Unwinding + deep tissue contacts? + how to avoid unwinding?

[stimpy]

Oh hai,

It iz I, ur friendly neighborhood loltherapist, with more kweshtuns on de unwiiiindeeng!

Unwinding. Which happens as soon as I touch people these days. "Hello, body, I'm trying to do some orthopedic work here, do you mind?" Woah wait, what was that?

I've got the fingers of my left hand deep in my client's pec minor, and I go to move his arm with my right... it goes into unwinding, and I'm feeling the connection under my left fingers from his forearm all the way up into the chest.

It occurs to me that we learned something like this in C2, involving hands on the psoas while the shoulder facilitates hip movement (which sometimes means hip unwinding).

Is this a common technique in, say, MFR?

Any hints for further exploration?

And on the other end of the spectrum, my understanding is that in Upledger work they really don't go into unwinding? How do they handle it when the client's body goes into it? Do they have methods for "turning unwinding off"?

 

[Bittersweet]

If you are referring to orthopedic massage as in Waslaski's techniques, I suspect he would tell you that if the body wishes to unwind first, let it, then deal with the physiology that still needs to be addressed.

I don't see an inherent conflict right here, other than you have learned a new technique which will probably be dominant in your mind until you get comfortable enough with the process so that it is just another tool.

Not necessarily a "hint for further exploration," but don't be so tied to the protocol that you feel uncomfortable deviating from "the plan" when appropriate.

To a carpenter everything looks like a nail? Not always. I suspect all of us and our clients could do with a little unwinding before or during treatment work.

Some of the positions of release that JW uses in his techniques are tremendous positions of information for the therapist. It makes sense that contacting both relevant points on the body or a limb could elicit spontanous unwinding. blah blah blah. go with it! :

 

[Michealla]

Well put, breathe.

You can always dampen things down for structural work, but let them blow off some steam first! If they never do anything but unwind, it may be time to slow them down. That might be a more subtle unwinding or maybe the structural componant. As you are learning all of this, your energy is high and it is easy to trigger the UW. Don't despair, the pieces will all begin to fit together.

 

[globeweasel]

Unwinding + deep tissue contacts? + how to avoid unwindi

And on the other end of the spectrum, my understanding is that in Upledger work they really don't go into unwinding? How do they handle it when the client's body goes into it? Do they have methods for "turning unwinding off"?

We certainly do ... we just don't call it unwinding. And we do not teach it in CST Level 1. It also looks very different from other 'unwinding' that is out there.

How do we handle it when the client goes into it?
In CST Level 2 we begin teaching ways of monitoring the CSR to know if you are following the body's treatment plan or your own. We use the CSR to find important limb/neck positions for release as well as for our advanced work with SER.

In CST2 we teach upper/lower extremity and neck 'unwinding' ... in SER1 we begin to explore whole body 'unwinding'

At CST2 and beyond our main goal however is not 'unwinding' ... it is energy cyst release. It just may happen that to fully release the energy cyst, the body may call for some limb/neck/body movement to release the energy creating the restrictions.

So, 'unwinding' is not our primary 'goal' in this work. Which is why you may have heard that we 'don't go into it'.

 

[Dean]

Allow what wants to happen of it's own accord, keep you own agenda out and have faith in the process...witness.

 

[rose_32008]

Thanks folks... I think some of the issue is client expectation, or my assumptions about what that is.

Also, I am finding that I don't think this is a case of me with my new hammer seeing nails everywhere... I am recognizing now that what I've often felt previously when doing certain kind of swedish/deep tissue work on the arms has been the arm wanting to move into unwinding.

All this time I just thought the client was having trouble "letting go"

 

[keekee1]

An interesting topic has arisen on another forum; that is the interpretation of Peter Levine's teachings (Waking the Tiger). Levine's principles are often put forth as a rationale for unwinding. But what is often overlooked is what he states on pg. 215 (if you have a copy handy)

"Unfortunately, many therapists employ intense emotional release techniques to work with traumatic (or other) syptoms. It is just this type of emotional pushing that can activate states of high arousal. When this happens, we see the appearance of powerful experiential collages that are perceived (to the degree of their intensity) to be "true" memories. It is not important whether memories are objectively accurate. Of prime importance is whether the associated activation escalates or resolves. It is essential that the unresolved activation in the nervous system is discharged. This transformation has nothing to do with memory. It has to do with the process of completing our survival instincts."

Be an onlooker, an aide; not a pusher. It is not for us to determine what the client needs, nor is it our duty to provoke this.

 

[Chaosx_vaio]

Intentionally provoking emotional reactions and/or releases is unethical and outside our scope of practice. Resolution of a client's emotional issues is something best left to the licensed mental health professionals that have a better understanding of the dangers inherent in such work.

 

[Rum&Coke]

Intentionally provoking emotional reactions and/or releases is unethical and outside our scope of practice. Resolution of a client's emotional issues is something best left to the licensed mental health professionals that have a better understanding of the dangers inherent in such work.

I don't think anyone is suggesting that Ego is doing that, nor that he should. But I'm sure you didn't mean to come off like a slap on the wrist for bad behavior.

 

[relswete]

Be an onlooker, an aide; not a pusher. It is not for us to determine what the client needs, nor is it our duty to provoke this.

t041 YAY!! Well put!

I find the best CST sessions are the ones where I can truly get out of the way and just be a 'curious observer' to the process. If I can stay completely neutral/grounded throughout an entire session, wonderful things can happen in that space.