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Rolfing and Post Traumatic Stress

As an advanced practitioner of the Ida P Rolf Method of Structural Integration, the emphasis of my work is to bring greater organization to the physical structure. In a series of ten sessions breath, movement and the interrelatedness of major body segments (i.e. arm, legs, trunk) are enhanced. The opportunity to release longtime patterns of chronic tension and bracing become available to the client.

Rolfing can help to heal survivors of emotional or physical trauma. During the first hour of Structural Integration, the client and therapist begin to develop a rapport through verbal dialogue as well as touch. As the therapist finds the appropriate level of pressure the client responds with a deepening of respiration and relaxation.

As the touch dialogue develops the client will be encouraged to breathe into and move areas of her body that she has become disconnected from. These areas may be lacking in sensation. Other areas of the body might be hypersensitive and the client might even request not to be touched there. Her requests are always honored. Sometimes these areas can be approached again as she becomes receptive.

When a person is attacked or abused the sympathetic nervous system mobilizes with a “fight or flight response” as a mechanism of self-protection. The body responds to this life-threatening situation by releasing adrenaline, which causes the heart rate to increase. When faced with danger and unable to fight back or escape, the victim will passively freeze. Opiate-like chemicals are then released to numb the pain. This enables the victim to “leave the body” or dissociate.

Long after the traumatic episode, patterns of dissociation remain with the victim as a remnant of the attack. She may have areas of physical rigidity or regions that lack sensation as if the perpetrator’s hands had never left her. This rigidity becomes a self-limiting influence as she experiences life with compromised respiration, self-awareness, and movement.

During the Structural Integration sessions the client takes an active role. She is invited to meet the pressure of the Rolfer’s hands with her breath. The Rolfer guides her to make small, easeful movements to facilitate the opening that is occurring in her body. Breathing and moving with intention, she becomes more self aware and present, contradicting her old pattern of dissociation.

During the Rolfing series the soft tissue network becomes reorganized and the body’s segments become better aligned. The client experiences a stronger sense of connectedness within herself and her universe. As the therapist releases areas of soft tissue restriction, she may find that her feet are more firmly planted on the ground, giving her a new sense of confidence. As she breathes more fully and deeply, she might become more spontaneous and resilient emotionally.

As areas of rigidity soften the distortions of body image can shift. As she releases longstanding tensions and blocked energy related to her trauma, she may begin to envision her own transformation.

The intimate nature of this work is based upon trust, openness and communication. As the client shares her physical pain, she is not alone with it anymore. Rolfing is a process during which the client can connect with and let go of the physical manifestations of trauma, and in doing so find that its emotional content has also surfaced. The client is supported emotionally during the session, however it is not within the realm of these sessions to explore psychological issues with any depth. Rolfing can be a powerful adjunct to psychotherapy in that it can help to bring forth unconscious memories that were previously unavailable to the client.

“ Psychological trauma such as physical abuse, abandonment, feelings of inadequacy, attitudes of fear and anger affect structure. Tightening against pain, holding breath to block emotions, slumping in order not to feel too big, become physically locked in the body and thus perpetuate the attitude.”

Betsy Sise, Certified Rolfer

“Physical stress mirrors emotional suffering: relief from physical restraint markedly affects emotional misery.”

Ida P, Rolf, Ph.D.

By Rebekah Frome • Rolfing • • Tags: emotional trauma, fight flight response, physical trauma, Post Traumatic Stress, PTSD, rolfing, structural integration

Spectacle Induced Trauma

As I dashed down the stairs I had the fleeting sense that the stairs looked funny, followed by the thought, “Oops, I should have taken my reading glasses off.” Suddenly my right ankle turned mercilessly under me and I plunged to the floor. I waited for the excruciating jab of pain to subside so that I could breathe again. When I did catch my breath, I wondered what the damage would be.

Sooner or later everyone has an injury, but I have always assumed that my role was to support those in need of healing! Now I was the one needing help.

I was in pain. The ligaments and tendons of my ankle were overstretched. Additionally, the muscles of my lower leg went into spasm. I received a Rolfing session soon after the accident. The Rolfing decreased my pain and hastened my recovery.

Muscles tend lock up to protect an injured area. It is the body’s way of limiting movement when trauma has occurred. Soft tissue injury results in painful muscle spasm and fascial shortening, which in turn creates pain, in a vicious cycle. Interrupting that pattern will hasten the healing process.

Initially, the Rolfer does not work directly on an inflamed joint. Instead, we choose to work on the surrounding areas, which reduces swelling, muscle spasm and joint stiffness. Rolfing facilitates the process of tissue repair even when the work is not directly applied to the injured area.

Over the next six weeks, the soft tissue and ligaments of the ankle gradually heal. As swelling goes down a sense of normalcy sets in.

However, with this healing there is a caveat. Your body forms its own natural connective tissue splint supporting and preventing further injury while the ankle is healing. Long after the original injury has healed this internal splint remains, inhibiting full mobility. We become chronically stiff.

