BIODYNAMIC CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

James is the author of Integrative Yoga Therapy.  James has deep study in an ancient martial arts lineage, chi gong, and the inner energetic arts.  James is widely studied in several approaches in Craniosacral Therapy, so he brings a wide-ranging perspective to the RCST training (Wellness Institute, 2023).

MEET YOUR TRAINERS

Roger Gilchrist, MA, RPE, RCST® 

Roger is known for his work integrating holistic approaches into mainstream healthcare.  Roger teaches energy medicine internationally, specializing in Polarity Therapy and Craniosacral Biodynamics.  His experience as a psychotherapist, a registered polarity practitioner, and a registered craniosacral therapist® has kept him involved in many cross-disciplinary ventures.  A past vice president of the American Polarity Therapy Association, Roger has been teaching Polarity Therapy since 1982.  Roger is an approved teacher with the Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Association.  He studied Craniosacral Biodynamics with its founder, Franklyn Sills, and assisted Sills in training programs.  Many students consider Roger a master teacher.  He is the author of the book Cranioscral Therapy and the Energetic Body, a forthcoming textbook on Polarity Therapy, and has published many articles on energy medicine.  Roger is frequently an invited presenter for many groups, including APTA, AMTA, the American Counseling Association, and the National Institutes of Health (Wellness Institute, 2023).

WHY STUDY CRANIOSACRAL BIODYNAMICS?

Bring Healing to Others

Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy is a unique healing art that develops the practitioner’s relationship to life’s essence and inherent healing capacity.  Students in this program learn a great deal about themselves, the nature of life, and valuable ways to facilitate other’s healing.  Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy is a professional diploma training that will take you deeper into profound modes of healing.  

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The human system has different layers of experience that can all be touched in Craniosacral Biodynamics.  This training explores the interactive dynamics of tissues and fluids, organizing forces, and therapeutic presence.  Three fields of function are active within every healing process:  tissues, fluids, and bioenergy.  Specific skills for addressing each of these dimensions are developed in Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy.  The training has a solid and tangible grounding in the structure and functioning of the physical body.  Additionally, fluid dynamics are emphasized in both their systemic and particular actions within the living system.  Finally, the energy dynamics within these processes are revealed and skills are presented for utilizing them skillfully in the healing process.

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Take your existing skills to deeper levels and develop a wider perspective in your work.  Traditional osteopathic skills leading to great precision in clinical practice will be taught and refined throughout the course.

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Improved patient benefits and lasting results accumulate with Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy.  Utilizing the inherent treatment plan and facilitating the healing forces at the heart of every condition gives access to the remarkable healing powers available in the dynamics of life itself!

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Why study Craniosacral Biodynamics with Wellness Institute?

• Experience in mainstream healthcare.

• International school with a proven curriculum

• Teaching to a wide range of healthcare professionals has demonstrated that our combined approach that teaches functional skills along with the quantum wisdom of Craniosacral Biodynamics has the best outcomes.  We want you to be successful in your practice!

(Wellness Institute, 2021).

COURSE DESCRIPTION

A Deeper Look Into the Training

The Biodynamic approach in Craniosacral Therapy represents the leading edge in this continually evolving field.  Craniosacral Biodynamics is derived from original practices in osteopathic medicine and combined with modern awareness of quantum physics, consciousness studies, and depth physiology.  Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy unfolds new vistas in practitioner awareness and higher levels of clinical effectiveness.  This study develops incredible degrees of therapeutic precision by integrating traditional skills with modern awareness in energy medicine.

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Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy was developed significantly by Franklyn Sills.  Sills attended osteopathic college in England, where an emphasis on manual medicine is still prevalent and the practices trace their roots more directly to the original philosophy of osteopathy.  Sills has been visiting faculty at several osteopathic colleges and has managed his own training programs at the Karuna Institute for over two decades.   As the unique features of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy became established as a new professional discipline, Sills authored the textbook, Craniosacral Biodynamics.

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Roger Gilchrist, the director of this training program, first studied with Franklyn Sills in 1990, is a graduate of advanced biodynamic trainings, and has been mentored directly by Sills to teach this work.   Gilchrist has been teaching Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy since 1995 and has assisted Sills with a complete professional training and various advanced courses. [James Foulkes has been with the Wellness Institute since 2010 and has worked directly and trained with Roger.] This course is an excellent opportunity to encounter the depth of Biodynamic work in a direct lineage from its founder.  

