Atlas›Domain X · Body, movement, breath & physical›Guide 041
Guide X-041

Cranial osteopathy (Sutherland)

William Garner Sutherland1900
A 29 · L 60 · M 1111 interventions in the Trinity explorer
Client cardCompare
[source: …] where a claim comes from[uncertain] not confirmed in a primary source[synthesis] the writer's reconstruction

1. Introduction

Version followed: osteopathy in the cranial field (OCF) as the Cranial Academy describes William Garner Sutherland's cranial concept, with UK regulation from the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) and advertising rules from the ASA/CAP. Upledger's craniosacral therapy and biodynamic craniosacral therapy are separate offshoots and are covered in 042 Craniosacral therapy (Upledger) and biodynamic craniosacral.

What it is. Cranial osteopathy is a hands-on approach used within osteopathy. William Garner Sutherland, DO (1873–1954), developed and taught it in the early to mid-1900s. He called it "Osteopathy in the Cranial Field" and saw it as an extension of A. T. Still's osteopathy, not a separate system. [source: Cranial Academy, Osteopathy in the Cranial Field] A historical account names his early book The Cranial Bowl. [source: Sharath et al. 2025, a narrative history; publication year of the book: uncertain: not verified]

Its theory of change, as practitioners state it. The Cranial Academy attributes health effects to a "primary respiratory mechanism" (PRM) with five components [source: Cranial Academy]:

  • an inherent motion of the brain and spinal cord;
  • a fluctuation of cerebrospinal fluid, which it calls "Potency in the Tide";
  • mobility of the membranes inside the skull and spine;
  • mobility of the cranial bones;
  • an involuntary mobility of the sacrum between the hip bones.

On this account, a trained physician can feel this mechanism and influence it through the hands, from any part of the body, to produce a therapeutic response. The Academy says this can be used for "prevention and treatment of disease and enhancement of health". [source: Cranial Academy] These are the developers' claims, not established physiology.

Evidence status from independent reviews.

  • Reliability of diagnosis. Guillaud et al. (2016) reviewed 9 reliability studies. They concluded that cranial osteopathy's diagnostic procedures are "unreliable in many ways". [source: Guillaud et al. 2016, PLOS ONE 11(12)]
  • Effectiveness. The same review included 14 randomised or crossover trials. It rated 2 at high risk of bias, 9 as raising major doubts and 3 at low risk, and the 3 low-risk trials did not consider non-specific effects. The authors judged that methodologically strong evidence on both reliability and efficacy is almost nonexistent. [source: Guillaud et al. 2016]
  • Primary reliability studies. In a pilot study by Halma et al. (2008), two DO examiners each rated the same 48 people twice. Each examiner's ratings of cranial strain patterns agreed with their own earlier ratings to a substantial degree (κ 0.67 overall). Results were less promising for the cranial rhythmic impulse and for quadrants of restriction, and the study did not test agreement between examiners. [source: Halma et al. 2008, JAOA 108(9)] In a Vienna School of Osteopathy master's thesis (Sommerfeld, c. 2007), two experienced examiners palpated 49 people. Neither agreement between examiners nor agreement within each examiner beat chance. Palpated rates tracked the examiners' own breathing, and the author concluded the PRM rate "could not be palpated reliably". [source: Sommerfeld, Touching Reliability; exact year uncertain]
  • Infants with colic. A Cochrane review (Dobson et al. 2012) included 6 trials with 325 infants, pooling chiropractic, osteopathy and cranial osteopathy. Pooled parent-reported crying fell by about 1 hour 12 minutes a day. The effect was not significant in the trials with low performance bias (where parents or practitioners were adequately blinded). The authors could reach no definitive conclusion, and found the safety data inadequate. [source: Cochrane CD004796.pub2] Later Cochrane updates of this review were not checked [uncertain: not verified].
  • Children generally. A 2022 update covered osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT, the broader category that includes cranial work) for paediatric conditions. It found 13 trials and low or very low certainty evidence, with adverse events poorly reported. It concluded that effectiveness "remains unproven". [source: J Clin Med 2022; authors: uncertain: not verified]

