Gillespie Approach Testimonials

Father Finds Extraordinary Gillespie Approach Benefits in Baby and Self

Baby’s Story

My wife and I have been very health conscious for years, trying to do all the right things for our children. We took them to the chiropractor, have them eat healthy and many other things. Our third baby was in a breech position at birth, and, fortunately, the midwife was able to deliver her naturally. At first glance everything seemed fine. She, however, was not nursing well, holding down her milk, or sleeping constantly.

A friend in our church recommended Dr. Gillespie, and my wife and I made the trip to Philadelphia to see him for treatment. He noticed quickly that she had tight fascia around her diaphragm, likely from the breech position inside the womb.

After one session, we noticed a positive difference in her ability to hold her milk down and sleep through the night. After several sessions, she was like a new baby, sleeping, eating, digesting and holding down her milk really well.

Since then, she is a super-energetic happy girl who is cruising through her developmental milestones. She is only 1½ years old but seems older as she is developing so well. We could not be more happy or thankful for this work.

Father’s Story

For the past 20 years, I have suffered with much pain from a serious car accident. I experienced back pain many times, but, finally, my disk slipped out of place, and I was in constant debilitating pain. This went on for several months.

I tried many doctors and methods, and although I had some relief from physical therapy, I was still working my job as a photographer in excruciating pain. After Dr. Gillespie treated my daughter, he suggested I try a session.

After my first session, I felt my body start to loosen up, and I decided to try to play Frisbee a day later. I jogged and played that day, and I was so excited that I knew I was on to something.

After each session, I had less pain in my back, and my disk eventually healed and went back into place with no additional medication or treatments, only the work of Dr. Gillespie.

I am beyond grateful as the stress of my injury was so intense, my blood pressure was sky high, and I feared dying of a heart attack and leaving my wife and three children with no husband or father. It was the darkest time of my life, but, in that time, God was with me, bringing me support from my family and providentially allowing me to find this work.

My blood pressure is now normal, and my back feels so much better. I now live every day feeling like it is a bonus day of grace.

John Clay Burchett: “I Felt 10-Plus Years Younger”

About five weeks ago, I had my first CFT session with a Gillespie Approach-trained practitioner (the recent training out of Louisville, Kentucky).

During the session, I felt 100 different points of release. Admittedly, I’m more “body aware” than the average person, but while she was working around the head, I could feel the heat of the releases crawling from the base of my skull, down through my traps, through my pelvic region, the backs of my legs, and into my ankles and feet, which were forced to wriggle around.

Throughout the hour-long session, each region she got to was unlocking more and more tensions that I had been carrying for too long to pretend to pinpoint. Some decades—some since in utero, likely—brought on by unaddressed oral dysfunction.

I left the table feeling like I was floating on a cloud—lightheaded but immediately knew that everything was different.

I experienced a dull pain for 24 to 48 hours and then woke up and felt like Gumby looks. Never in my life do I recall having as much freedom of movement, clarity of thought, cleanliness of energy, quality of sleep, quality of bodily functions.

To say that I felt 10-plus years younger that morning is not hyperbole, and I may be undershooting. 

I had my second session … and she continued to peel the onion.

The main reason I commented was to say that our almost-19-month-old Veda, who was a training baby in Louisville, also had her first session since that training … and she absolutely loved it. She responded so well. Her overall mood and cognitive ability seemingly exploded during the session, after the session and every single day since. Her balance, general movement and the way she holds herself are all improved. Her speech is now exploding by the hour it seems. It’s been pretty amazing to watch.

All that to say I 1,000 percent agree with that assessment for pediatric and adult cognition as I have experienced it exponentially as well.

Lottie Bronson Shares “Wonderful Experience” Working on a Baby

I had a wonderful experience yesterday while working on a baby. It was so beautiful! He began to unwind very slowly for a few minutes, but when I had the mother place one hand under his sacrum and one hand over his umbilicus (I was supporting his head and shoulders), his tiny body began unwinding completely.

We lifted him up and supported him while he twisted and turned. It appeared as though he was re-experiencing the entire birthing process. He unwound in a way that was like unwinding from the mother’s contractions, getting into position, and going through the birth canal all over again.

