Healing Sexual Abuse with Craniosacral Therapy

Statistics say that 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys have suffered sexual abuse.

Many victims of abuse stay quiet about their experience.  Isolation often leads them to feeling low self-esteem, and frightened about contact.  It’s time to change that.
Craniosacral Therapy

Craniosacral Therapy

Recovering from sexual abuse is an individualized process that is done with hope and help.

If one can imagine after suffering in silence, what is would take to step out and commit to the healing process, resources are available.

Craniosacral Therapy can be very helpful if only for its therapeutic presence.  Yet it is also a very gentle hands on therapy that is done with respect and in a neutral state of Being.  This allows clients to have an experience of touch that is without judgment, where they can feel into their emotions and let go of residual trauma.  This often takes many session to build trust, and to work with the Inner Physician within the client through mindfulness and self-discovery. This is not an advise type of psychotherapy, but rather a bodywork exploration into the senses, and feelings that come up organically within the bodywork context. By working with with the Craniosacral Therapy rhythm, the therapist can monitor and support the Central Nervous system to balance and integrate.

Sharon Hartnett LMT has worked with clients with this modality in conjunction with psychotherapist to support self-discovery.  Clients have learned to identify boundaries, to self-regulate and move through their trauma at their own pace and time. Everything is done with respect and organic movement. There is no need to accomplish or go for a goal, but rather to allow the process to unfold in its own way.

If you are feeling stressed and and feel like you would like to try this CST,  call Sharon Hartnett CST for a free 15 minute consultation.

Sharon Hartnett  740 966-5153

Johnstown, Ohio

www.massageincolumbusohio.com

ADHD Help

The percentage of drugs that children take for ADHD has gone up dramatically.

I have no judgement about this.  Physicians are doing what they can to help children who feel inattentive, high energy and are having a difficult time integrating into mainstream daily life.

On top of the child’s own inherent challenges, they often can face rejection by other children, teachers and their community as well.

So what else can be done to help our children?

 

ADHD

ADHD

 

 

How about trying a more natural approach that will support the best qualities of your child to shine ?

Craniosacral Therapy has been able to help lots of kids with ADHD to calm down and feel more centered.  Personally,  there is nothing better than having a child get up off the table and give me a big hug because they finally have a sense of peace and balance.  If we can encourage the child to lay down and receive the work, the Central Nervous System often will feel some huge shifts.  By working with the brain, spine, and surrounding tissues, we can assist the cerebrospinal fluid to function optionally, allowing the CNS to do its work more efficiently.

When one’s mind is busy, one of the best experiences can be to relax and feel quiet.

If you would like to try a Craniosacral Session, look at the Upledger site for a practitioner in your area.  I’d recommend looking for someone who is certified to make sure they have a thorough understanding of the work.

If you have questions about how Craniosacral can help alleviate some of  your child’s ADHD symptoms, I would love to chat.

Sharon Hartnett CST, SI, LMT

703 509-1792

www.craniosacraltherapistcolumbus.com

For more information on ADHD:

 

Can’t Sleep? Try Craniosacral Therapy

Not able to sleep Well? Looking for some help for Insomnia?

Today I was reading an article that discussed how women often have more challenges with sleep insomnia than men.  In my experience, due to hormonal fluctuations, many women that I have seen in my practice would confirm this.  They feel restless and can’t stop thinking or worrying either before going to sleep or in the middle of the night.   Especially around 3AM.  For me, this makes perfect sense  as the body system’s are fluctuating due to the menstrual cycle, perimenopause or the like, that for some women, they would not sleep as well due to hormonal falls and rises.  They could probably benefit from some type of hormonal support.  But the number one reason for insomnia is stress.  For women in particular, my guess is that stressful thinking and emotional swings, along with hormonal shifts can make it even more difficult to get the needed rest to have a productive day. That can be tough for a woman.

insomnia

Can’t sleep well?

What surprised me the most though, was that the article mentioned taking drugs as a remedy to this challenge. On second thought, I  guess I shouldn’t be so surprised because as I am writing this, the Universe in its full wisdom has sent a television commercial to come on for a sleeping drug that works with neurotransmitters with a list of negative side effects being marketed to help women sleep better.  This has become our social norm.  At the end, the watcher is told to ask his/her physician about this drug.    I am sure that there are some good benefits to some of these pharmaceuticals.  Sometimes we could use an easy way to help us through the night.  But is it possible that there are some more natural ways long-term modalities of self-correcting care that are just as good or even better to alleviate stress and sleep disruption?   My hope would be that physicians would more often say,  “here is a prescription for massage once a week for three months”.  Work on getting more exercise and eating well.  Why not go take a yoga class?”

