How many modalities are you trained in? How many do you practice? Why?

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Permalink Reply by Therese Schwartz on November 22, 2013 at 2:27pm

I've been to classes for: Upledger CranioSacral Therapy (through Advanced 2, plus Pediatrics and Sensory Integration); Chickly's Lymph Drainage Therapy (one class); Advanced Training's/Til Lucau's MFR (one class plus all 10 DVD's), John Barnes MFR (one class).

I've learned through DVD's: Val Guin's Forearm Dance Massage; Nathalie Cecilia's Bamboo Fusion; Eric Brown's Chair Massage.

No formal training but getting started: Equine CranioSacral Therapy.

I practice all of these, sometimes many of them in combination in the same session!

Why?  Because I believe in the philosophy "When something isn't working, try something else."  I always like to have something else to try!  These modalities all have one thing in common from my perspective: respect for the client - who they are, what they need, what the tissues need.

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Permalink Reply by Dawn Lewis on November 25, 2013 at 11:27am

I am trained in 10 modalities and I practice them all.  Although, at times I am putting them altogether to get an amalgam of all of them.  I find that combining something like Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique (SMRT), which, in the interest of full disclosure, is my own modality, with cranial sacral therapy takes both to a new level.  Or using a combination of deep tissue and SMRT on the neck, and then using cranial sacral and MLD on the head elevates every modality I am using.  As to the why - my practice is almost all chronic pain, post-surgical, or injury work.  I generally spend my time in one, maybe two areas, so combining modalities is a fantastic way to address all the structures in that area.  For example, SMRT will quickly and painlessly releases the ligaments of the iliofemoral joint, which allows the femur head to mobilize and realign.  This almost instantly takes tension out of the glutes and the deep 6, enhancing my deep tissue and myofascial release.  The combination allows for natural realignment of the joints in the area, release of the muscle tissue, and softening of the connective tissue, which makes for a really complete rebalancing of the area.  The other answer to why is that by having many different modalities to pull from, I feel I am able to remain flexible and, hopefully, give the client what they need in any given moment.

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