He then arched back, went into an upside-down position and then began to cry and cry. His tiny voice was full of emotional release, and then it stopped. He calmed and lay quietly with eyes so wide and bright. I felt as though God had been doing the work himself.

The neat thing to me was how his body didn’t really respond much until the mother placed her hands in that position. After we were done, she said: “That was the strangest feeling. I wasn’t doing anything. Just following where his body was going.” I love it when mothers get a chance to feel the magic too.

A Mother Tells Her Family’s Story

In the fall of 2020, my six-month identical twin girls were diagnosed with hydrocephalus and chiari 1 malformation. Their heads were rapidly growing, and we were running out of time to do something.

We were told that there was no cure and that they would either need a shunt for the rest of their lives or we could try something called an endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV), which is a minimally invasive procedure that creates an opening in the floor of the third ventricle in the brain. This allows cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) trapped within the brain’s ventricles to escape into its normal pathway.

We were told there was no guarantee that this procedure would help. We agreed to have this surgery, but I was not going to give up trying to find the root cause and healing my girls. I immediately started looking for possible holistic therapies out there. That was when I was led only by God to find Dr. Barry Gillespie and learned about the Gillespie Approach.

I explained to him that my girls were a rare set of MoMo twins, which is short for monoamniotic-monochorionic, which refers to twins who develop in a single amniotic sac and share a placenta. I learned about sustained, prolonged in-utero compression. In addition to the hydrocephalus and chiari 1 malformation diagnoses, we were already dealing with constipation, tongue tie, torticollis, and plagiocephaly.

Since we were from Oklahoma, Dr. Gillespie recommended that we see Gillespie Approach practitioners, Jake and Jordan Chambers, in Kansas City, MO. On our first visit, our girls had zero-second brain cycles and displayed lots of arching. We continued making trips to Kansas City and saw improvements with everything we were dealing with. Our girls now have brain cycles in the upper 200s.

Over the past year, we have had two follow up MRIs which showed that there was no hydrocephalus present. Our most recent MRI showed that one of our twin’s chiari 1 malformation is gone. We are hopeful that a future MRI will show that our other twin’s chiari is gone also.

In addition, one of our twins was diagnosed at the eye doctor with Brown Syndrome. We have already seen a huge improvement in her eye.

We now have two happy and healthy girls and are so blessed to be where we are today. God answered our prayers.

Infant With Brain Injury Experiences Rapid Transformation With the Gillespie Approach

An Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) aka brain injury Gillespie Approach story from the Dallas TX infant course:

I was in labor with E for 36 hours at home before I transferred to a hospital. I was only at the hospital a few hours before the discovery of meconium while breaking my water. Within two hours, I was septic and my baby’s heart rate was going downhill. We went in for an emergency Cesarean Section (C-Section), and E was born dead.

They suctioned his lungs, resuscitated him and then intubated him. They immediately called a more equipped hospital to have him transferred. They had to put him on an extremely aggressive ventilator for 3 days. He was treated for sepsis and pneumonia.

The hospital fed him through an NG tube for the first 4 days. When attempting to bottle-feed him, we realized he was aspirating. That’s what led us to the diagnoses of his brain injury. HIE.

The neurologist said his motor skills would be affected. He said, best-case scenario, he wouldn’t be able to kick a soccer ball. Worst case he won’t be able to feed himself. He mentioned cerebral palsy is highly likely. We had to thicken E’s breast milk to the consistency of honey. Otherwise, he would choke so badly.

The hospital finally sent us home on day 20. They sent us home and scheduled us so many appointments. Follow-up swallow studies, neurology appointments, physical therapy, and occupational therapy.

We had so many people praying for healing. I prayed very specific things for God to show me what to do.

All the therapist and doctors we had seen were not helping at all. Our son wasn’t gaining weight. He was stiff as a board. He was in obvious pain all the time. He screaming and would arching his back if he had to be in a sitting position. I was researching and continued praying.

I had heard of Gillespie Approach before. Though I wasn’t familiar yet. I saw someone mention how it helped their child. I started reading about it. There were so many confirmations from the Spirit, I was bawling reading through the information. I totally felt God’s presence.