I don’t know why I am still constantly baffled that medical insurance covers drugs so easily (which are quite expensive),  and that when we watch TV-we are bombarded with drug ads, yet massage and bodywork are still considered more of a luxury than a therapeutic modality that can help with things like sleep, stress, and tension.  It does take time to support the body to change longterm and  I know that this work doesn’t remedy insomnia for all people, but I have heard lots of positive feedback indicating how much better my clients sleep with their sessions. Research has shown that massage and bodywork are key in helping many people to feel better in so many ways.  In my view- one of the keys to this is that we are focusing on the human body with massage which is quite sensory and mindful.  During a massage, the thinking brain can relax and feel pleasure again instead of focusing on troubles.  The more we receive, the easier it is to re-educate our nervous systems  to wind down when done in a professional and healthy way.  The integration between the mind, body and spirit is integral to wellness.

Craniosacral Therapy, Myofascial Therapy and Structural Integration have especially been helpful from my view in helping people to relax and let go of stress too.   By working with the fascia, which is a 3 dimensional web of connective tissues that holds the body together (including being richly innervated), and helping it to let goof tension, the whole body can relax.  Have you ever come out of a good massage and everything feels and looks more positive?   The reason I specialize in these modalities, is that I LOVE hearing how relaxed and good people feel afterwards. As human beings, we have the capacity to love, feel pleasure, and to be happy.  But sometimes we need a little help.  And I am not sure that it always has to come in the form of a pill.

I am not suggesting that medicine be replaced.  And by all means, I am not a physician.  But my hope is that Massage Therapy, SomatoEmotional Release bodywork and perhaps work by psychotherapists that focus on the mind-body start to become more widespread to the public as a possible alternative to taking drugs for sleep and wellbeing.  My hope is that this will eventually be covered by insurance so that all of us can sleep well.

Sharon Hartnett LMT

740 966-5153

www.massageincolumbusohio.com

Therapeutic Massage-New Albany Ohio $20.00 Off for First Time Clients!

Have you found a Therapeutic Massage Therapist in New Albany, Ohio who can help you to relax and release pain?

I have just moved my office into a really wonderful space attached to my home in Johnstown.  That’s right, a beautiful 5-10 drive minutes away, you can find an experienced Massage Therapist who specializes in Craniosacral Therapy and Myofascial therapy massage focused on Structural Integration.  We are located on a horse farm with a wonderful ambiance and a nice healing space.  My appointments are set at 10:30 in the mornings, 3:30 in the afternoons, and 7:30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays night.  Other appointment times are available based on schedule.

I have close to 18 years of experience with Therapeutic Massage.  I love my work!  And because I am moving from my Upper Arlington location our to the country, I am offering a special holiday discount for first time clients of $20.00 off if you mention this ad.  I am hoping to create a customer base here,  building a warm community feel.  Here is a link with a list of customer views who have enjoyed working with me on google.  Lighten Up Therapies.

Therapeutic Massage

Therapeutic Massage

 

Some of the symptoms that have been relieved by Craniosacral Therapy and Myofascial Structural Integration are:

  • Lower Back and Neck Pain
  • Fibroymalgia
  • TMJ
  • Postural Issues
  • chronic fatigue
  • scoliosis
  • PTSD
  • Trauma
  • Connective Tissue Disorders
  • ADHD and more.

Working with the Fascia and the Central Nervous system can also help athletes to increase and optimize their sports performance.

The philosophy behind my work is that I listen to my clients and I follow and encourage the inner wisdom of the body to show me what needs to happen to heal.  This can be deep myofascial therapy or Cranosacral Therapy which is very light, profound and versatile for people of all ages.  Craniosacral Therapy with an intention of SomatoEmotional Release can also be supportive for people who have experienced traumas or feel stuck emotionally.  It is a great complement to working with a psychotherapist.

Call Sharon Hartnett 740 966-5153

www.massageincolumbusohio.com

 

What is SomatoEmotional Release (SER)?

Many clients who come in for Craniosacral Therapy ask about SomatoEmotional Release (SER).

They have usually heard from their friends or associates how much better they feel after a few sessions.  Yet they are not quite certain what  SER is.  So in order to educate potential clients, I’d like to take the Upledger’s description to share,

SomatoeEmotional Release may be defined as a release from the body tissues of energy that has been stored in the tissues for some time subsequent to an incident resulting in the placement of this energy in those tissues. The energy, which is foreign to the tissues in which it resides, almost invariably has within it an emotional component.  When the SomatoEmotional Release technique is effectively carried out, the emotion is re-experienced by the patient/client and, most often, a rather vivid memory of the incident during which the energetic placement occurred comes into conscious awareness.”

