Simple Contact

[BellaBeatle]

I searched the forum for this topic. If I've missed any threads, please show me!

Does anyone have experience or knowledge with Barrett Dorko's method of Simple Contact? barrettdorko . com/articles/origins . htm (I can't post hyperlinks yet, so that's the best I can do!) Basically it says that much pain stems from the fact that natural, therapeutic movement is punished in our society. From a very young age we're told to, "Sit up straight! Suck in your gut! Hold your head up!" All of these are unnatural ways of moving - by demanding we not move!

According to his theory, we manual therapists don't help the situation any. We demand of our clients, "Lie still! Relax!" while we apply often painful techniques on them. We don't allow for clients to find their own healing.

Mr. Dorko states that our subconscious minds still know honest, therapeutic ways of moving. By barely touching clients through clothing on bony surfaces, we can communicate an acceptance of natural, therapeutic movement. And our clients can find it themselves. There's much more to it, but that's the beginning.

Any thoughts?

 

[Erin]

I've read some of this theory, and had a Shiatsu instructor who talked a lot about this phenomenon. I haven't heard of Dr. Dorko (I think I would have remembered that unfortunate name,) but his work sounds interesting.

Generally, I don't try to "fight" my clients with the work. If they want to hold their legs or arms up, I try to cue them through touching. I NEVER tell anyone "relax!" except as a verbal cue when we are deliberately tensing a muscle first, then relaxing it.

Rather than telling people to stand up straight, I try to demonstrate how stretching certain muscles will help them naturally find a balanced posture. There are many methods out there that teach this concept, but I think the dialogue is still lacking in some instances, and our words as therapists can create anxiety OR ease in our clients, depending upon how we approach treatment.

 

[Churro]

There's a ton of info on Simple Contact and dermoneuromodulation at http://www.SomaSimple.com - it's a forum run by physical therapists. Very science-based, and a great resource for learning about many interesting topics.

 

[wiemercats]

THANK YOU for posting the web sites, which I can't do yet.

Again, I ask...any opinions? Experiences?

 

[Pompal 09.]

Simple Contact

I searched the forum for this topic. If I've missed any threads, please show me!

Basically it says that much pain stems from the fact that natural, therapeutic movement is punished in our society. From a very young age we're told to, "Sit up straight! Suck in your gut! Hold your head up!" All of these are unnatural ways of moving - by demanding we not move!

According to his theory, we manual therapists don't help the situation any. We demand of our clients, "Lie still! Relax!" while we apply often painful techniques on them. We don't allow for clients to find their own healing.



Any thoughts?

This seems like a major oversimplification of both what "society" teaches the young and what we as manual therapists do and teach. I have always let clients know to feel very free to move whatever they need to be comfortable, and to ask me to adjust whatever they need to be comfortable, at any point during the massage. "Lie still" was never mentioned in the year I was in massage school, either. We were very clearly taught to never command a client to relax.

Teaching children good posture habits is not at all about teaching them not to move, or even to move unnaturally, either. I would agree that putting them in desks that are ergonomically incorrect for several hours a day leads to a lot of the bad posture that "we" try to correct, but then I think making children SIT several hours a day is a problem....so I see what may be his point, there. However, there are so many forms of massage and bodywork that to say we contribute to the problem when so much research says otherwise kind of negates the premise.

There is room for another form of bodywork. He can join us without throwing us out.

 

[SkittleSniffer]

Yes, ma'am...I completely understand what yer sayin'...

You've been to his web site recently, haven't you???

 

[Amii...x]

Yes, ma'am...I completely understand what yer sayin'...

You've been to his web site recently, haven't you???

Yep.

 

[Tor-K]

What the Other Sharon says...That's why it's difficult for me to completely accept what Barrett says.

Yet I want to admit that we don't have all the answers. No one does.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Yet I want to admit that we don't have all the answers. No one does.

Exactly. We're all stumbling through.....some stumble more gracefully than others, lol.

 

[Julie E]

I've read some of this theory, and had a Shiatsu instructor who talked a lot about this phenomenon. I haven't heard of Dr. Dorko (I think I would have remembered that unfortunate name,) but his work sounds interesting.

Generally, I don't try to "fight" my clients with the work. If they want to hold their legs or arms up, I try to cue them through touching. I NEVER tell anyone "relax!" except as a verbal cue when we are deliberately tensing a muscle first, then relaxing it.

Rather than telling people to stand up straight, I try to demonstrate how stretching certain muscles will help them naturally find a balanced posture. There are many methods out there that teach this concept, but I think the dialogue is still lacking in some instances, and our words as therapists can create anxiety OR ease in our clients, depending upon how we approach treatment.

Thank you, Other Sharon, Breathe, and everyone else...Please excuse me for playing Devil's Advocate a few more times.

Could our "demonstration of stretching" certain muscles be the reason our clients don't actually find their own natural movements? Perhaps if we said, "find your own movement" while offering approval by touching bony surfaces and NOT demonstrating otherwise...

what might happen?

 

[mew2fling]

Simple Contact

We don't allow for clients to find their own healing.

You may also be very interested in Feldenkrais.
Here's a video: http://www.houfeldenkrais.com/about_feldenkrais.htm

 

[Sohail]

OMG Pueppi I am dying over your sig quote . . .

/derail