Learn More (FAQ)
1. How can Rolfing® Structural Integration and Osteopathic Manual Therapy help me?
The manual therapies I practice benefit the whole person. By enhancing your body structure and function, the work improves your general well being, physical and mental performance, and your whole consciousness. As your body is re-tuned and rebalanced, your experience of life is enhanced . . .
2. I've heard Rolfing® is painful. Does it hurt?
The short answer is no, it doesn't hurt. You are always in complete control during your sessions. If you want me to stop or change how I'm working, I do that immediately. Pain is counterproductive, so I monitor your body tension, facial expression, breathing, and voice. I adjust depth, direction, speed, and pressure to stay within your tolerance. I depend on your feedback. . . . Learn More >>
3. What do you charge for Manual Therapy and Rolfing® Structural Integration?
My Rate is now $200 / hour with additional time billed in 15 minute increments. One Hour Minimum. My fee is the fair market rate for my advanced skill level. My fee is reasonable and customary within the Structural Integration community. Please request a current quote . . . Learn More >>
4. How long does it take to get results? Or how many sessions?
Clients consistently report some results immediately, even during the first session. Expect to move forward steadily and gradually, session by session, until you reach your goals. It may take from several to many sessions to achieve everything you want, depending on your goals and your condition. We'll work together to design a custom program just for you . . . Learn More >>
5. How does your work compare to medical physical therapy or other approaches to "bodywork?"
The Rolfing® and Manual Therapy I do are classed with a large and varied collection of practices known as Structural Integration. All hands-on approaches aim to create lasting beneficial bodily changes through some form of connective tissue processing, proprioceptive re-training, and movement education. They differ significantly by originator, processes, philosophies, and results. Most Rolfers have not been trained in the Osteopathic approach . . . Learn More >>
6. Who is the work appropriate for? Not appropriate for?
Manual therapies, including Rolfing® Structural Integration, are appropriate for people of all ages and all walks of life, from infants to elders and for both genders. Generally, anyone who is mentally competent and physically able can receive the work. Clients must be able to comfortably tolerate touch at moderate to strong pressure. The exception would be people suffering from acute traumas like wounds, injuries, or infections; or when inflammation, or fever are present . . . Learn More >>
7. MVA ? Should I consider manual therapy following a vehicle collision or other impact accident? How about following a surgery or any other kind of injury?
Yes, definitely, for any trauma. Call me as soon as possible after any kind of illness, injury or surgery. Degenerative structural changes and functional limitations may follow trauma if medical care is the only intervention you receive. Manual therapy helps restore structure and function even after years have passed. However, immediately following trauma, it can help relieve discomfort while also helping you function better and avoid longer-term issues . . . Learn More >>
8. How soon after a vehicle collision or any other injury should I see you? Or after a surgery?
Rapid response significantly shortens recovery time and reduces your misery. It's best to immediately call me about receiving work, on the same day or the next day. When we consider your situation, I'll help you decide when to come in. As soon as you can tolerate being touched with a few pounds of pressure , any wounds are closed, and a physician has examined and released you, manual therapy can start accelerating your recovery . . . Learn More >>
9. Can I just try one session?
Yes. Your initial Session gives you First Hand experience of my practice of Rolfing. Very important is the quality of touch. We’ll be working together in a Partnership of Input, Tissue Response, and Verbal Feedback. I’ll be asking you to meet my touch with your awareness focused at our points of contact. Meeting my touch with your breath in a way that you allow yourself to feel a subtle expansion of what we call “The Fascial Web or Fascial Net”. Think of the Fascial Web as a microscopic “sweater-like structure” which invests all the elements of the body. Fascia is a Connective Tissue with structural and communicative properties. Fascial Breathing is what we call the act of breathing in such a way, that person getting Rolfed, can begin to feel the subtle stretch of the tissue under my hands as the breath breathes into the tissue, minutely expanding the Fascial Web. Envision these micro-fibers weaving in a 3-Dimentional Fabric through out the whole body, so that when one part moves, as it’s breathed into, the whole of the rest responds in a co-ordinated / integrated way of movement and expansion.
We call Breath “the Window into the Nervous System”.
. By breathing into the Fascial Web, we subtly stretch the Web, and “Wake Up” the nervous system. … Physical Communication with the nervous system via breathing into and stretching the Fascial Web. And sometimes using imaging too. For instance, When releasing tight and shortened neck and shoulder muscles and fascia, I often ask the person “meet my touch with their breath”, feel that subtle stretch as their lungs fill and stretch like a party baloon. Its subtle, but we all can get quite proficient at it with a little focus and practice. …. Also, imagine the breath fluffing up and hydrating those tight and often dried out muscle and fascia tissues much the same way the Breath fluffs up and hydrates our lung tissues when we breathe into out lungs.
I have the idea that eventhough we all know that we can’t really breathe into , say our shoulder or neck muscles, our muscles don’t know that. The lungs know well what the feeling of breathing a nice full satisfying breath feels like too our lung tissue. And I believe … and see and feel physical … evidence that … our muscle and fascia tissues well understand that feeling of tissue fluffiness and hydration on the molecular level … And our muscles and fascia mimic … or reproduce that same feeling of fluffiness and hydration in tissues that a short time previously were tight, hard, and jerkey-like.
Fascial Breathing is a powerful tool. This will likely be your initial exposure to it. We’ll use it regularly in our future work together. Fascial Breathing is a good example of “MIND, BODY, and SPIRIT” in action.
In your First Session so you can find out what it's like to work with me. You’ll get to know my Quality of Touch, the Pacing of My Work, something of my Personality, and my Responsiveness to Your Requests. You’ll come to understand that the Real Magic of Rolfing comes right at the Boundary of “just enough” and “ Not Too Much” .
And , Very Importantly, YOU are ALWAYS IN CHARGE of the Intensity of our work together.
Everyone has their own personal threshold of the “OK-Too Much” Boundary. This is a matter of communication. When you say “Too Much”, I lighten up to the level at which you feel comfortable and in charge.
After one Session, you can decide about continuing based on your own experience. Just keep in mind one session will not accomplish all you really need. It's better to think in terms of several sessions or a progressive series that can help you enjoy significantly better condition and keep you moving in a positive direction . . . Learn More >>
10. How close together or how far apart should my sessions be?
Some settling time after each session is advisable to allow you to integrate changes. However, too much time between sessions may permit regression. Generally, to maintain continuous advancement toward your goals and also avoid too much change at once, we should allow a few days between sessions. One or two visits per week or per each two to three weeks is usually about right . . . Learn more >>
11. Why do I need to keep coming back for a while?
The body's living connective tissue is flexible and malleable. It also has properties of plasticity and elasticity, so it takes several sessions to 'mold' your body into a different structural configuration . . .
12: What should I wear when I receive manual therapy sessions?
Please wear something that feels comfortable, keeping in mind you get the best results when you provide easy access to all body areas where we'll be working. Rolfing® and Manual Therapy rely on direct contact with bare skin. However, you should never feel more exposed than you like. I keep areas where we are not working covered modestly.
Visual cues on your body's surface help guide the work. It's easier for me see what’s going on and to can contact subtle tissue layers more effectively without a cloth layer in the mix. Clothing can even make the right kind of manual contact impossible. That would limit how effectively I can work with you . . . Having said that, “Your Wish is My Command.” Learn More >>
Men are often comfortable in their underware or loose gym shorts,
Women often prefer wearing jog bra and loose gym shorts. I have a variety of gym shorts sizes available for women to use if they like.
More FAQ are in the works.
Please check back here from time to time. If your question was not answered here, please feel free to connect with me to get your answer using the form on the Contact Page.