The most important intention that comes to my mind as a Craniosacral Therapist who works with SER, is to create a sacred environment that focuses on working with unity of the mind, body and spirit.  By holding space for the whole person, whatever shows up during a session can move forward,  all taken care of by the client’s own “Inner Physician (IP)”.  That inner intelligence that lies within regulates the session and helps the client to release energy that is caught up.  The Therapist is connected to the IP and follows its guidance without judgment.  This helps to complete unfinished cycles so that the client can feel finished with whatever unconscious material shows up.

SomatoEmotional Release

SomatoEmotional Release

Clients who have experienced trauma, anxiety and other emotional extremes often feel much better balanced after an SER session.  Not only from a feeling perspective, but also physically as well.   When the client is able to move through fear along with letting go of dysfunctional tissue patterns, they are often able to move more freely into their future.

SomatoEmotional Release can be an excellent addition to psychotherapy.  While students are trained in this type of work at the Upledger Institute , the foundation of the training is on working with the Craniosacral system.  I like to think that this training helps manual therapist to be prepared for whatever shows up in the session without trying to control it or working towards fixing things.  This is a journey of discovery and self-awareness.

If you are interested in finding out more about SER, please call Sharon Hartnett CST, at (740) 966-5153 for a free 15 minute phone consultation.

www.massageincolumbusohio.com

Why Craniosacral Therapy Works

I am not going to get into the physiology of Craniosacral, but rather focus on the experience.

When one thinks about life, there are absolutes and there are relative positions.

Absolutes are either all or nothing.  It’s not easy for us to live in absolutes.  From childhood, we are taught to identify different things with language.  Each thing we name has shades of interpretation.  It gives us a way to communicate verbally.  It helps our cognitive thinking to grow and expand.  Yet our spoken language can be so limiting.  Have you ever wanted to write something about an eloquent moment or something that felt rich and sensory, but there just was no way to explain it to another?

When we become aware of our observation while it is watching,  we can start to unravel everything that we have learned.  Forms and shapes lose the meaning we have placed upon them, and we get to see with fresh eyes.  Even deeper than that, we can uncover our true essence as we let go of our stories or attachment to what the outer physical world means to us.  Our relative thinking disappears and we unearth a truer joy that it the best word I can find to describe out true selves.  Where everything is One,  that is the only Absolute.  And even this explanation is encased in words.

I have found that as a Craniosacral Therapist that I dance with my clients in the quiet experiences of contact between the nervous systems and all the interconnection dialogue that takes place in a moment, and then in another.   The endless thinking patterns can come to a stop and there is a feeling of being present and more fully alive.  This doesn’t mean that our histories stop showing up, but we are aware of the “now” and can let those pass by without abuse, suffering or pain more and more as we become attuned to this type of living.   The energy that has been trapped and kept in chaos comes into order.  SomatoEmotional Release , in particular, is a process that  allows our stories to pass through the moment as it clears to completion. More advanced practitioners are well versed in holding space and techniques for this to occur as the mind, body and spirit come together for integration.

Often with Craniosacral,  I find that sensitive people are drawn to it.  This is because they are experts at tracking their sensations and expression of self.  Most of my clients who initially respond to Craniosacral Therapy will feel a lot on the table and walk away feeling great with new understanding.  However,  I also have clients who prefer deeper myofascial therapy work.  I love the fascia, so I am happy to oblige with some Structural Integration or whatever they need.  However,  as they begin to feel more deeply into their body’s,  they too begin to bring awareness to the subtle and find the benefits to such work.  In most cases, it is helpful to work deeply at times, and range to the gentle sweet touch of Craniosacral too.

Life is about learning about our relative perspectives, but ultimately to be free, we must let go of the mind to feel and sense deeply as well.   So whichever type of touch brings you to a greater awareness, jump into the dance.  Feel it all.  Wake up to your: touch, sounds, waves, melodies, sights and tastes.  Find your fullness and feel the emptiness.  Life is for the living and it’s all here.

Craniosacral Therapy Columbus

Craniosacral Columbus

I have found that Craniosacral is a very enlivening type of therapy that revitalizes and evokes the deeper happenings of the soul.

Sharon Hartnett LMT, CST, SI, Brennan Healer

703 509-1792

www.massageincolumbusohio.com