric contractions contributes to the rebalancing of the muscles. Relief is often immediate and long lasting. An important part of this therapy is that the client is invited to become an active participant in their own healing process through the assignment of simple exercises and stretches as well as suggestions for changing habits that contribute to what has been causing the pain.
Craniosacral Therapy
Craniosacral therapy (CST) or cranial osteopathy is a form of alternative medicine that uses gentle touch to feel rhythmic movements of the craniosacral fluid that flows from the brain to the sacrum and subtle adjustments to the joints of the skull and sacrum to achieve a therapeutic result.
Craniosacral Therapy
By quietly resting the hands on your skull and sacrum, the therapist evaluates your craniosacral rhythms. This in itself can create a shift in energy. Sometimes, the therapist’s hands become aware of places along the column where energy is stuck or heated. She then uses the bones of the sacrum and cranium as “handles” to manipulate the deeper layers of fluid and membranes. No instruments or devices are used.
In sessions lasting 45 – 60 minutes, clients and therapists work closely together. “Ideally,” says Dr. Milne, “the client clears a mental space so something might occur.” The therapist waits and listens. You might feel a quieting down, a sinking in, and a deeper awareness. The whole idea is that the practitioner works with such gentleness and
subtleness that the body itself can do the healing and necessary adjustments. “It’s a question of trust,” Dr. Upledger notes. A session can be described as a physically connected meditation, in which hidden information in the craniosacral system reveals itself.
Healing then can occur via the corrective mechanism known as the still point, the spontaneous quiet between waves. Typically, you have one every three to four minutes, and it lasts from five to sixty seconds. It’s a natural pause in the rhythm. Synchronizing and optimizing the waves, still points are like sighs. During sessions, when you’re more sensitive to them, they’re like moments of deep relaxation in which you let go and return to yourself. It’s the moment of insight, when you “get” it.