Dr. Kate’s Blog

There are may types of craniosacral therapy. There are many names for similar types of work: cranial work, biodynamic craniosacral therapy, cranial osteopathy, sacro-occipital technique, they all stem from the work of Dr. Sutherland. You can read and hear more about the origins of cranial work by going to my website and downloading the mp3 or reading the articles I wrote. The hours one can spend training to be a cranial therapist are extremely varied. You don’t have to be an Osteopath to be a good cranial therapist; however it is necessary to put some time into a good training. A person can say they do craniosacral therapy after a weekend course. Biodynamic trainings are 700 hour trainings that are 2-3 years depending upon the structure of the course. To earn the letters R.C.S.T. you must graduate from a 700 hour training.

Check a persons training before considering seeing a practitioner. Find out the length of their training, did they graduate, and ask if they know who Dr. Sutherland is. Most trainings that are under 700 hours are limited in the level of skill  that the practitioner is taught to listen to the body; there is a whole symphony of instruments to hear not just the violin or trombone.

Franklyn Sills the author of Craniosacral Biodynamics states” craniosacral biodynamics approaches work within the somatics field in a unique way . Many foundation courses and books address a particular rhythm called the cranial rhythm, or cranial rhythmic impulse. This book (work) focuses  more on locating the deeper and slower tidal rhythms generated by the action of the breath of life within the human system. The breath of life is considered to be the fundamental organizing force within the natural world. Craniosacral biodynamics takes its lead from the later work of Dr. William Garner Sutherland, and Dr. Rollin Becker, in which the breath of life was perceived to be the organizing principle of the work.”

As there are many different forms of this work I thought it would be helpful to know some of the differences.  Franklyn will be coming to New York this fall and I will be taking his post graduate class. I look forward to studying with one of the leaders in this field, he is a genius who has brought together powerful concepts to concoct a delicious recipe of work. I got a chance to meet him at the cranial conference in London a few years back. I will tell you all about the class after I take it…