Will our approach suit you?
(aka Why train with us?)
What might our training be like? What support is available? These pages will tell you about our training, the ethos behind it, what you need to begin, the core curriculum and ongoing courses available.
You can find out about exams and training further and beyond the courses.
But first…
Why might you even want to?
To answer this question, we actually wanted to hear from the horses’ mouths. So we asked some of our practitioners why they chose us. Here are some of their responses:
“ I love this training because you can take it in chunks at your own pace – you learn the nuts and bolts of anatomy and techniques you can integrate within your practice. As you progress, the journey becomes very personal, you make connections with people at a completely different level and it gives you the tools to facilitate some really amazing treatments with your clients.” — Soraya Coyte
“I came to this training having directly seen the positive effects of treatment on my daughter, initially for glue ear but also for ongoing injuries due to high levels of sport. I was a physio and wanted to return to work after a break, but not to the NHS. I love the way CST helps the body to help itself. It is an ongoing voyage of discovery and I love the connection with patients.” — Kate Fletcher
“I went into the wrong room for a seminar on acupuncture…. and an hour later put up my hand to ask “what do you call this? And where can I train in it? I found a way of earning a living that makes me truly happy.” — Fiona Gilbraith
“It is something that has popped into my life on so many occasions. I am now learning to trust what I feel, and getting feedback that it has made a difference fills my practice with… excitement, joy, inspiration and a thirst to learn more.” — Lorna Robinson
There are many more, though they do tend to fall into two broad categories: either people who have experienced tremendous change in themselves or their loved ones (often who had been ‘written off’ by conventional medicine) and want to be able to offer that to others, or, those who have found there is a limit in their other practices and they want something more to offer their clients.
Lesley Nash says:
(Since then she has completed up to SER2 and is a regular at Study Groups)
What is it going to add to my treatments?
One of the important essences of CranioSacral Therapy is that we learn to listen to the tissues and follow what they need / want to do. Many other therapeutic approaches aim to ‘fix’, correct or retrain the body. There is something hugely respectful about just listening and following the body, allowing it to express and maybe even release what is really going on there. Often patients feel deeply listened to, maybe for the first time. CST will add a depth and trust to your work, yet it will take away the need to know what to do to ‘fix’, and the thinking that we know what should happen. Learning to trust this can be a process in itself!
Because we are aiming to treat the fascia within the cranium and spinal cord, and the fluid that surrounds these, we are addressing parts that have often not been addressed before. Often practitioners find that this can bring additional levels of relief from symptoms, and improvements in functioning and wellbeing on many levels.
Marie Christine Dix says:
(She has now done SER1 as well)
Why train with us?
When Dr John was asked to do research by the Cranial Academy at Michigan State University, it was to figure out whether or not there was any truth in the claims of the Cranial Osteopaths that there was movement at the sutures of cranial bones. It was this research, which did show that movement was possible, and that fed into his practice and brought him to the conclusion that the cranial bones were ‘slaves to the fascia’ rather than solely responsible for their own alignment.
The techniques he went on to develop were in response to this belief, driven by his huge amount of anatomical understanding. In addition, he found that fascia does not take much pressure to respond, that intention and the ‘right attitude’ are most important for a therapist (more important even, he felt, than ‘correct technique’). From all this came the tenets and approach of CranioSacral Therapy, as distinct from Cranial Osteopathy.
He published the first book on CranioSacral Therapy in 1983, and four more text books over the years, and he continued to share his innovative ideas. SomatoEmotional Release is the name he gave to part of the work, but it is important to understand that this is not different from CST, but an addition to the work we can do when we are very grounded in what is happening in the clients’ tissues.
All our training has been developed by the Upledger Institute International, based in Florida. This is where Dr Upledger lived and worked; it was from people wanting to know and learn about what he was doing that the current structure and staging of classes developed. The courses have been tried and tested for many years. Adjustments are constantly being made, and the breadth and depth of the curriculum continues to expand organically.
The Upledger Institute has spent an extraordinary amount of time, effort and money on the development, promotion, education and sponsoring of CST worldwide. Dr John trained many people to teach this work, and the training of teachers continues, is rigorous and in depth. People all over the world have found something in this modality that keeps them training, bringing the courses to their country and being shared with professionals and healthcare practitioners from here to New Zealand and back again…!
So there are some of the reasons why we think there is value in training with us.
Here is some more info about what you can expect from our training generally: Our Ethos
Marie Christine Dix says:
(She has now done SER1 as well)