CranioSacral Therapy (CST) is part of osteopathy, a field of medicine founded by Andrew Taylor Still, MD (1828-1917). Dr. Still saw that overly strained body parts cause dysfunction and he developed methods that help the body overcome the strain. He believed that structure and function of the body are related and that the body is self-correcting, so that once the strain pattern was corrected, it could use its innate healing abilities to correct dysfunction.
Dr. Still’s ideas were applied by William G. Sutherland, DO (1873-1954) to the structure and function of the cranial bones and related tissues, founding the field of Cranial Osteopathy. Dr. Sutherland introduced the idea of an inherent rhythmic motion in the cranium, which we can use to release resrictions in the cranial sutures.
John E. Upledger, DO, OMM is the founder of CranioSacral Therapy, a paradigm that combines the Osteopathic outlook from Drs. Still and Sutherland with other full body techniques he developed from his vast understanding of embryological development, quantum physics, cell structure, and therapeutic imagery.
