Craniosacral Therapy Training Seminar Curriculum
Choose a Seminar: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Seminar One: The Basic GroundPalpation and Perceptual Skills and Relationship
- History of the work
- Developing The Relational Field
- Palpation and perception
- Perception of Health and the potency of the Breath of Life
- Practitioner neutral and a wide perceptual field
- Negotiating Contact with patient boundaries
- Establishing a safe relational field
- Primary Respiration, Transmutation, and the Breath of Life
- Palpation of the fluid tide
- Perception of the three tides and longitudinal fluctuation
- Resources, stillness and stillpoint via the fluids
- Resources and Trauma
- Clinical connections
The development of awareness and perceptual skills are the fundamental ground of the training course. In this seminar students learn to create a still and neutral
center from which to relate to the patient's system. Skills of negotiation of contact and of palpation are emphasized. The skill of maintaining a wide perceptual field is introduced. Creating The Relational Field will be introduced and explored.
Students will explore processes, which relate to the establishment of resources and safety. Inner and external life resources will be explored and clarified. The role of resources in autonomic and emotional activation will be introduced. Palpation sessions will focus on shifts in perceptual fields and the perception of the inherent Health of the system.
The concept of transmutation, or change in state, will be explored. The various manifestations of Health (CRI, mid-tide, Long Tide) will be introduced. The role of stillness within the work is introduced as a fundamental concept, perception and skill within the cranial concept. Stillpoints accessed through the fluid field are explored.
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Seminar Two: The World in Motion
- Fluids, Tissues and Motility
- Introduction to Embryology and the Primary Respiratory System Tissues and motility
- Palpating expressions of Health within tissue and fluid dynamics
- Primary Respiration and motility in tissues, structures and systems
- Perception of classical Craniosacral motion, flexion-extension; external-internal rotation
- The Cranial Rhythmic Impulse (CRI) and the mid-tide
- Palpating specific tissue motion and motility
- Palpation of the temporal, frontal, parietal, sphenoid, occipital bones, sphenobasilar junction and sacrum
- Palpating the reciprocal tension membranes
- Sutherland's fulcrum
- Palpation of the periphery
- Trauma and resources reviewed focusing on process explored
- Clinical connections and applications
The intention of this seminar is to begin to appreciate the specific manifestations of the Breath of Life and the Health inherent within the tissue field. The 'Primary Respiratory System' will be introduced and the palpation of tissue motility and mobility will be undertaken. Students will discover that tissue structures express an inner breath. This inner breath is palpable as an intra-osseous motility, or inner motion. Palpatory awareness of intra-osseous motility will be explored within the major structures of the cranium.
Within this context, the classical craniosacral motion dynamics of flexion-extension and external-internal rotation will be introduced. Specific palpation sessions relating to the reciprocal tension membranes and the temporal, frontal, parietal, occipital and sphenoid bones and the sacrum will be undertaken. The dynamics of the sphenobasilar junction will also be introduced.
Within this context, the importance of Sutherland s fulcrum will be introduced and explored via palpation. Verbal skills will be introduced and the focusing process developed by Dr. Eugene Gendlin, will be introduced.
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Seminar Three: The Heart of Healing
- The Neutral
- The holographic model
- The unfoldments of the Breath of Life
- The Long Tide, mid-tide and CRI
- The importance of fulcrums
- Understanding and perceiving natural and inertial fulcrums
- Understanding automatic shifting fulcrums
- Perceiving shapes of experience
- The importance of the 'neutral'. Local and systemic neutrals. Levels of neutral, the holistic shift, the point of balanced membranous tension, the state of balanced tension
- Dr. Rollin Becker s work: The state of balanced tension and the three step healing process
- Understanding and perceiving biodynamic and biokinetic forces
- Understanding and perceiving the role of balance and stillness in the healing process
- CV4 via the tissues, CV4 and hyper-arousal states
- Trauma and overwhelm, hyper-arousal skills
- Clinical connections and applications
In this seminar, the holographic model of the human system will be presented. The unfoldments of the Breath of Life will be discussed in more depth. The major emphasis of this seminar is to introduce one of the most important clinical concepts within the craniosacral biodynamics, the "neutral”. Dynamic equilibrium and the state of balanced tension will be introduced as a course theme. Students will learn that the potency of the Breath of Life naturally expresses itself within neutrals and states of balance. Students will learn to appreciate and facilitate neutrals and to listen for expressions of Health. An understanding of reciprocal tension will be introduced and clinical approaches to balanced tension
explored.