I told my husband and showed him, and he said we will do whatever it takes to get him this therapy. We drove an hour and a half to get the therapy.

Our son’s face shape changed after a one-hour session. His jaw became more square and his chin stuck out more. Also, I had never seen my son be able to stick his tongue out. He had severe oral ties that hadn’t been released yet.

When we got home that day, we were able to get him completely off his thickened milk. We had been trying for weeks and nothing worked until Gillespie Approach.

• We had a lot more [Gillespie Approach] therapy done on E.
• He was finally able to sit comfortably.
• We saw his neck extend for the first time.
• He started sleeping better.
• He wasn’t rigid and stiff.
• He stopped arching his back.
• He actually smiles and isn’t in pain any more.
• His hand-eye coordination drastically improved, I’ve never seen anything like it.

Doctors see him now and say that he is fully healed.

God has used Gillespie Approach to make miracles happen.

Erin Nishikawa Huber: “My Son Went From a Fussy Baby to a Happy Baby”

My husband was skeptical about craniosacral fascial therapy, but my mommy gut and background as a pediatric nurse told me that something just wasn’t right. I was exhausted and felt defeated and was willing to try anything to have a calmer, happier baby.

My baby was fussy baby and very difficult to console. He would cry being put down, cry being strolled, and cry during the whole car ride. He was only content being held in my arms, and I couldn’t be sitting holding him he needed to have that bouncing movement. The pediatricians said it was all reflux related, so I searched the internet for solutions for reflux. No matter what we tried, our baby was still fussy and miserable.

I sought the help of a lactation consultant, thinking that maybe he was fussy because he wasn’t getting enough milk. That home visit was a blessing in disguise, she recommended Dr. Gillespie. After finding his website and reading so many wonderful reviews, I convinced my husband that we should make an appointment. After our first visit, we were AMAZED!!! My son slept the whole car ride home (this would never happen), and, when we arrived home, he woke up smiling (this also would never happen). With each visit, we saw more and more improvement.

My son went from a fussy baby to a happy baby, and we would remark to one another that what we were witnessing at each visit was magic. If you are on the fence about making an appointment, do it. You won’t regret it.

Amber Knowles: “The Most Gentle and Amazing Therapy”

What does @gillespieapproach look like?

The most gentle and amazing therapy. The best therapy I’ve ever seen. Elijah has had so many struggles from his brain injury and traumatic birth. I’ve spent so much time in prayer asking God what to do to help him. God hears our prayers and he led me to @wellwithincommons Instagram page where I have learned all about Gillespie Approach. God is so faithful! After our first session we were able to get Elijah off of his thickener. After a full weekend with @cftgillespieapproach my son isn’t coughing and gagging every time he eats.

He isn’t stiff and rigid. He is more flexible and happy. He rode in the car for the first time without crying or being in pain. We have been able to take him places without him being in noticeable pain. He can lift his head better. And his hand-eye coordination has improved 10 fold. I could go on and on … . Levi and I have spent this weekend in tears watching our son transform right in front of us. We had the best time with some amazing people. We are so grateful for every person God put in our lives this weekend to help our son! Thank you all for working with our sweet baby. Thank you for validating us as parents. 💛

Boy Suffering From Gagging and Urination Issues Improves

Note from Dr. Barry Gillespie: There are some stories that you cannot edit down or you will lose the flavor of the experience. I guarantee that your heart will sing at the end of this story. I am grateful for this mom to write her experience with the work. I just listened to the fascial web talk to me and helped this boy heal himself. Someday the world will get this concept, and everything will change.

“My sister is the one who recommended Dr. Gillespie for my son’s issues. My husband’s response was, ‘OK.’ He didn’t really care or know if it would work. My sister and I believed it would work, because we had read so many amazing stories on Facebook.

My seven-year-old son was extremely colicky from gas pains as an infant, which lasted for a year. He was a horrible sleeper. Sometimes, he only fell asleep from exhaustion from crying just to wake up after 20 minutes screaming again. I held him constantly, nursing him constantly, and tried every natural thing I could to stop his pain, but nothing seemed to work completely. I believe his constant crying and gas pains made him very tight down by his belly and bladder, and also in his throat.