2. Framework

Who delivers it. Cranial osteopathy is delivered by osteopaths and osteopathic physicians, not by psychotherapists. In the UK, "osteopath" is a protected title, and only people on the GOsC register may use it. The GOsC can prosecute unregistered people who practise as osteopaths, and the public can check the register online. [source: GOsC, Protecting the title 'osteopath'] The Osteopathic Practice Standards in force since 1 September 2019 cover four themes: communication and patient partnership (including consent), knowledge and skills, safety and quality (including safeguarding), and professionalism (including professional boundaries). [source: GOsC Standards overview]

In Australia, osteopaths are registered with the Osteopathy Board of Australia under AHPRA. The Board issued a Statement on Paediatric Care in 2017. [source: Osteopathy Australia position statement] The Cranial Academy describes OCF as practised by "physicians trained in cranial osteopathy". [source: Cranial Academy] The US position is that osteopathic physicians (DOs) are licensed physicians, while non-physician osteopaths practise in many other countries [uncertain: not verified; check the local licensing body]. Arrangements in other European countries and in Canada are not covered here [uncertain: not verified].

Psychotherapist's workflow alongside the osteopath [synthesis; sources do not set phases for this]:

  1. Before: the client raises the method, or you consider suggesting it. Gate to move on: a medical assessment is done or arranged for the presenting complaint, and the client (or parent) understands what is claimed and what the evidence shows.
  2. Referral: the client chooses a registered practitioner, and you agree in writing what information may be shared. Gate to move on: registration is checked and the client has a touch-consent plan.
  3. During: you check in briefly in each psychotherapy session about the osteopathy. Gate to move on: no adverse effects, boundary concerns or delayed medical care.
  4. After: you integrate any bodily experiences into therapy and review whether the course has led to any real change.

Session count and format. Typical course lengths for cranial osteopathy are not set by the sources here [uncertain: not verified]. Ask the practitioner for their plan and review date. Your psychotherapy continues at its usual frequency; you do not add hands-on work.

3. Guiding principles

  • Attribute the theory. The PRM, the "Tide" and cranial bone motion are the developers' concepts [source: Cranial Academy]. In practice: say "cranial osteopaths believe…", never "your skull bones are stuck".
  • Give the evidence plainly. Independent reviews find unreliable diagnosis and unproven effectiveness [source: Guillaud et al. 2016; J Clin Med 2022]. In practice: tell the client this before they spend money or time.
  • Medical assessment comes first. No source supports cranial osteopathy as a treatment for disease, and the ASA has ruled against such claims [source: ASA Kane & Ross 2022]. In practice: a symptom gets a medical assessment before any referral [synthesis].
  • Babies and children need extra care. The ASA/CAP describes the evidence for baby- and child-specific conditions, including colic, as "limited or negative" [source: ASA/CAP AdviceOnline 2022]. In practice: never present cranial osteopathy as a colic treatment; involve the health visitor or GP.
  • Consent is ongoing and can be withdrawn. UK osteopaths must obtain valid consent, and patients may stop treatment at any time and have a chaperone present [source: GOsC Osteopathic Practice Standards, 2012 edition; numbering in the 2019 edition may differ, uncertain]. In practice: rehearse with the client how they will say stop.
  • Stay within your competence and your role. Mainstream therapy codes require you to work within your competence and to refer, and none contains an explicit touch provision [source: BACP, UKCP, HCPC, APA codes]. In practice: you do not do cranial holds yourself, and you do not call yourself an osteopath.
  • Never sexual. Every code reviewed prohibits sexual contact with clients [source: BACP, UKCP, APA, AAMFT, USABP codes]. In practice: treat any report of sexualised touch by a practitioner as a safeguarding and regulatory matter.
  • Bodily experiences are material for therapy, not proof. Sensations or images during a session do not confirm the PRM or a past event [synthesis]. In practice: explore what the experience means to the client; do not interpret it as a memory.
  • Use one shared picture. When a client receives parallel services, the therapist should consider the implications and discuss them with the client to reduce confusion [source: EABP Ethics Guidelines 6.b]. In practice: agree what the osteopath and you each do.

4. Intervention inventory

The hands-on procedures belong to registered osteopaths and osteopathic physicians, so they are described here only so you can brief clients. According to the Cranial Academy, the practitioner's hands make contact with the patient and are said to sense and influence the primary respiratory mechanism. This can be done from the head, the sacrum or any other part of the body. [source: Cranial Academy] How much pressure is used, and how long sessions last, are not given in the sources here [uncertain: not verified]. In the UK the osteopath must explain what they propose, get valid consent, offer a chaperone in the circumstances the standards list, and let the patient undress and dress unobserved. [source: GOsC OPS 2012 edition, A3, A4, C6] Below are the psychotherapist's own interventions. All of them are [synthesis] built on the cited sources unless a source tag says otherwise.

