Combining psychotherapy with
craniosacral therapy for severe traumatized patients
Craniosacral therapy (CST) is
an established complementary modality for several health complaints. A clinic
for psychosomatics in Norway has included CST into a multimodal treatment
approach for severely traumatized patients. The aim of this study was to
investigate and describe the indications for the use of craniosacral therapy
within trauma therapy. Specifically, to explore treatment philosophy, criteria
for improvement, treatment aims, and the evaluation of the risk profile of the
multimodal treatment approach.
Results
The
therapists at the clinic applied a holistic treatment approach, based on their understanding
of mind and body as one entity. To access emotions and traumata, they used a
mixture of different treatment techniques. The therapists experienced patients
with severe bodily symptoms as being less cognitively present and attributed
this to the symptoms craving most mental resources. The craniosacral
therapists’ specific aims and task within the multimodal trauma therapy was to
ease these physical complaints, so that cognitive and emotional resources could
be utilized for therapy. The psychotherapists found that emotions and traumata
were more accessible after CST. The general treatment goals were to increase
symptom tolerance levels and to enable better self-care. Furthermore, the
ability to transform negative behaviors and develop positive alternatives were
considered to be signs of improvement.
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