In conjunction with this, an enquiry into inertia and inertial fulcrums will be undertaken. The concept, and perceptual experience, of automatic shifting fulcrums will also be explored. The work of Dr. Rollin Becker will be introduced in this context and the idea of inertial or variant potencies will be introduced. Dr. Becker's three step awareness of the healing process will be introduced as a course theme.
The perception of biodynamic and biokinetic forces will be explored and differentiated via palpation. The action of potency within the fluids will be introduced. Trauma skills based on the work of Dr. Peter Levine are introduced. Approaches to traumatic overwhelm, autonomic activation and hyper-arousal states will be explored. The CV4 process via the fluid-tissue matrix is explored and the role of CV4 in hyper-arousal states is discussed.
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Seminar Four: Skills of Conversation
- Clinical Skills of Engagement
- Focus of seminar: Learning to initiate conversations with tissues, potency, fluids and inertial
fulcrums
- Palpating inertial fulcrums and the history of the patient
- Fluid skills: Direction of fluids and potency, perceiving and initiating lateral fluctuations of fluid and potency
- The principle of disengagement as a conversation skill
- Disengagement, within sutures and joints
- The principle of traction as a conversational skill
- Traction and the reciprocal tension membranes
- Stillpoints
- CV4 and EV4
- Trauma skills reviewed, dissociation discussed
- Clinical connections and applications
In this seminar students continue their clinical exploration into inertial fulcrums and begin to learn further ways of relating to them. Within this context, various clinical approaches to fluids and tissues are taught as conversation skills. Students learn to listen to the story, or history, of the patient and to use particular skills to converse with them. As this process deepens, students learn to offer options and to help the system access its innate potential for Health. These skills are offered as conversations in which the system has a context for the telling of the story or history, of the patient. They include the clinical conversations of fluid direction, the use of lateral fluctuations in inertial situations, disengagement and traction. Disengagement as a natural process, and the action of potency within space is discussed and explored.
Additional attention is also placed on the therapeutic role of stillness and on stillpoint facilitation. Students review the stillpoint skills of CV4 in relationship to trauma and autonomic nervous system cycling. Dissociation as a protective mind-body process is discussed and related verbal skills are introduced. The stillpoint skill of EV4 is introduced and its clinical role in dissociation discussed.
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Seminar Five: The Primal Midline
- The Embryological Imperative and Midline Structures
- Introduction to embryological Midlines the notochord axis and midline organizing principles
- Dural tube dynamics, palpation and clinical approaches
- Pelvic dynamics, palpation and clinical approaches
- The sacroiliac joints and the lumbosacral junction
- Vertebral dynamics: motility and their relationship to the primal midline
- Palpation of vertebral dynamics, permitted motion and the state of balanced tension
- Trauma and hypo-arousal states
- Clinical applications and connections
In this seminar students are introduced to the dynamics of the embryologically derived midline and to the structures and relationships, which coalesce within and around it. Concepts of embryology are introduced as a vehicle for understanding the organization and health of the human system. The dynamics of the dual tube and specific clinical intentions via fluids and tissue conversations are introduced.
Students are also introduced to the dynamics at the opposite pole of the midline, the pelvis. Pelvic dynamics are explored and inertial issues within the lumbosacral junction and sacroiliac joints are approached. The classical motion dynamics of vertebrae are discussed and explored. Students are introduced to clinical approaches to fixation and inertia within vertebral midline dynamics. Clinical approaches to hypo-arousal and freezing states are also introduced. The role of lateral fluctuation, EV4 and trauma skills based on Peter Levine's work are explored within this context.
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Seminar Six: The Midline Continued
- Occipital Triad and Cranial Base
- Introduction to the 'inherent treatment plan', review of the holistic shift and the action of potency within the fluids
- Introduction to the stages of birth
- Classical cranial base dynamics, the classic patterns of the sphenobasilar junction (SBJ) and clinical skills
- Introduction to force vector issues and force vector entrapment
- Traumatic impacts of cranial base patterns
- Clinical applications and connections
In this seminar, the concept of the “inherent treatment plan” is introduced and palpation sessions explored. Emphasis is on letting go of conditioned motion, orienting to the holistic shift and primary respiration. The “occipital triad”, the occiput, atlas and axis, is explored via palpation. The concept of intraosseous lesions is introduced and viewed within the context of occiput-atlas-axis dynamics. Compressive issues between these relationships are explored within a clinical context. The “unit of function” of sphenoid-occiput-atlas is also introduced as an extension of this enquiry. We will begin to explore the stages of birth and their impact on the system.
