THERAPEUTIC DIALOG IN CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY
By Anthony P. Arnold, PhD

THE THERAPEUTIC ENVIRONMENT

As therapists, we provide a safe, supportive space for our client. Within this secure space, the client is free to sink into a relaxed, receptive state, similar to the Alpha state of meditation or hypnosis. Now the sympathetic nervous system can reduce its labors; the parasympathetic system is free to resume the functions of nurturance, repair, and strengthening of the immune system. Thus the client’s healing and reorganizing capability is reactivated. This inner capability makes possible the most profound sequences of therapeutic release. Healing occurs from within, directed by the natural resources of body and spirit.
In craniosacral, we assist this reawakening through special qualities of touch and presence. The touch is light, supporting the inner process. Presence and awareness go hand in hand. Presence means being here, now, in this place with this person. It also means being awake and aware toward self, conscious of my changing physical and emotional comfort.

A state of quiet and trust opens the channels of intuitive communication.Within this quiet I am more sensitive to the gentle messages passing body to body, spirit to spirit, heart to heart.

Craniosacral was born of a manipulative tradition, in which the therapist directed the healing. Since its inception, we have learned that gentle support is more powerful than pressure or direction. Muscles and tissues ease, joints recover resilience, the spirit is uplifted. The phases of recovery unfold from within. Experience has taught us how to participate effectively in this silent unfolding, attentive to the inner voices of both client and therapist.

CONVERSATION IN THERAPY

Conversation is a natural part of the client-therapist interchange. Words can express inner experience. As companions to presence and touch, they can further stimulate inner flow and unfolding. Our challenge is to discover how to use dialog effectively in this exchange, how to use words harmoniously in concert with the inner unfolding.

An effective use of speech mirrors the quality of our physical touch and presence. Therapeutic dialog retains the light touch of the hands. We are in touch, without pressure: Respectful of the client, trusting the unseen process, giving space, following and supporting.

Conversation is not sustained, but intermittent. Moments of silence nourish awareness; effective speech flows from awareness.

INTRODUCING VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Craniosacral can be a very quiet experience. Many people enjoy sinking into a deep quiet, remaining there for most of the session. This can be a very nurturing experience in which the body, and all its potencies, accomplishes wonders of relaxation, energetic reorganization and pain relief.

Yet, verbal feedback is important, even with a person whom we know well. It is even more important if the client is experiencing pain. Then, the reaction to touch can vary a lot at different places on the body.

STARTING. At the beginning of a session, I usually ask: What is it that you hope for from this session? What would you like to tell me about your body?

Asking these questions may seem redundant with someone we know. Yet, each time, it gives that person the chance to think about and express what is happening now. It encourages the individual to formulate an intention. The intention may be large or small. It does not matter.

The question encourages the client to recognize that choice is possible. The intention of the client is not a burden on the therapist, but an inner suggestion to the self of hopes and desires.

FEEDBACK: SHARING THE EXPERIENCE

Verbal feedback is very important to us as therapists. It is impossible to know intuitively everything that the client feels and experiences. I may feel comfortable and tuned in, but the touch or closeness is stirring up a difficult sensation for the client. So I simply ask: “How is this for you?” Or, “What are you experiencing (feeling, noticing)?” The question is simple and open, inviting any comment from the person on the table.

Or, I may ask specifically, “Is this hand position comfortable?”

The client wants feedback, too. Sometimes it is more effective to describe than to question. Here, the choice of words is important.

I might feel hardness, constriction or pressure. I want to formulate these impressions so that what I say is informative, yet constructive. I may say: “I notice some tightness in these muscles.” This signals that the constriction is relative, not absolute.
I may rephrase the observation, using words that put the constriction is a broader contest.

“This region has been working very hard to strengthen or protect you. Now, it can take the opportunity to relax.”
“It has been doing its job. Now it can take a little rest.”

“This region can experiment with another level of holding.”

Sometimes we are touched by a strong emotion or picture. Such emotions and images are valuable, yet they are usually colored by the therapists own life experience and personality. Thus, I am not certain that my impression is helpful exactly as I experience it. Therefore, I describe a theme, without communicating my own personal coloring and judgment. This leaves it open for the client to speak in his or her words.

DESCRIPTIONS AND HINTS

“This region can take the opportunity to relax, to take a break from its efforts.”

“These muscles have been working very hard. Now, they have a chance to recall how to relax.”

“These muscles have been working for you. They are not an enemy; they just need help to recognize other possibilities, to recall a fuller range of activity.”