We are not meant to live our lives post injury with parts of our bodies that have become mummified. This is where Rolfing does an amazing thing. Rolfing reestablishes the normal elasticity of the connective tissues, restoring mobility and circulation to the area. Rolfing removes this internal splint.

Does hobbling around on a sprained ankle affect the rest of your body? You bet. The whole body tries to compensate for the imbalanced movement pattern of the foot and ankle. The Rolfer restores the alignment and biomechanics to each joint so that your entire structure is singing again.

Rolfing helps to restore the breath and calms the nervous system. Mobility is your birthright. You deserve to breathe deeply and to move with ease. So, don’t hesitate to call us if you slip on a banana peel. For help with tapping your potential call us at 973.509.8464 or book online to schedule an appointment.

By Rebekah Frome • Physical Therapy, Rolfing • • Tags: ankle sprain, connective tissue, myofascia, pain due to spasm, structural integration, swelling, tissue repair, trauma

Rolfing and the Mind – Body Connection

“Physical stress mirrors emotional suffering, relief from physical constraint markedly affects emotional misery.” – Dr. Ida P. Rolf

The Irish say, the past is not the past. Each of us has a history. We are formed by both our physical and emotional experiences. The important things that happen during our journey leave their mark upon us, and shape our structure. Your unique movement pattern reflects athletic and career choices, psychological and physical health, as well as your genetic predispositions.

We are all moving around our physical limitations. When we recognize someone a block away it is often their movement pattern that distinguishes them first. How we walk and move through life is idiosyncratic. Traumatic injury, such as a physical accident or an emotional wound becomes part of our structure.

Consider an ankle sprain. In response to pain, we hold the ankle rigid. This internal bracing is an unconscious and instinctual – we do it to avoid more pain. In a matter of weeks, the fascia, the fabric of the body that organizes the structure, adapts by shortening. This shortening becomes a part of our structural pattern. The fascial shortening influences our movement patterns and our pattern of organization.

What happens when the ankle sprain heals? The fascial shortening remains and stays with us. Without therapeutic intervention the new pattern often remains with us throughout our life. Our freedom of movement (range of motion) becomes limited by the injury and the internal “repair.”

Psychic injuries are also formative of the structure. We often absorb sexual violence into our physical and emotional bodies. The experiences that we are unable to process become “stuck places” in the structure. Young children who become chronically embarrassed will often go through their lives with their shoulders elevated and rolled in, and their head forward.

This defensive posture actually becomes cemented into the structure. The pectoral and upper trapezius fascia shortens and thickens. We may carry these structural changes throughout our lives. Both the ankle sprain and the embarrassment create chronic holding patterns that influence how we stand, move, feel and think.

It is with great tenacity that we propel ourselves forward into space despite our physical and emotional wounds. Our survival depends on our ability to move. We find inventive and unique movement patterns to compensate for our losses.

These compensations come at a cost. Sometimes, the price we pay is the loss of efficiency. It takes extra energy to stay upright and to move when the body is not well aligned. Sometimes, we pay with the loss of confidence. Emotional trauma becomes lodged in the structure.

Rolfing supports the structure to become better balanced. The Rolfer uses deep pressure to release the chronic shortening in the fascia. As the tensions in the fascial network become more balanced, the structure becomes more upright. The stuck places become “unstuck.”

The implications of releasing these chronic shortenings from old injuries are far reaching. As the body changes and becomes more open, the heart and mind changes too, inevitably.

Rolfers use a ten session format to work progressively through the structure. Each session works on a different part of the body. Our goals include helping you become more vertical and upright, with openness and span. Ultimately, we want to help you become more comfortable in your own skin.

Five Element Acupuncture is also a wonderful tool for addressing old wounds and creating balance within the structure. Each area of chronic holding is present in our energetic field as an energetic block. As the acupuncturist removes each of these blocks, the body and the mind and heart move towards balance. Change within the structure offers great possibility and promise for change within the heart and mind.

By David Frome • Acupuncture, Good Posture, Rolfing • • Tags: body-mind, emotional trauma, fascial shortening, five element acupuncture, mind-body, physical trauma, rolfing, structural integration, structural pattern, Traumatic injury

Robin McKenzie’s Revolutionary Approach to Back Care

While some episodes of back pain are fairly short in duration, others last for weeks or even months. The severity and duration of pain often corresponds to the age, postural habits and the physical health of an individual.

Three stages of LBP are poor posture, dysfunction and derangement. These progressive stages are the principles of diagnosis identified by Robin McKenzie, a Physiotherapist from New Zealand.

In the case of postural syndrome a healthy joint is stretched beyond its limits. For example, sitting in a slumped position repeatedly over time stretches the spinal ligaments eventually causing pain. If the pain is postural in nature, sitting erect corrects this problem immediately.

