Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine & Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy
29/12/2025
This is a lecture from Franklin Sills who passed away in 2025. He was an inspirational teacher who brought together Buddhism, Chinese medicine, Osteopathy and pre and perinatal psychology with cutting edge scientific understanding of trauma -and developed biodynamic craniosacral therapy. To become a member of the Craniosacral Therapy Association UK - CSTA I had to have supervision for the first two years of practice after my two year professional training at Craniosacral Therapy Educational Trust When I heard that Franklyn offered supervision I signed up. I was going through a difficult time as an adoptive parent at this juncture due to systemic failure - but Franklyn, also an adoptive parent, always helped me feel supported as a practitioner and connected to my resources through this time. An amazing person with so much wisdom and humanity.
Inspiring presentation by Franklyn Sills at the Breath of Life Conference in London 2007, “Source, Being and Self – The Nature of Being and Self in the Thera...
Thank you BBC News for bringing the scandal of Adopter Blame into the open. This is a trauma I have experienced myself with devastating consequences for my child, who lost their right to family life during their teenage years. No apologies were ever given.and our voices were not heard here in City of York Council Rachael Maskell after North Yorkshire Police were used to instigate care proceedings against me to remove my child with false allegations about me from council management. Why? To cover the council's own negligence and failings by blaming the parent. This parental persecution is happening every day as loving help seeking parents like me are put on trial in the Family Courts. It costs a huge amount of public money and erodes confidence and trust in organisations with a duty of care and the very professionals who were supposed to help.
A major issue is that adoptive families cannot speak openly. The children need, and our families have a right to, privacy. This is, I believe, one reason it has taken so long for the scandal of Adopter Blame to come out. Another, is that the government does not want to deter prospective adopters so there are usually many positive stories in the media.
Adopter Blame is a terrible thing to deal with. It ruins young lives and causes so much distress to the family.
The mother in this BBC story talks so movingly about not having a voice and not being heard after her son took his own life.
This shouldn't be happening. What will it take to make it stop?
A charity says the system is “under severe strain” as parents recount addiction and mental health battles.
A 2017 commentary that references a preliminary study in which CranioSacral Therapy (CST) was tested on a group of ex-National Football League (NFL) players,
31/12/2024
Wishing everyone a very happy and peaceful New Year
24/08/2024
Hearing Chinese medicine scholar and clinician Volker Scheid talk is always a treat!
He is talking about 'meta practice' here and the idea of using different Chinese medicine traditions simultaneously to optimize clinical outcomes (with Chinese herbs).
Its always been a challenge for me to integrate my learning about different healing approaches and traditions, which I have explored over more than 30 years of practice. I doubt I am using meta practice but I am always trying to put my patients/clients at the centre of my work, rather than the tools in the toolkit - as it were. What is the best thing for this person, right now? This is the question I pose with every consultation/treatment.
In this three year post-graduate certification course, Prof. Volker Scheid significantely enhances our understanding of Chinese medicine by teaching meta-practice, a tool for working effectively with different styles of practice. Developing meta-practice skills deepens our access to and comprehensio...
19/11/2023
Great AAC conference yesterday! Well done to the AAC team!
Yesterday was a day when life came full circle in many ways – and it was a chance to look back on my professional life and see how far I have come. More than 40 years ago I sat my final exams as a UCL psychology undergraduate in the Mary Ward centre in Bloomsbury. Yesterday
18/11/2023
Off to London for the Association of Acupuncture Clinicians Conference at the centre -which is by coincidence where I sat some of my final exams as a psychology student at many moons ago!
I loved psychology but so glad I studied Chinese medicine to give another perspective
Interesting research on craniosacral therapy showing it helps reduce stress
“Abstract: (1) Background: Fire department cadets preparing to become firefighters and paramedics experience high levels of stress when participating in incidents like traffic accidents and fires. Stress adversely affects health and coping with it proves difficult. Unfortunately, there is no singl...
02/09/2023
Work in progress -sculpture ready for final firing. Have done 3 sculptures depicting the impact of birth trauma in adults under the guidance of Karlton Terry, one of the world's preeminent baby therapists and educators, for exhibition in London's RSA House in the Autumn
30/08/2023
The MYRIAD study found that mindfulness in schools didn't improve young people's mental health, but shows how high-quality research can advance mental health science.