This way of speaking contains a variety of suggestions. I appreciate that the muscles have been working for me. Tightness and holding is one of the functions of body tissue. The goal of constriction is to protect or strengthen. But, when we have worked under repeated stress, muscles and tissue often fail to return to a fully relaxed condition. They retain a readiness to tighten, to protect.

Now, in the security of this session, they can recover a fuller range: able to be both loose and tight.

I note the possibility, the opportunity of remembering a full range. Even when I am initially struck by hardness or constriction, I speak in a way that offers appreciation and opportunity.

Thus, description may be neutral, or include hints. Often, a simple objective description results in movement and opening. Fewer words are more powerful than many; “less is more.”

CUE WORDS

When we use cue words, we simply repeat a single word or a short phrase from something the client has said.
When we use the client’s own words, we support and empower the experience of the client. This usage stimulates rather than interrogates.

The client may describe a feeling or memory. A simple repetition of one word shows the interest and receptiveness of the therapist. One word may prompt a more detailed explanation. Simultaneously, it often ushers in a broader physical release.
The client says, “I have an image of my father when I was a child.” I respond, “Your father.” Or, “When you were a child.”
The client says, “I am feeling lighter (more relaxed, at ease).” I may respond, “Yes.” Yes, accepts, affirms the client experience, deepening it.

Or, I may merely respond, “Lighter.” This may stimulate a fuller description of the client’s experience.

SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Ordinary comments in social situations have a certain power. They act on both the conscious and the unconscious mind, especially if the recipient is in a vulnerable state. For example, a question may hide a suggestion. Do you feel tired? Do you feel good? Do you feel pain? Do you enjoy this? The embedded suggestions are: Feel tired; feel good; feel pain; enjoy this.
This is why warnings and prohibitions have a paradoxical effect: they plant in the mind the exact thing which is not desired.
Within the deepened receptivity of therapy, the words of the therapist have an even more powerful suggestive effect. A description, a cue or a hint becomes a suggestion when the conscious and unconscious mind takes it in and works with it. Simple words and phrases stay in the mind, influence thought and feeling.

Thus, I want to use words that encourage and affirm. These words are based on what is there, what is happening. They help the client to recognize a firm foundation, from which to move onward.

The client has mentioned, “I am beginning to feel that old pain in my shoulder.” If I use the word pain, it can affirm the client’s experience. But, it may serve as a reminder and trigger for pain. So, when I feel some release has occurred, I merely say, “The shoulder?”

Many constructive suggestions are contained in the descriptions, cues and hints described previously. They acknowledge what either of us is experiencing. They encourage by affirming the efforts the body and mind have been making. They do not overwhelm and discourage by offering advice and personal viewpoints. They encourage by being minimal, by recognizing the significance of small change.

THE GOAL OF DIALOG

Words engage the rational mind. In our culture, we often disregard the evidence of our senses as we engage in thought and speech. As therapists we wish to remain harmonious with the body process as we dialog with the client.

Therapy does not happen overnight. Change is an organic process. It comes from within. As therapists, we enjoy finding out more of what the client thinks and feels. But, the greater goal of our touch and dialog is to support the inner process of healing. This extends far beyond what I can perceive, understand or describe. It is important to know and respect that I do not know all that is happening within the client.

The therapeutic process is active within each of us. Through my own healing process, I gain a deeper insight and trust in the possibility of healing for others. Awareness of myself and my process, is the foundation for understanding the process in others. The process of healing is learned from inside, as I witness my life; and it is learned in relationship with each client, as I participate in that other healing process.

Furthermore, as I learn to apply these qualities in communicating with my client, I learn to speak more softly and effectively to myself, with encouragement and trust.

CONCLUSION

Here is a summary of some of the preceding. These points are useful for our type of therapy, whether we are using words, or silent.

1. I recognize that the symptoms are the result of the natural capabilities of muscle, tissue and spirit. The body is a friend, working for the person.

2. I express gratitude for these efforts.

3. I suggest that this is a moment when the tissue can experiment with relaxing as well as holding.

4. My suggestions are minimal: This relaxation is something for the moment; the tissue still retains the ability to be tight or resistant when it is useful.

5. Therapist suggestions emphasize positive capability. They are small steps within the power of the organism.

6. I learn from my personal healing journey. That helps me to have compassion, patience and trust, with myself and others.

Therapeutic Dialog in Craniosacral Therapy
© Anthony P. Arnold, PhD, 5 Balde Road Santa Fe, NM 87508 USA
http://www.rhythmandtouch.com/
or, http://www.iahp.com/Anthony-P-Arnold