What is Craniosacral Therapy?

I find comfort in knowing the human body has a strong, natural tendency to heal itself. However, trauma, stress, physical injury, and disease can reduce the healing forces and that’s when it’s a good idea to seek assistance. There are many types of practitioners in the field of integrative medicine who we can turn to when our bodies need a boost to spark our healing forces and a Craniosacral Therapist is one of those types of practitioners. A Craniosacral Therapist, engages with our body’s natural healing forces in order to enhance its natural healing ability and to restore health and integration of body, mind and spirit. 

A treatment session is usually done lying on a massage-type table in a serene setting. Treatment involves a very gentle touch of the practitioner’s hands and sometimes their hands will just hover over a part of our body where they sense needs healing. This gentleness informs the body that it is safe and sends a signal that it can open up to healing without engaging its protective mechanisms. The Craniosacral Therapist is trained to tune in on a very subtle level to the rhythms in our body and this informed awareness can stimulate the body to express and release its past traumas, tensions, and restrictions, and begin to restore health and vitality.

Due to the gentle nature of Craniosacral Therapy, anyone, from infants to the elderly, can experience the treatment for a wide range of physical and mental symptoms. A study done in 2021 by faculty from the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, showed patients who received Craniosacral Therapy reported internal processes of motion, turmoil, release, and reorganization leading to less general tension and more flexibility, the sense of relaxation and deceleration, and enhanced energy and inner power.

Comments from patients in the study expressed positive outcomes.

“I have experienced a great boost of energy and more inner strength.”

“I am more relaxed when dealing with stress and allow my body to take breaks.”

“My son is so happy today. After the second treatment, I had a completely different child.”

Most importantly, the study found symptoms significantly (statistically tested) decreased in infants, children, and adults and quality of life and personal resources significantly improved. If you are interested in seeking this kind of treatment, this link can help you find a licensed Craniosacral Therapist near you https://www.craniosacraltherapy.org/find-a-practitioner-page .

1 Heidemarie Haller, Gustav Dobos, Holger Cramer, The use and benefits of Craniosacral Therapy in primary health care: A prospective cohort study, Complementary Therapies in Medicine, Volume 58, 2021, 102702, ISSN 0965-2299, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2021.102702.