A young woman presented with headaches. She reported two sport whiplash injuries as the cause. She went into a deep arching strain and did well in the session. If she feels significantly better, is she done with therapy?
No, more layers of her onion need to be cleared. When she was two, she was thrown 70 feet in a car accident and landed on concrete. The doctor said she was fine, but we know better.
She was born posterior, black and blue, and became a fussy baby. She was already holding a lot of trauma in her body. The sport injuries, which may have been tolerated better by other less-strained women, took her over the edge, resulting in headaches.
Predisposed patients create their own unique onion after conception. At some point, the layers cross the line into symptoms where their bodies start to talk.
Taking a history is important. I schedule new patients for a 30-minute evaluation visit and ask about their symptoms and conditions. I let them be heard.
I want to find out about their traumas. I know from experience that they will remember some but forget others.
Most people are not conscious about their birth experience. Some will say that they were told it was “normal" and think everything was fine.
In my world, “normal" can mean all kinds of soft tissue traumas to the craniosacral fascial system that health professionals felt was OK. Even now, the prevailing thought is you are perfect at birth, and what happened in those first 40 weeks does not count in life. That thinking needs to change.
When you see a patient with a tight body and a zero-second brain cycle, you are probably looking at the cumulative effects of a lifetime of trauma. Patients need to be aware that therapy is a journey of revisiting and clearing the effects of their injuries. Healing is a process, not an event.
I believe the Gillespie Approach offers the true essence of authentic healing. Gillespie Approach Training is a must for all neonatal providers.
