What is Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy?

Craniosacral Therapy is an exceptionally gentle yet very powerful form of treatment which interacts with the deepest inherent healing forces within the body, facilitating integration of the whole body-mind. The body has a powerful self-healing potential which can be encouraged in order to counteract the effect of injury, disease, trauma or stress. Craniosacral therapy offers the creation of a safe space where these kinds of challenges can be processed and the body’s natural affinity towards health re-ignited.

Craniosacral therapy has its roots in the work of Osteopath William Garner Sutherland (1873-1954), who in the early 1900's observed that the cranial bones have a very subtle rhythmic motion, and that the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes our brain and our nervous system has its own ‘pulse’ and is essential to maintaining our health. He termed this system Primary Respiration. Initially the treatments he gave were mechanistic in approach but towards the end of his career he came to the strong belief that the deepest and most powerful healing work was more energetic or biodynamic in form.

What happens in a session?

At the first session there will be a detailed and sensitive discussion of your history and your reasons for coming for craniosacral therapy. During the treatment you remain clothed and will usually lie face-up or on your side on a treatment table. I will gently use my hands to make contact with your body and listen to its various systems (musculoskeletal, nervous, lymphatic, cardiovascular, fascia) as well as the subtler energetic qualities of Primary Respiration.

I listen to my clients’ bodies with my hands in a similar way that a talking therapist would listen to their words. Because the body functions as a whole, I may focus on areas other than where your symptoms are occurring. It is common to feel deep relaxation, warmth, tingling, a sense of ease, increased energy and a sense of feeling more alive, balanced and heard in the truest sense of the word. 

How many sessions, when and how much?

There are no set number of sessions. Sometimes people report relief from their symptoms after one or two treatments. For long-standing problems or chronic conditions further sessions may be needed, and I may recommend weekly treatments over a longer period, the course of which would be reviewed regularly between us.

Generally I work at Ahead4Therapy in Devizes on Mondays, the Barbican Physio in the City of London on Wednesdays and Bramham Therapy in Marlborough on Fridays. Outside of these clinic times I am able to see clients in my treatment room at my home in West Lavington. In particular circumstances I can also offer home visits to clients in Wiltshire.

My sessions fees are : London £80 per hour / Wiltshire £70 per hour. I am able to offer reductions to those in full-term education. I also offer discounts on packages of treatment: 5 sessions for the price of 4.5. 

What conditions can respond well to Craniosacral Therapy?

Because it is so gentle CST is suitable for all; new-born, toddlers, children, teenagers, pregnant and post-natal women, adults and the elderly. I regularly work with clients who to come to me with conditions including:

• stress
• performance anxiety
• tinnitus
• digestive issues
• fertility issues
• trauma
• post–operative recovery
• depression
• anxiety
• general aches and pains

Mothers and Babies

Having a child is one of life’s most profound events. CST can help provide support to mothers, partners and babies in this period of physical, emotional and psychological change. In my experience of working with ante and post-natal women CST sessions can help:

• relieve minor ailments (such as back pain)
• settle nervous and hormonal systems
• support the body’s current and future physical changes
• preparing for birth

As it is so gentle, CST can be beneficial for babies helping:

• establish and supporting breastfeeding
• developing good sleep patterns
• helping with colic, reflux and allergies
• torticollis (wry neck)
• bonding with parents and siblings.

After reading music at Clare College, Cambridge University, I studied singing at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSMDP). After completing my studies I had a wide ranging concert, recording and opera career including singing principal operatic roles with companies including Scottish Opera, Opera North, Welsh National Opera, Berlin Staatsoper, Royal Danish Opera and the Gottingen Handel Festival.

I first encountered Craniosacral Therapy in 2003 on the recommendation of my singing teacher Noelle Barker. In the midst of a busy and important patch of prestigious work, I found my voice inexplicably shutting down. Craniosacral therapy provided a supportive, compassionate and non-judgemental environment in which I could gently contact and process the physical feelings and emotions that were causing my voice to malfunction.

A performer's way of life puts them regularly in high pressure situations and environments. I continued to find that craniosacral therapy helped me reconnect to an inner state of calmness, health and potential, deepened my relationship with my physical body, settled my breathing and aligned me fully with my performing instincts.

In 2014 I found myself at a crossroads. I felt I had achieved all I could ever have dreamed I wanted to do in my performing career and found myself drawn to finding out more about the therapy that had helped me so much. I began studying at the Craniosacral Therapy Educational Trust in North London in 2015, graduating in 2017. During the intense two-year training I learnt the palpation and verbal skills required for craniosacral therapy practitioners as well as deepening my knowledge of anatomy, physiology, embryology and trauma resolution. Since 2019 I have been a tutor at the Craniosacral Sacral Therapy Educational Trust Practitioner trainings at the Craniosacral Therapy Educational Trust’s Teaching Clinic and am also an Assistant Tutor on the current Practitioner Training course which started in October 2019. 

Although naturally I understand first-hand the challenges of performing artists I enjoy working with clients from all walks of life. My primary aim as a therapist is to support my clients in becoming more aware of, and more skilled in allowing the healing forces of their bodies to express themselves in their everyday lives.

I am a registered therapist accredited by the Craniosacral Therapy Association (CSTA). I adhere to the CSTA’s Code of Ethics and requirements for continuing professional development.

I am also registered with the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC). CNHC's register is approved as an Accredited Register by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care,a body accountable to Parliament. This provides additional assurance that CNHC registrants meet UK-wide standards of patient safety and service quality.’