Clinical issues relating to fluid congestion are explored within the wider context of the fluid tide and the fluid drive of the system. In this seminar, the classic cranial base patterns are introduced within a biodynamic framework and clinical approaches are presented. The traumatic impacts and clinical issues relating to cranial base patterns are discussed. Within this context, further trauma skills will be developed and force vector issues will be explored via palpation.
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Seminar Seven: From the Core to the Periphery
- Central Nervous System and the Face and Hard Palate 1
- The inherent treatment plan is further explored
- CNS motility. The dynamics and motility of the ventricles
- Dynamics of the face and hard palate
- The falx cerebri, the frontal bone and the ethmoid notch
- Dynamics of the ethmoid bone
- The spheno-maxillary complex
- Disengagement of spheno-vomer-maxilla compression and disengagement of spheno-palatine-maxilla compression
- TMJ issues in relationship to the hard palate
- Trauma and hard palate issues
In this seminar, clinical awareness relating to the inherent treatment plan is further extended with an emphasis on the inhalation phase of primary respiration within the mid-tide. The shifting of potency within the fluids is emphasized. Students will also be introduced to the dynamics of the central nervous system. CNS motility will be explored from an embryological viewpoint and the palpation of its motility will be emphasized. The state of balanced tension and fluid skills will be explored in relationship to central nervous system motility.
Students are also introduced to the dynamics of the face and hard palate. The relationships of the face and hard palate are presented as a unified whole. The totally integrated and unified dynamic of these relationships are stressed. The dynamics of the face and hard palate are presented starting with the falx and frontal bone. From here students explore the area from the top-down. Students gradually build up a complete picture of these dynamics as they explore the specific relationships of the frontal bone, ethmoid bone, sphenoid, vomer, palatines, maxillae and TMJ. These are seen to be a unit of function whose dynamics are totally inter-dependent. Clinical sills will focus on states of balance and disengagement.
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Seminar Eight: Facing the World
- The Face and Hard Palate Dynamics
- The inherent treatment plan is further explored
- Hard palate dynamics continued
- Spheno-maxillary patterns; flexion-extension, torsion, side-bending and shear discussed
- Specifics of the palatine and zygomatic bones. The hyoid bone and its interconnections
- TMJ ligaments: specific dynamics and inertial patterns
- Clinical approaches to unilateral and bi-lateral TMJ issues
In this seminar the inherent treatment plan is further explored with an emphasis on the Long Tide and field phenomena. The exploration into the hard palate is continued with an exploration of its conditioned patterns. Issues relating to the TMJ will be specifically explored. The influence of the hyoid bone and its relationships will be discussed and palpated. The various TMJ ligaments will be individually palpated and clinical issues within their dynamics will be explored. TMJ syndrome and the stress response is explored.
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Seminar Nine: CNS Peripheral Facilitation, Connective Tissues and Joints
- The inherent treatment plan is further explored
- Connective tissues and connective tissue dynamics
- Dental work, tooth extractions and spheno-petrous separation explored
- Joint dynamics. Palpating joint dynamics and related clinical issues
- CNS facilitation: peripheral facilitation, spinal cord
- Palpating inertial fulcrums throughout the body
In this seminar the inherent treatment plan is further explored with an emphasis on space and rhythmic balanced interchange between Stillness and form. Dental work will be discussed and spheno-petrous issues explored. Issues of CNS facilitation, or hypersensitivity, will be introduced and approached clinically. Sensitivity to CNS shock affect and shock discharge will be focused on. Clinical trauma skills in relationship to hyper-and hypo-arousal states will be reviewed. Students are also introduced to connective tissue and joint dynamics throughout the body. Clinical approaches to joint relationships are explored within the context of the skills already learned. Students will begin a wider exploration of whole-body dynamics. They will learn to relate to inertial fulcrums throughout the body and to apply their therapeutic skills appropriately within any unfolding clinical situation.
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Seminar Ten: Deepening and Completion
- The Dynamic Stillness
- Review of clinical applications and connections
- Birth and intraosseous lesions
- Infants and children
- The third ventricle and the ignition of the fluid system
- Clinical issues reviewed and extended
- Practice management issues
- Completion and graduation
