CranioSacral Therapy: Understanding the body’s response to trauma

“It’s not something that’s considered mainstream,” he said. “But it can be very powerful.” 

So, the discussion about cranial sacral therapy begins with Dennis Kaster, a longtime physical therapist at Advanced PT. 

Kaster has as much experience as a PT practitioner as just about anyone on the Advanced team. He confirms what his online bio states, that he has a great deal of experience in the areas of the spine, chronic pain, hand injuries, sports medicine, industrial rehab, and various manual therapies. 

One of those manual therapies is cranial sacral therapy (CST). This alternative treatment releases tensions deep in the body to help reduce pain, relieve dysfunction, and improve whole-body health and performance. Dr. John Upledger pioneered and developed CST in the mid-seventies at Michigan State University. It’s a gentle technique Kaster has used with patients for decades.  

Describe gentle. 

“When I went through training,” Kaster said, “the instructors described CST this way: ‘You’re using the same amount of pressure you’d use to bend the Legs of a fly.’ It’s that subtle.” 

CST focuses on the connection between the cranium or skull and the sacrum or tailbone to relieve tension within the body’s connective tissue, called fascia. Kaster uses it frequently with his patients suffering from chronic pain. Many of those patients are women who have suffered physical or sexual abuse.  

“There’s a lot of trauma in their past, a lot of post-traumatic stress disorder,” said Kaster. “Probably half my caseload relates to migraines and headaches, and many of those patients have PTSD. 

Because CST isn’t mainstream, few people have been trained in the practice, and people looking for the relief it can offer can’t find clinicians to do it. Kaster says that he gets people all the time who come from a distance to see him. 

“I see patients in Stevens Point and other areas,” Kaster said. “One of my patients travels from Minneapolis to see me because she can’t find anyone there who does it.” 

So how is it done? 

For a typical PT visit (about 40 minutes), Kaster will use the technique when appropriate or combined with other approaches (such as manual therapy, functional exercise, and other interventions)

With the CST portion, Kaster is looking for a “rhythm or pulse,” feeling for the movement of the body’s connective tissues and any restrictions encountered.  

Cranial sacral therapy has differing results for patients. At times, the technique has little or no effect. With others, it’s life-changing.  

Kaster describes the technique as simply another tool in the toolbox.  

“I assess people to see if they have tightness and restrictions,” said Kaster. “For many people with headaches, any type of neck, low back, mid-back pain, tension, post concussions, chronic pain, CST can be a powerful tool.” 

By releasing the restrictions in the craniosacral system, Kaster says, you’re engaging the body’s innate healing processes, which has benefits for a wide range of physical challenges faced by his patients.

Kaster says another huge component of the technique is SomatoEmotional Release (SER), which expands on CST principles to help people rid their bodies of the residual effects of past injuries and negative experiences.  

Also a gentle process, SER facilitates the release of negative energy and allows the body to heal. Kaster describes it as working through layers of an onion. But the gentle process can bring forth some very emotional memories. 

“It’s important that the patient is working with a counselor before using SER techniques, as things can be brought to the surface that patients aren’t ready to deal with,” said Kaster. “But I’ve found it helps people to heal and get over deeply buried emotions, which is important because psychological trauma will manifest itself into physical conditions.” 

Kaster recognizes that some medical professionals will refer to CST and SER as “voodoo medicine.” That’s not his worry.   

“I’ve got 35 years of experience and a heck of a lot of training in it, and it’s helped so many of my patients,” said Kaster. “Like I said, perhaps not mainstream, but so very powerful.” 

If you have questions about Craniosacral Therapy or want to see if it’s a good fit for your treatment plan, please use our online submission form.

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About the Author:

Dr. Dennis Kaster is a physical therapist at Advanced PT’s Stevens Point North clinic. He has been happily married to his wife Adrienne, also an extraordinarily talented physical therapist, for almost as long as they have been practicing. They love cycling, hiking, and traveling. They also love helping people feel better, which brings them joy.