4.1 Deciding whether to suggest it, or how to respond when the client raises it

  • Purpose: to decide whether a referral fits the client's goals, risks and resources, and whether it would add anything.
  • When: when a client asks about it, or when someone (a midwife, friend, forum) has recommended it to them or for their baby.
  • Steps:
    1. Ask what the client hopes it will change, and who recommended it.
    2. Check whether the target problem has had a medical assessment. If it has not, that comes first.
    3. Weigh the evidence, which shows unreliable diagnosis and unproven effects [source: Guillaud et al. 2016], against the client's cost, time and hopes.
    4. Consider whether a better-evidenced option exists for the goal. For back or neck pain, ordinary osteopathy has accepted advertising claims under CAP guidance, but cranial-specific claims do not [source: ASA/CAP AdviceOnline 2022].
    5. Never present it as treatment for a mental-health condition. Record the discussion.
  • Example language (illustrative): "It sounds like your friend found it soothing. Can we look at what you're hoping it changes, and whether that's been checked by your GP first?"
  • Watch for: hopes of a cure; pressure from others; the client using it instead of medical care. Signs it is working: the client makes an informed choice and can say what they expect and what they don't.

4.2 Explaining the concept and the evidence

  • Purpose: to support informed consent and limit inflated expectations.
  • Steps:
    1. Describe the model in attributed terms: Sutherland's idea of a subtle rhythmic motion of the brain, fluid, membranes, skull bones and sacrum, which practitioners believe they can feel and influence [source: Cranial Academy].
    2. State the evidence: diagnostic findings vary between examiners, and in one study the felt rhythm tracked the examiner's own breathing [source: Guillaud et al. 2016; Sommerfeld].
    3. Name what people may experience: relaxation, attentive and gentle contact, feeling calmer. Make clear these are not proof of the model [synthesis].
    4. Invite questions, and offer the client written sources they can read later.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Cranial osteopaths believe they can feel a very slow rhythm in the head and body. Studies have found practitioners don't agree well on what they feel, so treat any diagnosis about your skull as their theory, not a test result."
  • Watch for: the client feeling criticised for their interest; distress if they have already paid for a course. Signs it is working: the client can restate the claim and the evidence in their own words.

4.3 Physical safety screening and medical clearance

  • Purpose: to make sure no medical problem is missed or delayed.
  • Steps:
    1. Ask whether a doctor has assessed the presenting symptom. Any new, severe or changing symptoms go to the GP or urgent services first.
    2. Recent head injury, suspected skull fracture, bleeding inside the head or raised intracranial pressure are commonly cited as needing medical assessment before any head work [uncertain: not verified in an official source here]. Suggest the client discusses any such history, and any serious neurological condition, with their doctor and the osteopath.
    3. Encourage the client to give the osteopath a full medical history, including medications. GOsC standards require the osteopath to evaluate the patient and refer on when the patient needs care they cannot provide [source: GOsC OPS 2012 edition, C7].
    4. Make clear that cranial work does not replace prescribed treatment.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Before anyone works on your head, has your doctor looked at these headaches? If they're new or getting worse, that's the first stop."
  • Watch for: stopping medication; not seeing the GP; new neurological symptoms (sudden severe headache, weakness, visual change, confusion), which need urgent medical care [synthesis]. Signs it is working: medical clearance is documented, or the client has an appointment booked.

4.4 Choosing a practitioner, referral and information sharing

  • Purpose: to make sure the practitioner is regulated and accountable, and that the two of you work together sensibly.
  • Steps:
    1. In the UK, the client checks the GOsC register. Using the title "osteopath" without registration is unlawful [source: GOsC, Protecting the title]. Elsewhere, the client checks the national or state register (in Australia, AHPRA [source: Osteopathy Australia]).
    2. Note that "craniosacral therapist" is a different, generally unregulated title (see 042) [uncertain: regulation status not verified here].
    3. Agree in writing what, if anything, you and the osteopath share. Mainstream codes require arrangements for referral and appropriate referral [source: UKCP item 14, 24; HCPC 4.4].
    4. Discuss with the client how the two services fit together, to avoid confusion [source: EABP 6.b].
    5. Do not take referral fees [source: EABP 5.d].
  • Example language (illustrative): "Would you be comfortable checking they're on the osteopathy register? And would you like me to be in touch with them, or keep the two separate?"
  • Watch for: practitioners who discourage medical care or other treatment, or who ask the client to keep things from you. Signs it is working: registration is confirmed and roles are agreed.