With dysfunction syindrome, the normal freedom of movement in one or more joints is impaired. You probably have seen someone rise from a chair unable to stand erect. We commonly refer to this as stiffness. In fact, certain structures have lost mobility and are impeding normal movement. This problem is an example of dysfunction. Scar tissue, myofascial shortening, muscle spasm and tendonitis can all lead to dysfunction. Treatment of dysfunction involves restoring the normal ROM in the joints.

The most severe back problem is the pain that results from derangement. Derangement Syndrome occurs when the structure of the joint has been disrupted and the mechanics are compromised. When spinal derangement occurs, the spinal cord and peripheral nerve roots are often affected. Disc herniation, spinal stenosis and spondylolisthesis are different forms of derangement that often create nerve pain. Typically this pain is experienced along the sciatic nerve, which runs along the posterior lateral buttock, thigh, calf and foot.

Poor posture can lead to dysfunction and derangement within a segment of the vertebrae.

McKenzie also discovered an important principal in assessing back and neck pain called centralization of pain. If the pain is experienced closer toward the spine over time, (from the foot to the calf, or from the thigh to the buttock, or the buttock to the spine) symptoms are centralizing and healing. If the pain or symptoms are moving away from the spine, it’s called peripheralization, indicating a more involved problem. This principal allows practitioners and patients to determine if their treatment is working.

McKenzie pioneered a method of treatment of the lumbar and cervical spine that promotes self-care through postural correction and specific exercises.

Robin based his practice on some simple tenants:

1. Your back probably “went out’” because certain highly repetitive postures and/or movements that you do.

2. By identifying the problematic postures or movements that create your spinal problems, we can find the postures and movements which will reverse the problem, reducing and abolishing your back pain.

3. You can learn to use these exercises and postural corrections to prevent future episodes of neck and back pain.

4. Sometimes, the care of a professional is needed to help you manage a spinal problem. A qualified McKenzie therapist can diagnose, treat and help you learn the principles of self-care.

Robin’s has written two fine books, “Treat Your Own Back” and “Treat Your Own Neck.” We highly recommend these guides to help you understand the nature of back pain and provide you with tools for self care.

At Frome Physical Therapy we specialize in low back and neck care. In our practice we incorporate the tools of Robin McKenzie, Dr. Rolf’s vision and acupuncture in the treatment of acute and chronic cervical and low back problems.

The contents in this article are not meant to be diagnostic or prescriptive. Spinal problems are sometimes complex, and a physician should always be consulted before choosing a course of treatment.

By David Frome • Acupuncture, Good Posture, Physical Therapy, Rolfing • • Tags: acupuncture, centralization of pain, derangement syndrome, dysfunction syndrome, low back pain, low back problems, lumbar spine, myofascial shortening, Physical Therapy, postural syndrome, robin mckenzie, rolfing, scar tissue, structural integration

Body Memory

The body stores memories of trauma in the soft tissue. We may re-experience the sensations of our injuries when we are touched. Certain parts of our bodies may be tightly held, affecting our breath, structure and movement. When trauma occurs, the nervous system carries a message to the muscles to tighten. The traumatic experience becomes part of the body memory – a relationship between the fascia and the nervous system.

Fascia, a connective tissue, is the packing material of the body. Fascia envelopes the muscles, bones and joints, holds us together and maintains our structures unique pattern. The nervous system is a network of specialized cells (neurons) which, in it’s most basic form, receives information from the outside world, processes it and allows us to respond to the stimulus.

Ideally, if we have a traumatic experience, we process the information and can get on with our lives. Sometimes this information overwhelms the system and gets stuck. We may feel fear all the time, or perhaps our breath is shallow. The trauma becomes part of the body memory.

Rolfers use deep pressure through their hands to release chronic tensions within the fascia. As the tensions in the myofascia become more balanced, not only does alignment, breath and movement improve, but the nervous system has a chance to heal. As the muscles are released from their shortened state, the physical remnants of trauma are cleared. Rolfing or Structural Integration can help the nervous system to integrate the traumatic event.

Acupuncturists also work through the fascial system. Specifically, needles are inserted into points along energetic pathways called meridians. These pathways correspond to fascial junctions (where muscle joins with muscle or bone) and forms lines of stress within the soft tissue. Through these energetic pathways, acupuncturists work to regulate the nervous system and organ function. Acupuncture can also be used to regulate the tensional forces within the fascia and organize the structure. As the balance within the fascia and the nervous system are restored, body memories can shift and we can heal from trauma. Structural acupuncture is a relatively new practice, and David Frome is among the pioneers of this field.

In the healing arts, no one can erase traumatic experience, but we can create the opportunity for healing. At Frome Physical Therapy, we are committed to supporting you in Caring For Your Health. Call us now (973.509.8464 212.529.1901) or schedule online for your next appointment.

By Rebekah Frome • Acupuncture, Physical Therapy, Rolfing • • Tags: body memory, fascia, Frome Physical Therapy, heal from trauma, release chronic tensions, structural integration, trauma