Because of these tight spots and strains, my son’s bladder was very tight. Ever since he was out of diapers, he would constantly pee every five minutes for an hour after a meal. Car rides were hard, we had to make pit stops often, or I just threw a diaper on him for the ride. It wasn’t ‘in his head that he had to pee’ that often (as others would suggest). There was always a lot of pee every five minutes. It wasn’t just because he was a young boy. He stopped bedwetting at age 3 at night, but peeing all day was constant.

He also had gagging issues. Brushing his teeth was a huge chore. I could only brush a small section of his mouth before we had to rinse and start over again because he would start gagging. Dental appointments were extremely difficult—mostly just opening his mouth for them to look in would cause gagging. We had to take constant breaks during dental cleanings.

Seeing certain types of foods caused him to become gaggy. We had to constantly remove items from the table so we could eat meals together and so he wouldn’t gag. Sometimes he would gag so much from these things that he would start to puke.

By our second appointment with Dr. Gillespie, my son peed at normal intervals. I was truly amazed and excited. To this day, we have made a 2½-hour car trip with no stops! I was so impressed.

He doesn’t have to run to the bathroom every five minutes for a whole hour after a meal. He goes maybe once in the next 30 minutes. By our fourth appointment with Dr. Gillespie, my son had gone for a regular dental checkup, and the hygienist was able to clean his mouth like a normal kid his age—not constantly pausing because my son started gagging too much. I can, to this day, brush his top and bottom set of teeth without any pausing. No gagging. While there are still some foods he just doesn’t like to see, he isn’t gagging or puking over them anymore. By our sixth session, all was complete: All the strains from the throat were gone. We can now put our finger on his tongue and not cause a gag reflex, which normally would cause a gag reflex for him.

I will not be able to thank Dr. Gillespie enough for his work! My little boy is so thankful, too. While he was very mellow during the appointments, he was literally jumping up and down for joy at home before our first session because I told him this is going to help him. And my son believed it, too. He had his faith in it from the beginning. 🙂 “

Shannon Colborne: “The Course of My Life Has Been Changed Forever”

I have to say, after only three Gillespie Approach CFT sessions, the course of my life has changed forever.

I’ve had concussions and multiple knee surgeries from playing soccer all the way up to division one in college. This all happened after three years in middle school of intense orthodontic work that included a palatal spreader and pulling several teeth.

No one ever addressed the WHY behind my high narrow palate or crowded mouth. I have snored most of my life and until this year did not realize how much I was a mouth breather. I started to have more migraines this year than ever.

Despite my best efforts to nasal breathe, my tongue always wanted to fall to the bottom and my lips would part. After my third session, the shape of my face (at 34 years old!) has changed! My jaw is more forward, my tongue sits higher and my lips seal much easier.

I cannot even express the gift of this work and how it will help prevent these issues in my three-year-old, now that I know better. Thank you cannot even begin to suffice, Dr. Barry Gillespie.

Dr. Gillespie Responds

You are welcome, Shannon, and thank you for sharing your great experience. The fascial web has a powerful control over the head and neck structures. To expound on your WHY statement, these strains can originate from fetal, labor, and delivery soft tissue birth traumas and present as infant conditions.

Medical providers say babies will out grow them, but we only see them morphing into childhood and adult issues like you have experienced. The work needs to happen at the beginning of life to prevent a potential lifetime of suffering.

More With Shannon Colborne in a Facebook Post

Craniosacral Fascial Therapy Experience With Tongue Tie

My sweet baby is two months old!

This sunny boy has had quite a tricky start. Our poor boy has been so uncomfortable since day one.

Excessive gas and reflux, difficulty sleeping, breathing issues, spitting up all the time, and general discontent. While I definitely figured he was uncomfortable due to his difficult labor and birth, we didn’t realize the extent to which he was suffering until he was four weeks old.

Before that point, he had seen a chiropractor twice, our NMD, our midwife three times and a myofascial release therapist up in Sedona, Arizona, with little change.

Knowing this wasn’t the chill dude who was in my belly, we kept investigating and got an appointment with a new pediatrician who diagnosed him with four oral ties and something called tracheomalacia, a condition that affects his ability to breathe properly.