4.5 Preparing a client with a trauma history for touch

  • Purpose: to reduce the risk of overwhelm or re-traumatisation during hands-on work.
  • Steps:
    1. Explore what touch, lying down and having the head or the area around the tailbone held may bring up. Name those areas plainly and clinically.
    2. Build a consent plan with the client:
      • which areas are off-limits;
      • whether they want each contact explained first;
      • whether they want to stay clothed;
      • a stop word or signal.
    3. Remind the client of their rights. UK osteopaths must respect a patient's right to stop at any time and to have a chaperone present [source: GOsC OPS 2012 edition, A3]. If the client raises concerns about going beyond the agreed plan, the osteopath must stop [source: GOsC OPS 2012 edition, A4].
    4. Rehearse the stop signal in session, including what the client will do if they freeze. One body-psychotherapy code notes that initial consent may not reveal problems the client is not yet aware of, so consent should be reviewed over time [source: USABP VIII.3–4].
    5. Plan grounding for after the session, and a check-in at your next session.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Some people find it hard to say stop once they're lying down. Shall we practise exactly what you'd say, or a hand signal, so it's ready?"
  • Watch for: the client agreeing to everything to please you; signs of dissociation when touch is discussed; past experiences of being unable to refuse touch. Signs it is working: the client can state their limits and how they will stop a session.

4.6 Parents considering cranial osteopathy for a baby or child (including colic)

  • Purpose: to protect the child, support the parents' informed decision and keep medical care central.
  • When: in perinatal, parent–infant or family work when a parent mentions cranial osteopathy for crying, feeding, sleep, head shape or behaviour.
  • Steps:
    1. Acknowledge how exhausting persistent crying is. Ask about the parent's mood, sleep and support. Screen for postnatal depression and anxiety, and for thoughts of harming the baby, using your service's standard risk assessment.
    2. Check the baby has been assessed by the GP, health visitor or paediatrician. A crying baby who seems unwell needs prompt medical review [synthesis].
    3. Share the evidence:
      • A Cochrane review found no definitive conclusion for manipulative therapies in colic, the effect disappeared in better-blinded trials, and safety data were inadequate [source: Dobson et al. 2012].
      • Paediatric OMT effectiveness "remains unproven" [source: J Clin Med 2022].
      • UK advertising guidance calls the evidence for baby-specific conditions, including colic, "limited or negative" [source: ASA/CAP AdviceOnline 2022].
    4. If the parents still choose it, they give consent for a child who cannot consent [source: Osteopathy Australia]. In the UK, a parent's involvement is strongly advised. A child with capacity can consent, and a parent cannot override that consent [source: GOsC OPS 2012 edition, A4 guidance 14–16].
    5. For older children, seek the child's assent in age-appropriate words. Respect a child's refusal or distress, and expect the practitioner to stop [synthesis].
    6. UK standards say a chaperone should be offered for patients under 16 [source: GOsC OPS 2012 edition, C6]. In practice the parent is usually present [synthesis].
    7. Osteopathy Australia advises against spinal manipulative techniques for children under 12, and points to the Osteopathy Board's 2017 statement and to Safer Care Victoria's 2019 review of spinal manipulation of children [source: Osteopathy Australia position statement]. Cranial techniques are not addressed there.
    8. Follow your safeguarding procedure if you have any concern about the child's welfare, including care being withheld or delayed.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Lots of parents try it when nothing else helps. The research on colic hasn't shown it works once studies are properly controlled. Has the health visitor seen her recently?"
  • Example language for a child (illustrative): "The person will put their hands gently on your head. If you don't like it, you can say stop and they will stop."
  • Watch for:
    • parental exhaustion and depression (the main clinical target for you);
    • claims that the baby has "birth trauma" locked in the skull, or needs many sessions;
    • the baby missing weight checks or medical appointments. Signs it is working: the baby has been medically reviewed, the parents make an informed choice, and the parent's own support is in place.

