LMT, GCFP, CYAI, MBS-MP
Dear Friends It is a delight to be welcoming new clients in 2020. Mine is not a M-F, 9-5 practice. But good news: When I'm in town, I work evenings and weekends as well. The modalities I've chosen to study are the ones that assisted me personally beyond the effects of severe injury, a head-on car collision from the 1980's after returning to California from England and then driving on the left side of the road; Yes I really did that. So I understand the patience it takes to move through layer upon layer of an injury, which in my opinion can only be discovered by hands that are trained to listen and facilitate the next tissue release presenting itself for help (rather than a technique applied by intellectual idea of how to fix a certain type of injury). Our mind/body consciousness knows the exact angle and velocity of how that impact entered us at that particular moment in time, plus our thought, emotion, genetic or health environment that received the impact with our tissues (differently than how any other individual would receive the same). Especially if there is injury on top of injury, or surgery on top of surgery, only our mind/ body consciousness knows the layer that is next in line for release, and how to lead the dance with the practitioners' hands being the follower and container to assist. All lessons, sessions and methods which I offer align with the philosophy that your healing is within you. My job is to precisely engage the particular structure of your anatomy which your inner wisdom is offering up that day. This requires those of us who are dedicated to non-force manual therapy, to develop the vigilance and 3-dimensionality of our hands, along with our continuing study of anatomy, including the anatomy of the neurons of our hands that are serving you. We're trained to find the foreign velocity which didn't make it through your body, and so is still affecting everything. We're trained to find the imploding collapse from scar tissue or dehydrated tissue which has lost resilience, so can no longer compensate. You and I will have to communicate and co-create according to your speed and style of processing the work, and also because the position of your symptoms and pain may or may not be the place which our assessment modalities show us is the place of dysfunction that day. Each person and physiology uses time and touch differently, as does each injury. It takes a working together. One of Dr. Upledger's greatest contributions to all of us was his trust in the patient's process, and trust of 'the inner physician' of the client. For those of us who studied directly with him (as I did for my Advanced CST 2 and Advanced CST3 and for Advanced BioAquatic CST in the Bahamas and for The Brain Speaks, as well as having the honor to have been a teacher assistant for Dr. Upledger), watching his trust in action with clients is an everlasting memory. Obedience to trusting the session - that walks in the door with you as you enter - is our practice. And since my first holistic career was as a classical homeopath, the knowledge that 'less is more', and 'give one clear message', is indeed core to my whole lifetime of work. Within the component of time, with each layer that calls to release itself, it is an adventure, and a quantum difference from any intellectually constructed session. Like many manual therapists, I work under an LMT license, and do not accept insurance, but have 6000+ hours of contact further education beyond that licensure. I also am Feldenkrais Practitioner (a method which re-patterns the brain and nervous system through movement), and additionally because my own mother was traumatic brain injured, one of my specialities is related to catastrophic injury care. This could involve re-looking at transfers in and out of wheelchairs, or looking to create ease of swallowing with consideration of sensory integration components, or how to prop someone in a way that maintains the full use of their diaphragm / lung capacity per breath, or other ways to maintain the Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). Being incremental, to identify what works and what doesn't work, can deconstruct the label of a 'resistant' or 'combative' patient, and shift the discussion to be about valid neural reflexes, the 'fear of falling', or 'fear of aspiration'. Those reflexes that might be dominating life experience can be down regulated when time is taken to discover safer, more individualized, non-force care. Instead of 'being done to', when participation can be created between client and care givers, the whole life experience changes. New formats can be implemented as long as the supporting CNAs or HHAs are detail oriented, and willing to add knowledge to what original basic course they took. Indeed after my own mother jumped to God, having to release the CNA / LVN team - which I had specially trained for her 24//7 care solely to make care possible at all - back into the Santa Barbara rehab work force, it was our ex-staff who were always the ones who could easily deal with the most challenging patients on the floor of our town's facilities; They were phoned to come on duty when other staff could not figure out care, and were singled out as having the most practical and observant answers during annual government recertification visits to those facilities. It is one of my passions that able patients not end up in the crevice (category) of the 'patent refuses care' label, which once entered into a medical chart often unnecessarily leads to abandonment of care. Yes it does take time and money to redesign what is possible for each unique patient and each unique catastrophic injury, so of course during this phase of government cuts, the time for such discovery only happens privately behind closed doors. But working with that person's abilities and nervous system, once it becomes part of the daily rhythm, actually saves time and energy in the end. My nature as a detail oriented practitioner was no doubt developed from my first career of being a classical musician. So there is a polar end of my manual therapy practice: Consults and nuanced sessions for already refined and highly trained world class performing artists. Performers cannot change their habits during the adrenalin of performance, nor even during daily practice time (where results are still the goal). It takes being on the table, out of our upright posture and out of gravity, to make those changes which later spontaneously spring into use during performance in front of a live audience. Before entering the healing arts, I was Head of Music for a Dance Department which was part of the University of London. So working with musicians and dancers, or any type of highly focused performer, is my personal history, my familiar and a core community in my life. Whatever your challenge though, or your desire for increased functionality, I very much look forward to meeting you this year, and discovering our own personal blend of working together. We only have the present moment. Each client brings me learning. Thank you. It is a great privilege. Sincerely, Deborah (photo - with Jean-Pierre Barral D.O. 2016)3905 State Street, Suite 7 - 216
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
USA
tel. 805.682.3693 (day)