Sleep is a form of nourishment, and a refuge from our waking lives, within which
we may dream.
Sleep habits, and attitudes to sleep, are formed in early life, and
become built-in to our physiology at a level that is not readily accessible to conscious
influence. At times of stress and illness our sleep pattern may break down. As a
practising GP, I am acutely aware that this can be profoundly distressing and disabling.
However it is now widely recognised that the risks of drug treatment far outweigh
the benefits in most cases, and some form of cognitive-behavioural intervention is
generally recommended.
Craniosacral therapy offers another useful way to approach
sleep problems. Clients often describe CST sessions as having a sleep-like quality,
sometimes associated with dream-like imagery. People often feel deeply rested after
a session and experience more restful sleep afterwards. Longer term, CST can help
with the deeper issues underlying difficulties with sleep; facilitating greater confidence
in the natural process of letting-go to fall asleep, and greater trust in the restorative
and imaginative powers of the body.
Craniosacral therapy is a subtle, holistic, non-manipulative mode of hands-on healing,
best understood as a form of 'joint-practice' between therapist and client. At the
heart of any painful or dysfunctional condition can be found a core of Health. Our
Health is the inherent tendency of each part of us to seek a deeper and more nourishing
relationship with something larger and more complex than itself. This tendency may
be expressed at any and every level of body, mind and spirit. In the tissues and
fluids of the body, Health may, with care and practice, be palpated as a felt-sense
of the interplay between stillness and movement, much as music can be heard as the
interplay of sound and silence.
Being heard in this way, in the context of a therapeutic
relationship, seems to facilitate a stilling and resourcing of the whole person.
Anyone may benefit from this, but craniosacral therapy has a particular reputation
as a gentle but effective way of working with trauma, especially trauma arising in
the prenatal period or birth process and manifesting in stress and suffering at any
stage of life thereafter.
Craniosacral therapy is available at Urban Fringe Dispensary on Wednesdays with
Matt Gothill. Other times may be possible by arrangement.
Matt is also a practising GP in inner-city primary care, and these 2 practices allow
him to balance the healing art of craniosacral therapy with the Science of Medicine.
First appointment £45
Second appointment £25
Subsequent appointments £40 or £175 for
a prepaid block of 5 appointments
To book an appointment:
Tel.0117 9276527