Bodywork

Bodywork Overview

Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy and Somatic Experiencing® are integrative medicine practices that support optimal whole body health. Allison combines these two modalities while also drawing upon her extensive knowledge of human anatomy and movement. Treatments last approximately 60 – 70 minutes and involve dialogue and gentle hands-on contact with the client fully clothed and either seated in a comfortable chair or lying on a massage table.  

When you arrive for your session there will be a brief medical history taken before the hands-on treatment begins.  This is an opportunity to discuss your health concerns and what you would like to get out of the session.  Once the treatment begins some time will be taken to ensure your comfort and establish a sense of safety before hands-on contact is made.

Hands-on contact may begin at your feet, cranium (head) or sacrum (triangular shaped bone at the base of the spine). As the session progresses contact may be made with other areas of the body as needed. Periodically throughout the hands-on work there will be dialogue to help facilitate and support the process. At all times your comfort and safety are at the heart of the treatment.  After the session there will be some time taken to check-in with how you are doing, reflect back on your experience and support integration. The effect of treatment will continue to unfold in the days following your session and you will be encouraged to stay attentive to this process.  

Your Experience

During the session you may:

  • Relax so deeply that you fall asleep
  • Enter a quiet meditation-like state
  • Feel as if you are dreaming while awake
  • Experience memories or insights while on the table
  • Enjoy a pleasant sense of warmth, softening, widening or floating

Along with relief from your presenting symptoms, after the session you may also:

  • Feel relaxed, but also energized
  • Find yourself breathing more fully and deeply
  • Stand straighter and taller
  • Feel more comfortable in your body
  • Experience a general sense of well-being
  • Notice an improvement in your sleep patterns, digestion and overall experience of life

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Conditions

There are a wide variety of conditions that can be addressed by this work.  Some of them are listed here:

  • Allergies
  • Anxiety
  • Arthritis
  • Asthma
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  • Autism
  • Back, Neck & Joint Pain
  • Cancer 
    • Pre & Post-op Support 
    • Chemotherapy Side Effects
    • Radiation Therapy Side Effects
    • Hospice/End of Life Care
  • Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
  • Car Accident Related Pain & Emotional Trauma
  • Chronic Fatigue
  • Chronic Pain
  • Circulation Disorders
  • Constipation
  • Depression
  • Diarrhea
  • Digestive Disorders
  • Eating Disorders
  • Emotional Trauma
  • End of Life Care
  • Head Injury
  • Headaches/Migraine
  • Insomnia
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Menopausal Symptoms
  • Menstrual Symptoms
  • Nausea
  • Neuropathy
  • Plantar Fasciitis
  • Pregnancy
    • Pre & Post Natal
  • PTSD
  • Sciatica
  • Sexual Abuse Trauma
  • Stress
  • Surgery Support
    • Pre-operative preparation
    • Post-operative healing
  • Tinnitus
  • TMJ
  • Vertigo
  • Whiplash

General Benefits

  • Calm the nervous system
  • Release trauma locked in the body
  • Increase circulation/energy
  • Release muscular tension
  • Decrease anxiety
  • Release stuck emotions
  • Resource your body
  • People w/ chronic conditions unresponsive to conventional treatment
  • Balance mind, body, and spirit

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Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST)

Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST) was developed by Franklyn Sills in the lineage of William Garner Sutherland, DO, and others.  In BCST the practitioner employs the art of skillful, gentle touch and embodied presence as a means to support whole body health. As one might expect from the name, BCST influences the central nervous system as well as the fluid that bathes it, which has a powerful effect on the whole body.  There is a neutral meeting point between practitioner and client where the Intelligence of the body is honored and supported.  When given the right circumstances and support this Intelligence is the guiding force that allows the body’s Inherent Health to unfold and the result is a state of optimum wellness.   BCST helps to balance and revitalize the body so that our Inherent Health can find its fullest expression.

Somatic Experiencing® (SE)

Somatic Experiencing® (SE) is the life work of Peter A. Levine, PhD.  Dr. Levine developed SE based on his many years of study and practice in the field of trauma resolution.   Unresolved trauma, or more simply stated, dis-regulation in the nervous system, can manifest as chronic stress, pain, poor health and emotional distress. This dis-regulation can occur as a result of a single overwhelming event or a series of unresolved incidents throughout one’s life.  There may be a sense that something is out of balance or that you could be happier or feel better in your daily life, or there may be a host of symptoms that keep you from actively engaging in life in a meaningful way.  Whatever the root cause and symptoms, SE helps to support regulation in the nervous system by gently guiding clients to develop increasing tolerance for difficult bodily sensations and suppressed emotions. This results in a resetting of the nervous system, which frees the client from suffering and allows for greater presence and capacity to fully engage in life experiences.

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Photography: Michael Shipley