The technique uses specific tender points to identify the exact location of inflammation which may impact any tissue in the body including muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, cartilage, nerves, organs, or blood vessels. Once the location of inflammation is identified, the treatment is a gentle and precise off-loading of tension in the target tissue through compression, ‘glide’, or traction; allowing the trapped inflammation to flow out of the tissue and thereby turning off pain signals and the accompanying reflexive muscle guarding, inhibition, joint stiffening, and compensation patterns which are being generated and perpetuated by the inflammation.

And, since it is off-loading tension, it is always moving the body or tissues in the direction of ease as opposed to forcing bodily movement against the restriction…the treatment is painless, powerful, and long lasting!

Please visit the official Fascial Counterstrain website for more information. The “about” page on their site goes a little more in depth.

Assessment of tissues and function happens in tandem with treatment. The practitioner assesses tissue texture and motion by palpation and movement. Where fibrosis, adhesion, ‘knots’, or entrapments are found the practitioner will place tension on the tissue in a precise direction while the client performs specific movements to fully lengthen the offending tissue or release it from adjacent tissues (such as releasing the Sciatic nerve from entrapment/adhesion in the Gluteal muscles). The results are immediate and long lasting—especially if you have addressed those pesky compensation patterns or fixed the ergonomics at work.

For more information, visit the ART web site.

We perform simple strength tests to determine where muscles are not firing or firing out of order, then apply a friction massage to the related reflex points. It is a relatively simple system but the results are instant, profound, and far reaching. The brain/central nervous system is the central governor of muscle activation and resource distribution. For deeply wired survival advantages, it prioritizes breathing and hip flexion/extension over all other movements. This means it will compensate by recruiting other muscles in a chain reaction to assist with those functions if the primary muscles are not performing well; thereby leaving us with vulnerable joints and tired muscles who are working inefficiently doing secondary jobs instead of primary jobs.

With the prioritization of resources in mind as we work through identifying and resetting the body's movement patterns (by stimulating/releasing neuro-lymphatic reflex points), clients quickly come to understand why the solution to their chronic shoulder problem lies in their hip or why their headaches and tight hamstrings make perfect sense as a common problem vs two separate problems requiring different treatment strategies.

This work may be intense as it is happening; the more shut down a function is, the more sensitive the reflex points are. The good news is that once clients get a feel for it and come to know their own primary compensation patterns, they can perform a high level of maintenance on their own, no practitioner required!

The assessments must be performed with extreme care and precision and interpreted with high level clinical reasoning in order to get good information and therefore good protocols for the care of the client. There is an incredible benefit to this level of manual assessment and therapy: all of it involves movement; it is dynamic. The dynamic movement basis of assessment allows us to gather different (and sometimes more meaningful) information than what is gathered from a static, resting-position test like an EMG or MRI.

The ultimate in tissue maintenance! These techniques allow us to nurture and support tissue health to complete depth through deep and profound release of tension, lengthening of fascia, breakdown of adhesion, hydration of fribrotic tissue, and movement of blood, lymph, and interstitial fluids. David’s style is a very slow ‘swimming through the tissue’ that moves deeply through the whole length of a tissue allowing it to melt and release before moving on. These sessions are primarily passive for the client and client-therapist interaction may be minimal, allowing a deeply therapeutic or cathartic experience to unfold throughout the session. Deep tissue massage takes time, for a whole body session please schedule 80 minutes.

This is a 2 hour class in which attendees learn the self-activation methods for a whole body reset that can be done in less than 5 minutes! It is my hope that new clients will take this class before their first appointment, if possible. This way you arrive to your first session being way ahead on understanding the first steps in my process as a practitioner, why we are doing what we are doing on the table, and with no need to spend individual session time on learning the self-care techniques; which means we can more quickly get to the advanced bodywork techniques that are impossible to do on your own. Furthermore, a lot of aches/pains/problems/restrictions simply go away once all the muscles in the body are relieved of any compensatory duties and allowed to just do their job—meaning you may never even need the individual appointments! If I can teach you to heal yourself and that is truly all you need, then we can both celebrate!

The 2-hour time frame leaves plenty of time to practice, partner up and perform simple tests to make sure everyone is getting a response from what they are doing on their own body, with enough repetition to be able to do the whole series together in 3-5 minutes by the end. There is also plenty of time for questions and exploring RPR on a more philosophical level:)