4.7 Integrating bodily experiences in psychotherapy

  • Purpose: to help the client make sense of sensations, emotions or images that come up during or after sessions.
  • Steps:
    1. Ask openly what the session was like, both in the body and emotionally.
    2. Track the sensations in the present (warmth, tingling, release, tears) and link them to the client's current themes.
    3. Stay curious rather than interpretive. Do not tell the client that a sensation is a stored memory or a cranial "release".
    4. If the client reports images or apparent memories, use memory-research cautions: such experiences can be shaped by suggestion and expectation, and are not corroboration [synthesis]. See 042 for "SomatoEmotional Release", which is attributed to Upledger.
  • Example language (illustrative): "You said your chest loosened when they held your head. What's it like to notice that now, here?"
  • Watch for: the client concluding that abuse happened because of a sensation; a practitioner suggesting the same; growing dependence on hands-on sessions to regulate. Signs it is working: the client uses the experience to build self-awareness and self-regulation.

4.8 Recognising adverse effects and passing them on

  • Purpose: to make sure harms are noticed, reported and acted on.
  • Steps:
    1. At each check-in, ask about headache, dizziness, nausea, worsening symptoms, emotional overwhelm and sleep disturbance after sessions.
    2. Note that the Cochrane review and the paediatric review found adverse events poorly recorded, so absence of reports does not show safety [source: Dobson et al. 2012; J Clin Med 2022].
    3. New neurological symptoms need urgent medical care.
    4. With the client's consent, tell the osteopath about any adverse effect, and encourage the client to tell their GP.
    5. Emotional after-effects are your clinical work: stabilise, review the consent plan, and consider pausing the osteopathy.
  • Example language (illustrative): "How were the days after the session: any headaches, dizziness, or feeling shaken up?"
  • Watch for: practitioners reframing worsening symptoms as a "healing reaction" without assessment [synthesis]. Signs it is working: effects are recorded, passed on, and the plan is adjusted.

4.9 Recognising boundary violations and supporting a complaint

  • Purpose: to protect clients from sexual or other boundary violations, and to support reporting.
  • Steps:
    1. Know what UK osteopaths must do:
      • respect dignity and modesty, and allow the patient to undress and dress unobserved;
      • get written consent for internal (vaginal or rectal) examination, and offer to postpone it;
      • keep appropriate boundaries. Sexual boundary failures can lead to removal from the register. [source: GOsC OPS 2012 edition, A4, C6, D16] Cranial osteopathy as described involves no intimate examination. A practitioner who moves to intimate areas without a clear clinical reason and separate consent is a red flag [synthesis].
    2. Listen for reports of:
      • sexualised remarks or touch;
      • being watched undressing;
      • touch beyond the agreed plan;
      • discouragement of a chaperone;
      • invitations to meet socially.
    3. Validate the client's report. Explain their options:
      • in the UK, a concern to the GOsC; for a person using the title unlawfully, the GOsC Regulation Department;
      • the police for a sexual offence;
      • in Australia, AHPRA. [source: GOsC, Protecting the title; Osteopathy Australia]
    4. Follow your safeguarding duties where a child or adult at risk is involved.
  • Example language (illustrative): "What you've described isn't part of cranial treatment, and it shouldn't have happened. Would you like to go through the options for reporting it, at your own pace?"
  • Watch for: self-blame; minimising; pressure to return to the practitioner. Signs it is working: the client feels believed and chooses their next step.

4.10 Responding to misleading claims

  • Purpose: to correct misinformation and know the UK route for complaints about adverts.
  • Steps:
    1. Know the UK position. CAP accepts a fixed list of osteopathy claims, mostly musculoskeletal (for example back pain, uncomplicated mechanical neck pain and migraine prevention). Any other condition needs robust evidence [source: ASA/CAP AdviceOnline 2022].
    2. Know the rulings. The ASA upheld complaints against:
      • an osteopath's "Infants and children" page listing colic, reflux and glue ear (Nicholas Handoll, 26 July 2017) [source: ASA/CAP AdviceOnline; Good Thinking Society];
      • claims that osteopathy, including cranial techniques, treated constipation, infections, head moulding, poor latching, irritability and scoliosis in babies (Kane & Ross Clinics Ltd, 2022, breaching CAP Code rules 3.1, 3.7 and 12.1) [source: ASA ruling].
    3. GOsC standards require osteopaths' advertising to follow the ASA and CAP Code [source: GOsC OPS 2012 edition, D14].
    4. Help the client weigh claims they have seen. Anyone may complain to the ASA.
  • Example language (illustrative): "That website says it treats ear infections in babies. The advertising regulator has ruled claims like that misleading when there's no good evidence."
  • Watch for: the client feeling foolish. Signs it is working: they can judge claims critically.

