My son was two years old and suffering from constant fluid in his ears and frequent ear
infection. After many treatments of antibiotics, he had tubes inserted. Every couple of months he required surgery again to insert new tubes. I was totally frustrated and not expecting such a protocol. Many experienced moms would look at me sympathetically, “You are in for the long haul,” they said, blinking wisely. “You’ll be doing this 10 more times before he outgrows it.”
I tried every natural thing that people recommended. I took my son off sugar and dairy, gave him vitamins, and took him to a chiropractor, but nothing seemed to be helping.
At one point a friend of mine recommended craniosacral therapy. She told me, “There is some kind of guy who does some kind of thing that may help your son.” I followed this advice blindly, a step which led me down an entirely new avenue, one I am very grateful to have followed.
After three to four sessions, all fluid disappeared and my son’s hearing was restored to within normal limits. In fact, it’s 12 years later and he hasn’t suffered from any ear-related issues since.
Now, I could have enjoyed the rest of life with my family, happy to have been miraculously helped by some random practitioner whose practice remains a mystery to me. But I had to know more. I had to figure out what this thing was called, how it felt, and how it worked. I decided to book a craniosacral therapy session for myself. During the session, the practitioner placed her hand on my abdomen. Suddenly, out of the blue, I vividly recalled a painful experience in which I had delivered a stillborn baby. I don’t know why but I started talking about it to my craniosacral therapist. This was so weird. I asked her why I was remembering this event that happened a few years ago, and why I had to talk about my experience. The therapist nonchalantly told me that this is part of craniosacral therapy. It is called somatic emotional release. As much as trauma is a memory, the body remembers what it went through as well.
On a simple level, craniosacral therapy is all about finding ‘stuck’ or ‘sleeping’ spots in the body and effectively releasing them or waking them up.
Naturally, I was hooked after this session. Despite my training and background as a
speech language pathologist, I wanted to learn more about CST and bring it to my community. I just had to spread the wealth I chanced upon!
Nine years ago, I contacted the Upledger’s Institute to inquire about learning the skills of CST. They told me that all classes were held on Shabbat, so I temporarily shelved my dreams. A few years later, I tried them again and through some miracle the Upledger Institute agreed to let me sponsor a class during the week.
I put the word out, and within a day, 30 professionals had enrolled in the exclusive “Jewish” Non Sabbath class! This happened around six years ago. Since then I have become a certified massage therapist and sponsored 15 CEU classes between the Upledger, Barral and Chikly Institutes.
I offered some of my friends to work on them and their kids. One friend told the next friend and eventually I opened a therapy group called Integrated Therapies in Airmont, a lovely neighborhood in Monsey. Three therapists, Rachel Rosenberg M.A. CCC-SLP, Menucha Kenner M.S. OR R/L, and Chana Levin M.S. OT R/L, have joined Integrated Therapies to help the needs of the community.
Craniosacral therapy was used for a host of problems with my own children. One of my kids had high blood sugar levels and my baby had asthma and was on high doses of medication. I tried the traditional medical route first and my kids’ symptoms were not relieved. Both issues cleared up completely after just one session of CST!
One of my babies experienced Erb’s Palsy during birth, resulting in a stuck shoulder. At three months old she could not reach out to toys and was not able to support herself when placed on her tummy. I tried CST and, again, was blown away at how quickly it helped. My baby got on all fours on the treatment table!
Craniosacral therapy and similar manual therapies are fascinating, as they not only solve physical issues, but are also helpful in processing and relieving emotional issues. The reason for that is that often, negative emotions are ‘stored’ or ‘held’ in different parts of the body. People report that they go through years of therapy and often take psychotropic medications seeing only limited success. CST releases trauma and negative memories that are trapped in the body, freeing an individual’s emotions, effectively accelerating the process of healing. Advanced bodywork like craniosacral therapies and similar therapies seem to be the missing link for many people.
My goal is that, just like traditional therapy is common knowledge and a tool for healing, so too can craniosacral therapy become a household name.
Zelda Trieger M.S. CCC-SLP, LMT is a speech therapist and licensed massage therapist and is the owner of Integrated Therapy Group. She can be reached at 845-376-0170 or [email protected]
