How does a hands-on therapy like Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy translate into online work? Is it as effective? Will I feel the same shifts in my body? Will I feel the same sense of safety and containment as I do when I have my session in-person?
“I began seeing Sarah for Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy sessions in person. Sarah helped me with several chronic issues including back pain. I recently moved away and continued to have online sessions with Sarah who is a wonderful therapist. She is highly intuitive and she has a thorough knowledge of the mind-body connection which has helped me to work on and heal past trauma.”
The client who wrote the testimonial above found the change from in-person to online work seamless. We have continued to make good progress together.
For some clients, receiving the session whilst in the safety and comfort of their own homes is of enormous benefit and convenience. This could be for many reasons.
It may be the client suffers from an auto-immune condition or incapacity which prevents them from travelling even relatively short distances. Some clients will have their session online if they are away with work or even on holiday to maintain continuity. For a client feeling a little under par, having the option of being able to change from an in-person session to an online one at short notice enables them to reap the benefits of their session and potentially have a profitable rest of the day.
With internet connections being as good as they are today, distance is no longer a barrier to being able to work with the therapist of your choice.
I not only have clients across the length and breadth of the UK but also in Europe, North America and East Asia. I work with clients in a fully hybrid way. Some are completely online, and some are completely in-person. Others move happily between the two ways of working to suit themselves.
For new online clients not too far away, there is always the opportunity to see me in person for the first session. I will find a day and time in the diary to allow the necessary travelling time to enable this.
Both online and in-person sessions follow the same format. We have time to arrive and gently come into a relationship with each other. At the beginning of the first session, some background information may be taken (although clients will often send me their trauma history in advance) along with the usual client intake questions. I may then incorporate some Somatic Experiencing dialogue into our settling process. This can help the client begin to resource themselves and feel at ease.
The sessions can be experienced either sitting back or lying down comfortably. I encourage you to arrange cushions, pillows and blankets as necessary. Then, provided I am able to see you clearly on the screen, we can begin.
Every session is individually tailored to each client.
We follow the wisdom of their own nervous system or, as it is also known, the inherent treatment plan. I believe it will only offer up something it feels is safe for us to work with that day.
Online work is an expansion of the practice of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. Craniosacral Therapists are trained to work with the relational and perceptual fields within which and from which our physical bodies are formed. Working online through a relational and perceptual field is simply an extension of existing core Craniosacral Therapy skills.
When using my Craniosacral perceptual skills online, my work still very much encompasses the sense of relational touch. The quality of the relational field being created and sustained depends, as with any hands-on session, on the depth of presence and awareness within myself as the practitioner.
During a session, my conscious presence is the fulcrum, as with a hands-on session, around which the session process revolves. My awareness creates the container that meets you where you need to be met and holds your process. I engage with and read the system ‘off the body’, just as I would in an in-person session.
My hands function equally effectively as sensitive listening antenna when reading the body online.
You may ‘feel’ the same things as during an in-person session. For some, the sensation may be even more apparent. The shifts and releases experienced may be felt even more clearly.
Get in touch to book a free phone call if you would like to know more about online or in-person Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy.
Please remember to contact your medical practitioner in the first instance if you have any concerns regarding your health.