From his two-week check to his four-week check, he had gained only an ounce and a half and my milk supply was dipping. Which led us to getting all four tongue ties revised. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the quick fix I had hoped it would be, and we’ve seen a lactation consultant since then to try to address his ongoing latching issues.

Finally, by the recommendation of a friend at church, we took him to see a craniosacral fascial therapist in Phoenix, Arizona. He had two sessions on Friday, and, since then, his latch has improved significantly, his spitting up has lessened substantially, and he’s so much happier now that I can actually set him down without him crying.

I’m in tears writing this. It has been a very difficult two months with this little one, but I’m so thankful that we’ve continued to pursue answers for his comfort.

Your baby doesn’t have to be colicky.

Your breastfeeding shouldn’t hurt.

Your milk supply can thrive.

Your baby is capable of sleeping more than two hours at a time.

Your baby doesn’t have to cry every time you set them down.

You and your baby can thrive.

There are answers out there.

Fascial Unwinding Video Inspires Feyza Celik Doula’s Self-Healing

I‘d like to share with you an interesting personal story. This is not directly related to receiving CFT but is linked in a fascinating way.

I have a history of three C-sections for “failure to progress.” The most recent being two weeks ago. I did everything within reasonable means to try to understand my body and resolve the tension but, in the end, it didn’t work out. After getting different forms of training, spending hundreds of hours reading literature on body anatomy and birth, and consulting with leading experts in the field of physiological birth, it turns out there was some form of chronic torsion and tension in my body, and, in particular, my uterus.

Because of that torsion, my left foot was chronically externally rotated no matter what exercise I tried, and I went to an osteopath and craniosacral therapist to try and resolve it as well, all with no luck.

I found Dr. Gillespie’s work during my pregnancy and research phase. Unfortunately, there are no providers near me, but I just continued to admire on his work.

Well, a week after giving birth, as I was coming to peace with my birth story and feeling particularly relaxed, I laid down around noon and was listening to one of Dr. Gillespie’s videos on fascial unwinding and just taking in and internalizing the beauty of this work. I was imagining the success this method would have on the torsion of my uterus with a deep sense of belief. I also admired Dr. Gillespie’s firm belief in God in this work. Which strengthened and anchored my belief in it, too.

While listening, I fell asleep.

About 10 minutes later, I was suddenly awoken by an internal thud! It was like an internal organ on my left side just hit my abdominal wall. I was puzzled and surprised and then really pleased at this new feeling I felt in my body, as though tension in my left abdomen suddenly released and ceased entirely. It was such an amazing feeling. I mean, I wouldn’t know I was carrying so much tension had I not felt the release.

When I got up, I realized my left foot naturally stayed perfectly aligned with my leg—no longer externally rotated even a bit. I continued to keep an eye on my foot at random times for a week, and, indeed, the torsion seems to be gone.

There’s a reason God willed for me to have my third C-section and to will for my uterine healing only a week after my delivery, no less. I am in awe and admiration and believe faith has a pivotal role in this healing process, at least for me. I am amazed that my body could heal itself, just at the thought of Dr. Gillespie’s therapeutic approach.

I hope you find this meaningful as well!

Michelle Young: “He Is Simply Healthier All Around”

When we eventually saw Dr. Gillespie for the first visit, House’s tics went from every three seconds to maybe one tic in twenty minutes. After the second session, maybe it was one or two a night, and by the third session, they were all but undetectable.

These sessions were not comfortable, and House was a trooper. After each session, he felt so much better that he wanted to go back and continue. At two different points during treatment, House collapsed like a rag doll. Each time as he was “recovering,” I could see his facial expression, smiling even before he opened his eyes. It was a natural reflex for the release and the relief he was experiencing. It was amazing to witness.

After twelve sessions, Dr. Gillespie felt House was pretty “loose.” His brain cycle, which started at zero, was over three hundred seconds. His life is now so much more comfortable. His throat feels better, his leg cramps have subsided, and he is tic-free. Reading is easier and he is simply healthier all around.

We are so grateful that this work helped our son. Dr. Gillespie was the first person who validated my suspicion that these conditions were all related. His craniosacral fascial web was tight, and no one noticed. We are excited to see how this continues to unfold and would love to see him no longer need human growth hormone.