Craniosacral therapy is all about being hands on–and it’s a simple way to ease your clients’ ailments with healing touch. By learning the benefits and techniques of craniosacral therapy in the privacy of your home or office through home study courses, massage therapists can easily implement these tools into their practice.
The craniosacral system is the environment where the spinal cord and brain develop and function. During craniosacral therapy sessions, the therapist places his or her hands on the client to apply subtle pressure to the craniosacral system.
There are some cautions you should heed if you decide to provide craniosacral massage. Professionals warn that clients who have suffered an aneurysm, cerebral hemorrhage or severe bleeding or an injury to the skull should not receive the therapy, as it involves the direct application of pressure to sensitive areas.
Some benefits of craniosacral therapy include allowing restrictions in nerve passages to be eased, movement of cerebrospinal fluid through the spinal cord to optimize and misaligned bones to be realigned into their proper position. Those restrictions are thought to be the cause of poor health, specifically conditions related to the brain, spine and nervous system.
The techniques have also been used to aid in medical ailments, such as colic, scoliosis, infantile disorders and emotional difficulties.
An Internet search resulted in numerous home study courses any massage therapist can take to fulfill his or her continuing education requirements.
For craniosacral therapy, some of the courses offered cover such topics as anatomy and physiology, the sacral release technique, sacro-iliac decompression, cranial base release, core link technique, the core link between the cranium and sacrum, the cranial wave, sphenoid release technique, palming-decompression technique, the parietal hold and lift, frontal decompression, ear-pull decompression, along with mandible compression and decompression.
Make sure to check with your national and state licensing bodies to make sure the courses you select are acceptable for continuing education credits.
–Jeremy Maready