20/06/2023
Beverley de Valois will be leading a wonderful lecture at our conference on Exploring the Heart-Mind Connection in Cancer Survivorship 💙🧘
Beverley is an inspiring research acupuncturist who has trained in both the UK and China, who is also the Chair of the British Lymphology Society (BLS) Scientific Committee. We can’t wait to welcome her expertise to our incredible conference - don’t forget to secure your place with a ticket, July’s coming round the corner soon! 🙏
After successful treatment, many cancer survivors are left with an aftermath of emotional issues. In this session, you will learn:
• What are some of the emotional consequences of cancer diagnosis and treatment?
• How does cancer treatment affect the heart/mind/body connection?
• What are some of the “taboos” that may hamper a healthy emotional recovery?
By gaining insight into the emotional issues that cancer survivors may experience, you will be able to recognise and address this often neglected area of health, and help people to recover and live well after cancer treatment 💙
Click the link below to book your place, and read more about our conference on July 1st & 2nd! https://bit.ly/ncaconference
Please watch this programme if you or anyone you know has had trouble coming off antidepressants
Years ago I designed a clinical trial of acupuncture for depression for my PhD. The definitive trial showed it was as good as counselling (12 sessions of each were evaluated, which isn't very much if someone is severely ill) and had the edge if the person also has pain symptoms -which is most people. During the course of the preparatory research I discovered so many people were unable to come off antidepressants - but the denial amongst the medical professionals that these drugs were problematic was incredible. NICE guidance was 350 pages and only half a page on coming off medication!
I wanted to design a trial of using acupuncture to help people come off antidepressants too. Sadly there was little appetite for this as it was unlikely to get funded then..Maybe now is the time!
So many people were mis-sold a class of drugs that has an unknown impact on brain chemistry and so few resources were put into finding non pharmaceutical alternatives -such is the grip of big pharma.
The companies trying to conceal concerns about their antidepressants.
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Re-connect to Health posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
In my work as an acupuncturist and CST (craniosacral therapy) practitioner I think about helping someone by keeping a neutral presence and maintaining a heart connection with them. Mindfulness techniques play a big role in my work. Everyone has their own path in life or Tao. I see myself as being by a person’s side, supporting their health and their natural healing processes.
As a session begins I help my clients settle and connect to a sense of resource. I want them to orient to good feelings, and for them to feeling safe, grounded and centred. We talk a little about what has been going on in their life and what is most present for them at the moment. When they are ready, they go to lay on the treatment couch. I start by standing nearby and connecting with them energetically - so I can orient to them as a whole. I then move to their feet or shoulders to make contact physically, applying the lightest most gentle physical touch. When I feel a good energetic connection is made I may take the person’s pulses - tuning into the energy flow in their body using this method from traditional Chinese medicine. There are six pulses in each wrist and many different pulse qualities. I decide on a treatment approach together with my client and if we think acupuncture is likely to be beneficial. I gently insert needles, using guide tubes to minimise any pain. The needle techniques are usually painless and clients sometimes don’t notice they are inserted at all. In my Toyohari training I had to learn how to needle a balloon without bursting it!
I then work with simple holds to enable a person to deeply relax, connect with inner resources, and release bodily tensions. It can look like I am doing nothing externally - as all the work and change is actually happening inside the body. It is the body’s innate and marvellous wisdom that guides the treatment - in CST we call this the Inherent Treatment Plan. The more still and calm the person feels the better. The stillness the person experiences is called Dynamic Stillness - and the person’s potency increases within this still state of being. Potency feels like radiance - warmth, softness, expansion. One of my clients describes the treatment as being smoothed out.
As the treatment ends the client usually feels a deep sense of inner calm. The problems they came in with are smaller and seem further away and less insurmountable. The treatment continues unfolding over the next couple of days - in that the re-organisation and resettling takes place over the days to come. Most people come for a course of sessions, which gives space and allows a client to reflect on changes and benefits over a few weeks rather than an instant fix. Fixing isn’t really what I think of myself doing. I see it as being about restoring, re-instating, supporting and keeping curious about a client’s responses and sensitivities.
Its taken me 30 years to feel truly confident and able to say - yes, the work I do is healing. Its such a big thing to say. It isn’t me though - it is the client. I am the enabler and facilitator.
