YOUR SPECIAL CHILD
The Benefits of
Craniosacral Therapy
Hands-on help for children
with special needs
BY JESSICA CLAIRE HANEY
Children with anxiety, learning difficulties and other special needs
may find craniosacral therapy a supportive modality that helps them
— and, by extension, the whole family — feel calmer, better able to
manage stress and more capable of self-regulation.

An Alternative Therapy
Craniosacral therapy (CST) is a healing
modality developed in the 1970s by osteo-
path John Upledger. According to iahp.org,
a website parents can consult for additional
information and to find a practitioner, CST
is “a gentle, hands-on method of evaluating
and enhancing the functioning of a physio-
logical body system called the craniosacral
system, comprised of the membranes and
cerebrospinal fluid that surround and pro-
tect the brain and spinal cord.”
cerebrospinal fluid regulate and soft tissue
settle into a healthy position.

By calming the nervous system and
reducing inflammation, CST can pro-
mote emotional and behavior regulation
and lead to improvements in the vestib-
ular system, proprioception and sensory
processing. That’s why CST practitioners
often work with children who have special
needs, such as ADHD, autism spectrum
disorder, learning disabilities and
emotional or behavior issues.

CST supports balance in the central
nervous system, specifically between the
sympathetic (fight-or-flight) and parasym-
pathetic (rest-and-digest) branches, by
relieving tension in the system’s soft tissue
and fluids.

“When you have a system that’s in
stress, it can’t heal or slow down,” explains
Suzanne Herbers, a speech, development,
craniosacral and manual therapist in
McLean, Virginia.

Practitioners like Herbers use light fin-
ger pressure (about the weight of a nickel)
at selected points on the body to address
restrictions in the central nervous system.

They may press on the same spot for sever-
al minutes until they feel the rhythm of the
50 Washington FAMILY FEBRUARY 2020
What to Expect
Before your child begins CST, you’ll be
asked by the practitioner to provide infor-
mation about your pregnancy, labor and
delivery as well as your child’s eating and
movement patterns, milestones, food and
play preferences and elimination hab-
its. CST treatments generally run $80 to
$180 an hour and are not usually cov-
ered by insurance unless combined with
another reimbursable service such as
speech therapy.

During their session, your child will
take off their shoes but remain fully
clothed, and you’ll be permitted to stay
in the room. You may be asked to hold
an infant or read to a toddler on your lap
GETTY IMAGES/E+/JUANMONINO
“He now puts my hand on his head,
on his occipital bone, to calm him
whenever he’s upset and each night as
we get ready for bed.,” says one local mom,
whose 14-year-old son is nonverbal.