4.11 If you are dual-trained

  • Purpose: to keep roles and consent clear.
  • Steps:
    1. Mainstream psychotherapy codes contain no explicit touch provision. They require competence, clear boundaries and referral when appropriate [source: BACP 2018 and 2026; UKCP 2019; HCPC; APA; AAMFT].
    2. Body-psychotherapy codes permit touch only with assessment, informed consent (written consent recommended), ongoing review, and the right to refuse or end touch at any time. They state that genital or other sexual touch is always inappropriate [source: USABP VIII; EABP Principle 7].
    3. Only offer cranial work if you are a registered osteopath or licensed osteopathic physician, and your psychotherapy code and insurer allow combining roles. Otherwise refer.
    4. If you combine roles, separate the two contracts. Get distinct consent for touch, and review it each session.
  • Example language (illustrative): "In our talking sessions I won't use touch. If you want osteopathic treatment, I'll refer you to a colleague so the two stay separate."
  • Watch for: blurred roles; dependence; transference intensified by touch. Signs it is working: there is a clear written agreement and the client feels free to decline.

5. Handling problems

All responses in this section are [synthesis] built on the sources cited above unless they are tagged otherwise.

  • The client is committed to the theory and feels you are dismissive. Separate the experience from the explanation. Affirm that the relaxation or relief they feel is real. Keep the PRM attributed to its developers, and focus on safety and medical care rather than winning the argument.
  • The client stops medical treatment or skips the GP. Name the risk directly, explore what makes conventional care hard for them, and offer to help them prepare for the appointment. If there is serious risk to the client, or to a child in their care, follow your safeguarding and risk procedures.
  • Parents of a crying baby are desperate. Put parental mental health first, and screen and support it. Link them with the health visitor or GP. Avoid shaming them about the choice of treatment. Ask about safe-coping plans for persistent crying, using your service's standard risk practice.
  • A child resists or becomes distressed in sessions. Support the parents in stopping. A child's refusal and distress count, whatever the treatment's supposed benefit. A child who has capacity can consent, and a parent cannot override that consent [source: GOsC OPS 2012 edition, A4].
  • The client froze during treatment and could not say stop. Normalise freezing as a protective response. Revisit and simplify the stop signal (a hand signal, for example). Consider asking for a chaperone or someone the client trusts to be present, or pausing hands-on work. With consent, tell the practitioner [source for chaperone and stop rights: GOsC OPS 2012 edition, A3].
  • The client is overwhelmed by emotion or images after a session. Stabilise and ground them. Do not interpret the images as memories. Consider pausing the osteopathy until the client is regulated. See 042 for the memory-related claims made in craniosacral therapy.
  • The client is told they need open-ended or frequent treatment, or a baby is said to need treatment "for birth trauma". Help the client ask for a written plan, a review point and the evidence for it. Compare the claims with the ASA rulings on baby-specific claims [source: ASA Kane & Ross 2022].
  • Rupture: the client feels you have undermined something that helped them. Acknowledge the impact, explain your duty to give honest information, and repair. They still decide.
  • Non-adherence to the referral plan (for example, not checking registration). Explore what got in the way. Offer to look at the register together in session.
  • The client reports a boundary violation but does not want to report it. Respect their choice unless law or safeguarding duties require you to act. Keep the option of reporting open, and record the disclosure according to your service's policy.
  • A colleague psychotherapist starts offering "cranial" holds in therapy. Raise it with them and in supervision. They may be using a protected title unlawfully, or working outside their competence and code [source: GOsC, Protecting the title; BACP and UKCP competence clauses]. Escalate through your professional body if needed.
  • The client asks you to do the holds because they trust you. Decline kindly and explain the boundary (see 4.11). Explore what the request means: wish for care, testing of trust, or the reach of a body-memory narrative.

Sources

Pages consulted

Web sources (professional codes on touch, referral and competence)

Books

  • Sutherland WG. The Cranial Bowl (year: uncertain: not verified).

See also: 042 Craniosacral therapy (Upledger) and biodynamic craniosacral.

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