What is the Gillespie Approach - Craniosacral Fascial Therapy?
First, it’s important to define the craniosacral fascial system. Discovered by Dr. Barry Gillespie, this system consists of a slight motion of the brain and spinal cord pumping cerebrospinal fluid into the fascial web, connecting all the body’s structural cells.
Craniosacral Fascial Therapy (CFT) is a gentle healing modality that provides patients with a freely moving brain, spinal cord, and fascial web, all of which are critical to peak health. Craniosacral Fascial Therapy was founded by Dr. Barry Gillespie, who merged concepts from craniosacral therapy and myofascial release therapy, in the early 1980s.
Craniosacral Fascial Therapy is also referred to as Gillespie Approach–Craniosacral Fascial Therapy—or Gillespie Approach–CFT.
Dr. Barry Gillespie also created the Baby Brain Score, a screening tool that measures neonatal neurophysiology and may indicate the use of CFT.
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Dr. Barry Gillespie developed the Baby Brain Score (BBS) in 2006. This screening tool quickly assesses brain function in the first few minutes of life. A compromised Baby Brain Score alerts professionals to the immediate need for Gillespie Approach–Craniosacral Fascial Therapy (CFT).
Dr. Gillespie envisions the use of the Baby Brain Score and the Gillespie Approach-CFT worldwide—from pre-conception onward—to ensure better hormonal function, less strain in pregnancy, easier birth, and better overall health for the newborn.
Learn more about BBS and CFT
Internet Journal of Pediatrics and Neonatology: Read the research proposal investigating the utility of the Baby Brain Score and Craniosacral Fascial Therapy for newborns.
Infant Research Project: Read about the project to study the effectiveness of the Baby Brain Score and Gillespie Approach for infants.
The Science of the Craniosacral Fascial System
The cerebrospinal fluid is the lifeblood of the craniosacral fascial system, an integration of the craniosacral and connective tissue components. This fluid starts its journey in the choroid plexus of the ventricles, gently fluctuates through the craniosacral system, and flows within the cranial and spinal nerve sheaths out into the billions of fine collagen tubules of the body’s fascial component. Researchers have confirmed this unified craniosacral fascial system by discovering cerebrospinal fluid in the collagen tubules with surprisingly no ordinary ground substance, blood, or lymph present.
The lymphatic system returns this fluid to the venous system and onto the liver, heart, and lungs. Oxygenated blood then flows from the heart, through the aorta and carotid arteries, to the blood brain barrier of the choroid plexus. Blood exudates filter through the tight endothelial cell wall junctions and astrocytes of the capillaries to form the cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles, thus completing the cycle.
Since the body systems are healthy for almost all neonates, the most important factors for a well-functioning craniosacral fascial system are the brain gently expanding and contracting or “breathing” to pump the fluid, and the entire fascial web being open for the fluid to flow unimpeded. An unrestricted fascial system is mandatory in health for the proper cellular exchange of nutrients and waste products. As an example, birth trauma can adversely affect the infant’s brain motion. We believe that the quality of the cerebrospinal fluid flow in the craniosacral fascial system can be the key to unlocking the answer to many pediatric illnesses.
Learn more about the philosophy and four core principles of CFT.
Read Dr. Gillespie’s article, What is Craniosacral Fascial Therapy?
Meet the creator of the Gillespie Approach and Craniosacral Fascial Therapy
Dr. Barry Gillespie
Dr. Barry Gillespie has been in the scientific field his entire life. He was a science major at the university level and matriculated into dental school in 1969. After graduation, he took two years of study for his master’s degree in periodontics/TMJ. Upon completion in 1975 at the age of 28, he discovered that his own headaches and sinus infections were primarily due to craniosacral fascial restriction. When conventional medical care could not correct his problem, he began his journey into the field of complementary medicine for his own healing. In 1977, Dr. Gillespie added this complementary approach to help his patients in private practice.
In 1980, while working with children who had TMJ and headaches, Dr. Barry Gillespie discovered that craniosacral fascial restriction in the respiratory system caused pediatric asthma. In his asthmatic clinical research, which spanned 20 years through the 1980s and 1990s, he also discovered that many other childhood diseases such as chronic earaches, headaches, learning disorders, ADHD, rhinitis, colic, reflux, scoliosis and strabismus stemmed from dysfunction of the craniosacral fascial system.
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Because of the potential global magnitude of the discoveries he made, Dr. Barry Gillespie left his periodontal practice in 1997 after 22 years to devote himself full time to this work. He published Healing Your Child in 1999 to educate lay parents about the natural care concepts and, in 2000, published Brain Therapy for Children and Adults as a teaching manual for his students.
In 2007, Dr. Barry Gillespie was the principal author in formulating the Baby Brain Score (BBS) approach. An article on this topic was published in 2010 in The Internet Journal of Pediatrics and Neonatology. The BBS is a screening test done for newborns following the Apgar Scores to assess neonatal neurophysiology. To complete the approach, Gillespie Approach–Craniosacral Fascial Therapy is done immediately to relieve soft-tissue strain in the tiny body.
Dr. Gillespie’s impactful work with children with epilepsy, cerebral palsy, dyslexia and speech conditions, led him to train other professional working with brain injuries in the U.S. and internationally to use the Gillespie Approach.
From 2007 to 2012, Dr. Barry Gillespie’s team evaluated and treated about 800 infants in Mexico, Canada and America. From this work, Dr. Barry Gillespie published his third book, The Brain Score Approach, in November 2010.
“ I believe that the effects of fetal trauma and birth trauma can be mitigated at the beginning of life to create optimal brain function, prevent many diseases and avert a lifetime of suffering. What a great gift for a human being! Even though Gillespie Approach–Craniosacral Fascial Therapy can be beneficial at any age, our primary goal is for trauma prevention with the use of the Baby Brain Score and the Gillespie Approach for every newborn worldwide.”
Dr. Barry Gillespie
A needed next step for the Gillespie Approach-CFT
Dr. Barry Gillespie believes that the neonatal intensive care (NICU) is a great opportunity for the Gillespie Approach–CFT and the Baby Brain Score to make significant impact. He believes very strongly that this therapy can truly help these newborns become calmer and more relaxed so they can function better and heal faster. He also believes that therapy can possibly help neonates with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). He plans to retire when every one of the world’s 134 million babies receives the Gillespie Approach–CFT and the Baby Brain Score at birth.
Join the movement—
Sharing the power of the Gillespie Approach-CFT around the world
Gillespie Approach-CFT Training
All CFT practitioners must complete Gillespie Approach-CFT training with Kim Sherlock and Holly Steflik, who are personally trained and endorsed by Dr. Barry Gillespie. Kim and Holly have led CFT trainings and clinics in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Nepal, Peru, and throughout the United States. Collectively they have over 35 years of experience in the healing profession and have given CFT trainings globally since 2015.
Along with Dr. Gillespie, Kim and Holly have developed the CFT Foundation Training and the CFT Infant Training. They are dedicated to spreading CFT in communities throughout the world with professionals and parents.