Peter Duggan

What is Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy?

Biodynamic craniosacral therapy (BCST) is a gentle, non- manipulative whole body therapy that is carried out on a treatment table. As the session uses no oils, the client remains fully clothed for the session.

In a BCST session, the therapist listens to the client's body using a light, gentle touch. This contact can be made anywhere on the body, not just the head.

This is because BCST is a whole body therapy. It is not just confined to working with the cranium or the spine, though these two elements form an important foundation to the theory and workings of BCST.

Often the therapist may make contact near the body part that might be causing trouble for the client, but this will be determined as the session unfolds. During the session, the therapist's hands remain quite still as he maintains the contact, for he is listening to, and feeling the patterns of holding and releasing that are occurring within the tissues and fluids of the client's body.

The therapist's training enables him to perceive how the craniosacral motion is being expressed in the client's body. A problem area will affect this craniosacral motion which the therapist's touch will perceive, and mirror back to the client.

In this way a process of healing is initiated, and blocked or restricted areas will begin to move more freely.

With this type of contact both client and practitioner move into a very still state. This state, which is so rare in our increasingly busy lives, is a very healing space. The mind stops chattering and new sensations become apparent as the body relaxes and opens up to this deep, restorative space. This process requires the therapist to enter a state of listening rather than applying some physical manipulation which he think is best and going to "fix" the client.

Instead, in entering into a state of listening to the client's system, the therapist allows the wisdom of the client's body to take the lead and to determine the pace at which the work progresses.

BCST can help with pain relief, bybringing the nervous system, organs and musculoskeletal systems back into balance. It is particularly beneficial where the client has experienced any sort of trauma - whether physical, emotional, or psychological.

Unresolved trauma tends to get locked into the tissues, creating patterns or blockages in the system which affect the general well being of the body. BCST allows that trauma to slowly and safely release at the system's own pace, allowing the body to return to a state of balance and well being.