People often ask me what I do and I always struggle with an answer – do I say I’m a Reflexologist and Craniosacral Therapist? I have said this and people often look a little blank and then I proceed to struggle with explaining what I do, which sometimes works and other times often not.
So what do I do? In the last 13 years as a therapist I have supported, cared, calmed, listened, laughed, cried, helped and empowered my clients, who range from fetus to 89 years old.
What I’ve learned in this time is that I don’t fix problems but empower clients to view their ‘problems’ with an open heart and mind. I create a safe space for clients to unfold and to release the grip of emotions that often seem overwhelming and frightening.
When I was training as a reflexologist I really wanted people to feel good and leave feeling calm and relaxed. In the early years of working in this therapy I wanted to fix everyone’s problems, this came from a good heart but also from a naivety that I could magically help problems disappear. It was true that clients did feel comfortable, relaxed and happy after a treatment but their problems where often still there. Their headaches may have eased, their back problems resolved, their digestive systems functioning better etc, but they also seemed less stressed each time or their family would comment that they didn’t react to situations in the same way. The outside world was the same but their inside world was changing.
When I discovered Craniosacral Therapy, I was delighted to be able to have a therapy that was gentle and very supportive. I learned that the ‘fixing a problem’ came from me and was not empowering clients or listening in an embodied way. I learned about being neutral when working with people – neutral is being very present with someone, listening to what they have to say, but most importantly what their bodies have to say, it means allowing the body, mind and spirit a space to be just as they are, without having a set outcome or expectation. When you are truly listened to, anything is possible.
As a therapist in Craniosacral Therapy, we spend a lot of time being a client, experiencing being truly supported and what that feels like to us. We spend many hours working as trainee therapists hearing deep hurts, sadness, delight, happiness, grief, disappointments and every emotion possible and we train to do this all from a very neutral place.
When you experience a session with a qualified CST therapists you are in very safe hands. We work with unborn babies and their mammies, daddies, children with extra needs, people of all ages. Our listening hands are trained so our palpation (the art of using touch to examine the body) is highly sensitive and we do this through a fully clothed body.
We are sensitive humans touching other humans with compassion, empathy, care and support. Now when someone asks me what I do I say ‘I help people through compassionate touch’.