We do not offer Craniosacral Therapy at our Victoria clinic since it is not evidence based. You should do your own due diligence. Please click on the following articles to learn more about this type of treatment;
- Craniosacral Therapy
- Why Cranial Therapy is Silly
- Alas Poor Craniosacral Therapy: A Scam of infinite Jest, of Most Excellent Fancy
- Does Craniosacral Therapy Work?
- A Systematic Review of Craniosacral Therapy: Biological Plausibility, Assessment Reliability and Clinical Effectiveness: UBC Study
- Quackwatch: Craniosacral Therapy UBC Study Finds CST is not evidence based
- Up the Garden Path: Craniosacral Therapy
- Cranial Manipulation and Tooth Fairy Science
- Craniosacral Therapy is not Medicine: Journal of the American Physical Therapy Association
- Infant Dies After Craniosacral Therapy: Therapist gets off Scot Free
- Cranial osteopathy: It’s Fate Seems Clear
“Until outcome studies show that these techniques produce a direct and positive clinical effect, they should be dropped from all academic curricula; insurance companies should stop paying for them; and patients should invest their time, money, and health elsewhere.”
“it is incumbent upon Victoria Physiotherapists utilizing CST techniques to justify their efficacy and value in terms of documented patient outcomes in peer-reviewed clinical research or abandon them altogether. You should demand a refund if you have been duped. Physiotherapists in British Columbia have a professional obligation to incorporate evidence-informed practice in all aspects of their Physiotherapy service delivery. It is also imperative that Physiotherapy professionals who perform cranial techniques do not communicate to patients disproved concepts of moving cranial sutures or balancing cranial rhythms. This language is disingenuous and may lead to creating disability in our patients by providing the perception that there is some sort of structural deformity in their body and implying that they are ill. If Victoria Physiotherapists are utilizing such techniques, clinicians should inform their patients that the care they are receiving has not been supported by documented clinical outcomes or evidence. The time is past due for advocates of CST to contribute well-designed studies evaluating the efficacy of these techniques to the peer-reviewed literature. The challenge is clear: prove that it works, or move on.”
What is Craniosacral Therapy?
CST was pioneered and developed by osteopathic physician John E. Upledger following extensive scientific studies from 1975 to 1983 at Michigan State University, where he served as a clinical researcher and Professor of Biomechanics.
CST is a gentle, hands-on method of evaluating and enhancing the functioning of a physiological body system called the craniosacral system – comprised of the membranes and cerebrospinal fluid that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord.
Using a soft touch generally no greater than 5 grams, or about the weight of a nickel, practitioners claim to release restrictions in the craniosacral system to improve the functioning of the central nervous system.

Craniosacral Therapy
By complementing the body’s natural healing processes, CST is used as a preventive health measure for its ability to bolster resistance to disease, and is claimed to be effective for a wide range of medical problems associated with pain and dysfunction, including:
- Migraine Headaches
- Chronic Neck and Back Pain
- Motor-Coordination Impairments
- Colic
- Autism
- Central Nervous System Disorders
- Orthopedic Problems
- Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries
- Scoliosis
- Infantile Disorders
- Learning Disabilities
- Chronic Fatigue
- Emotional Difficulties
- Stress and Tension-Related Problems
- Fibromyalgia and other Connective-Tissue Disorders
- Temporomandibular Joint Syndrome (TMJ)
- Neurovascular or Immune Disorders
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Post-Surgical Dysfunction
CranioSacral Therapy deals very subtly with an important mechanics in our body. It claims to correct direct damage and trauma that our body receives from birth trauma, trauma from car accidents, trauma from sports injury and other traumatic incidences. Therapy is conducted via a very gentle touch of the CranioSacral rhythm. This rhythm is created by a hydraulic fluid system called the CerebroSpinal Fluid (CSF) which is produced within the brain and spread throughout your head (brain and skull), face and spinal cord; with training and palpation, you can feel this rhythm pulse all over the body.
In a normal healthy person, the rhythm is a “healthy” constant and strong, but under stress and trauma, the pulse becomes “unhealthy” by going into arrhythmic, poor circulation and resulting in physical, emotional and organic disturbances.
CranioSacral Therapy is a gentle therapeutic modality that works by applying gentle pressure to the bones of your skull as well as your spinal cord and other areas of the body to provide you relief from pain to misalignment and arrthyms. At an emotional level, CranioSacral Therapy may produce a feeling of relief and “lightening.” An example is if a person underwent certain circumstances and/or situations that causes anger, frustrations, deep burdens, fear etc – these emotions are not a separate by-product that just disappears. They linger and “gets stuffed” inwardly and stored inside us, in many situations causing discomfort, pain, diseases and a general sense of being unwell or unhealthy. Through combining CranioSacral misalignments as well as your somatosensory history, we guide you through a release we work called SomatoEmotional Release.
Craniosacral Therapy Shelbourne Physiotherapy Cook Street Clinic
Victoria,
British Columbia
V8V 4A1
CA
Phone: 250-381-9828
Website: https://physiotherapyvictoria.ca