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Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy honors the original development of cranial osteopathy by William Garner Sutherland, D.O.   The clarity with which Dr. Sutherland articulated his cranial concept is acknowledged as the source of craniosacral therapy practice.  Further refinements by some of Dr. Sutherland’s students, especially those of Dr. Rollin Becker, contribute significantly to the Biodynamic model.  We also acknowledge the important work of Dr. John Upledger in helping Craniosacral Therapy become a widely established profession.  As this profession continues its development, the Biodynamic approach represents a paradigm shift into new ways of approaching craniosacral therapy practice, clinical awareness, practitioner perception, and therapeutic skills.  Many people who have practiced craniosacral therapy for years have found that once they study the Craniosacral Biodynamics model their practice shifts into new dimensions that were previously unavailable and that more pronounced benefits occur for their clients.

In this training we will explore all the salient features of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy practice.  Several of these are drawn from traditional osteopathic understanding; others are new advancements in the field unique to the Biodynamic approach.  It is certainly true that BCST is a quantum approach in therapeutic practice.

It is important to acknowledge that Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy is a distinct practice that is different from both cranial osteopathy and from other approaches to craniosacral therapy.  However, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy draws upon these other traditions and refines their practices into this evolving professional discipline.  In this way, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy creates a high order of integration among various lines of wisdom in craniosacral therapy practice.  References will be provided to the multiple sources that are drawn upon in this training.  Additionally, insights from many different world spiritual traditions will be utilized in relation to how they contribute to understanding both biodynamics and the essence of the client-therapist relationship.

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Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy covers the entire spectrum of human functioning, allowing us to work with structure and physiology, nervous system dynamics, behavior, and the client’s relationship to life itself.  Important features of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy include the following aspects:

• An appreciation of multiple tidal pulsations through the cerebrospinal fluid and the entire body, each with specific therapeutic implications

• Awareness of Dr. Sutherland’s concept of potency and the bioenergy dynamics within the fluids

• The osteopathic principle of the midline and how all structure and function orients to this

• Understanding central nervous system motility and its importance in the healing process

• The autonomic nervous system, its relationship to stress dynamics and conditioned responses

• A unique approach to healing and integrating trauma

• A specific understanding of conditioned patterns and how inertia is held in the living system

• The traditional skill of using the point of balanced membranous tension

• The modern refinement of the State of Balance, a systemic neutral that facilitates change

• The principle of dynamic equilibrium

• Utilizing fluid dynamics for therapeutic effects

• The differences between biomechanical and biodynamic approaches

• Differential stillpoints (CV-4, EV-4, CV-3, local stillpoints, and nervous system stillpoints)

• Awareness of structural dynamics throughout the body with an emphasis on membranous and connective tissue relationships

• Therapeutic skills for working with the spinal axis and vertebral dynamics

• Birth dynamics and resulting structural patterns

• The importance of the relational field in clinical practice

• Deepening practitioner perception and increasing precision

• The ability to navigate perceptual shifts therapeutically

• Understanding natural fulcrums in the body, inertial fulcrums, and automatic shifting fulcrums

• Patient neutrals and the wholistic shift

• The Inherent Treatment Plan and how to access this within each client

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Specific clinical skills will be learned in relation to each of the above aspects.  Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy offers a depth approach in the practice of craniosacral therapy.  At the heart of this understanding is an appreciation of how universal forces meet the conditioned forces within the individual.  A core of health is always available and the practitioner’s work is dedicated to helping this inherent health reveal itself and become established in the client’s system.

The Wellness Institute training in Craniosacral Biodynamics is oriented to developing professional skills and aptitude in clinical practice.  The cutting edge of craniosacral therapy is available with Biodynamic principles and understanding.  At the same time, our endeavor is to cultivate aptitude with clinical practice, so practitioners can effectively utilize this therapeutic mode after graduation.  

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In one respect, our training is oriented to developing specific skills in professional practice, yet at the same time, the study is not driven by learning a list of techniques or protocols.  Rather, we emphasize understanding the healing principles in Craniosacral Biodynamics.  These healing principles are based upon natural organizing forces demonstrable in living systems.

Whereas, early approaches to CranioSacral Therapy had a biomechanical orientation, as the profession has evolved it has oriented more and more deeply to the organizing principles in life.  Here we see the interface of the laws of physics, biophysics, and metaphysics.  Learning to dynamically engage these forces in the healing process is a profound discovery.  

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Everyone we know who has studied Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy has had dynamic changes in their professional practice, and often in their personal lives.  Healing practice is not the same once Biodynamic principles are incorporated.

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Graduates from the Wellness Institute professional training in Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy have included a wide array of people, ranging from laypeople to professors of medicine at esteemed medical schools.  Commonly our classes are a mix of bodyworkers, physiotherapists, osteopaths, nurses, massage therapists, and psychotherapists.  We find these mixed groups create an excellent training milieu for the benefit of all (Wellness Institute, 2021).

SEQUENCE OF CLASSES IN THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING FOR BIODYNAMIC CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY