Treatment Modalities at BBH
Mind Body Therapy (MBT)
MBT uses a holistic whole body framework to understand how the body deals with stress and trauma, as well as how pain and dis-ease progression play out in specific organs and tissues. MBT utilises a specific questioning system to identify the root cause of a physical issue. Once the cause is identified, the therapist applies a series of unique techniques to clear emotional blocks and release stress from the nervous system. Once the path has been cleared, the body is enabled to heal itself. MBT is complemented by hypnotherapy for lasting results.
Hynotherapy
Our perceptions around our body, our pain and our life are largely housed in our subconscious mind. This is where our limiting beliefs, our stored stress and our past conflicts are housed. Whatever we believe to be true about our bodies is what we will ultimately experience. What if we could change this? Overlying our subconscious mind is a filter of sorts called our critical faculty. Our critical faculty dismisses and disregards all incoming information that does not line up with the information sitting in our subconscious mind. What if we could change this?
For example, you can tell a person that they are beautiful one hundred times. If they inherently believe that they are ugly, your accolades will fall onto deaf ears. This limiting belief is held within the subconscious mind. Until this underlying belief changes, nothing will change. They will continue to experience the same thing every time they look into the mirror. I am ugly. The same can be said for any part of the body… ‘My back is stuffed’… ‘My gut is ruining my life’ I’ll have migraines for the rest of my life, just like my mother did’… These beliefs shape our experience. What if you could change this?
In hypnosis, the brain goes into a state of meditation that accesses theta brainwaves. This state creates a permeability within the critical faculty. It can essentially be bypassed. Stored stress and faulty belief systems housed inside the subconscious mind can finally be addressed and reprogrammed. The person ‘under hypnosis’ is awake and in full control of themselves throughout the process.
Somato Emotional Release (SER)
Somato Emotional Release is the expression and resolution of stored emotion that, for reasons deemed appropriate by a person’s subconscious, has been retained, suppressed and isolated within the soma (body). This memory of either physical or emotional trauma is often located within specific body parts, regions or viscera (organs and surrounding tissue).
A substantial amount of energy is required to keep this memory bound or trapped within the body’s tissue. Over time, this stored energy can create structural changes within the tissue. This can physically manifest as hardening, fibrosis, weakening or congestion affecting the integrity and function of the tissue.
SER is a manually applied release process, coupled with verbal dialogue, designed to shift this stored trauma out of the tissue and out of the body.
Viscreal Manipulation (VM)
Visceral Manipulation is the gentle mobilisation and manipulation of the internal organs and surrounding structures. For us to flex and move our trunk and limbs beautifully, there needs to be good mobility and motility of all our internal organs. An organ’s mobility is its ability to move and glide as the body does. An organ’s motility is its ability to hold its own rhythm and function.
A surprising number of musculoskeletal problems can be affected or even have their root cause in poor visceral manoeuvrability. For example, a right shoulder restriction can be linked to poor liver mobility i.e. the connective tissue attachments around the liver are limiting upper trunk and shoulder girdle mobility, restricting shoulder movement. A restriction in the recto-sacral or coccygeal ligaments can cause hip restrictions or lower back issues. Releasing these restrictions and adhesions within and around the internal organs and their corresponding connective tissue attachments can be incredibly effective in solving some fundamental physical problems.
VM is also very effective for digestive system problems such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), chronic constipation, reflux and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) including Crohn’s disease and Colitis. VM applies gentle manual therapy to encourage normal mobility, tone and motion of the gut organs and their connective tissues. Portions of the bowel can be prone to recurrent inflammation, leading to scar tissue formation and subsequently poor mobility and motility. This affects the passage of food through our system and even the absorption of nutrients from that food. Abdominal surgery leaves significant scar tissue ‘trains' through neighbouring internal organs, affecting the movement and function of these organs. VM is very effective in addressing these problems. See www.barralinstitute.com for more information.
Craniosacral Therapy (CST)
Craniosacral Therapy uses subtle mobilisations to the plates of the cranium, the dura of the spinal cord and the fascial connections of the body with phenomenal results. It treats and revives the central nervous system and the structures which house it.
Specifically, Craniosacral Therapy has proven incredibly successful in treating spinal issues, headaches and migraines. I have had wonderful results with chronic pain, chronic fatigue, burnout, poor sleep, heightened stress levels and patients trapped in a cycle of chronic stress and sympathetic overdrive. To find out more about Craniosacral therapy, check out the Upledger Institute (www.upledger.com).
Myofascial Release
The fascia is a three-dimensional net-like ‘scaffolding’ that holds the human body together and keeps all its parts in their place. It surrounds and encapsulates the organs, muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments, blood vessels etc. It is continuous throughout the body. Fascia is arranged in multiple layers and these layers can adhere to each other with injury, or even prolonged postures and lack of movement.
A ‘snag’ or scar tissue in one area of fascia can have a knock-on effect much further along the fascia pathway. For example, residual scar tissue from a hamstring tear can cause back or even shoulder issues due to the fascial lines that run through the body. When treating, it’s imperative to work along these fascial lines to improve tissue movement, circulation and lymph drainage.
Dry Needling
Dry Needling can be a very effective treatment modality, when used specifically and skilfully. Dry Needling involves needling into active trigger points within muscle tissue. This is especially effective for deep muscles that can be hard to access with soft tissue mobilisation.
A deep throbbing or pulsing sensation is elicited when the trigger point is located. This sends a message to the brain to release endogenous opioids, natural ‘feel good’ chemicals that help to reduce pain levels. At a local level, the needle aids the unlocking of sarcomeres within the muscle, which releases the trigger point or ‘knot’. The needle also has a local vasodilation effect, which increases circulation to the area to facilitate recovery and healing.
Manual Therapy
Joints can be dysfunctional for many reasons. They can be worn down from excessive wear and tear or damaged from trauma. They can also just simply be moving too little or too much… or stuck! Joint problems cause stress and strain to the surrounding structures… and eventually lead to pain and dysfunction. Discerning which joints are affected, how they are affected and why is important. It’s important for a client to have feedback about what is going on below the surface, so that they can better understand the problem.
My greatest respect goes to the nerves… the life force of the body. Nerves that are not happy make very unhappy people. Treating the neural system with reverence and skill is vital, gently releasing and mobilising only where necessary.
A good understanding of the muscular system and how different muscles work together to stabilise, generate and support movement is also important to address this system successfully. Mobilising and releasing trigger points within the muscular soft tissue is important to get the muscles working more effectively and minimise pain.
Pilates Rehabilitation
Pilates is a brilliant form of rehabilitation to strengthen and train the core muscles, as well as the muscles around the hips and shoulder girdle. There is also a strong emphasis on posture, mindfulness and breathing.
I specifically recommend Pilates to individuals with previous back injury or surgery, postnatal weakness or ongoing back issues. Athletes and desk workers can also gain so much from Pilates. Pilates is beneficial to everyone! I teach the APPI (Australian Physiotherapy Pilates Institute) method.
Watson Technique
The Watson Technique is a sequence of manual therapy techniques on the first three vertebrae of the spine (C1-3), which has proven to be effective in the treatment of not only cervicogenic headache, but also primary headaches such as tension-type headache and migraine headache via the trigeminal cervical nuclei (TCN). The TCN extend through the brainstem and into the upper regions of the cervical spinal cord.
Interaction between these nuclei and the sensory fibres of the C1-3 nerve roots mean that we can affect change to migraine and other primary headache symptoms via manual techniques to the upper neck. This technique is just one of the tools in my headache toolkit.
Energetic Healing
Over the years, I have come to respect the energetic component of our body and its effect on our physical body. ‘Energy’ is literally the electricity conducted along the pathways in our nervous system. The flow of our circulation and our lymphatics move along similar pathways. This is our life force. This course correlates with the meridian pathways. Restoring the flow along these pathways enables healing, flow and freedom of movement.
This mode of healing can be a very empowering adjunct to treating the physical body. There are simple and practical ways to work with our energy systems, to bring about a greater sense of wellness, a greater capacity to heal (as healing requires significant amounts of energy) and improved energy levels in general.
Vagus Nerve Therapy
In a nutshell, we have two nervous systems.
Our somatic nervous system is our conscious perception of our environment through our senses, and our response to that perception through movement.
Our autonomic nervous system is completely unconscious… it governs all the unconscious processes of our body… our heart rate, our breathing, our sweat production, our digestion etc. This system has two arms which work together like a seesaw… as one goes up, the other goes down and vice versa. Our sympathetic system is our ‘flight or fight' stress mode. Our parasympathetic system is our ‘resting and digesting’, ‘feed and breed' chill mode.
Most of us spend a lot of time in stress mode. For some, it is a constant way of being. This is detrimental to our health, particularly our gut and immune health. The Vagus nerve is the primary nerve pathway of the parasympathetic nervous system. Stimulating this nerve moves our body’s internal system out of its chronically stressed state. It improves circulation to the gut, decreases our heart rate and lowers high blood pressure.
There are several ways to stimulate the Vagus nerve – through breath work, meditation and yoga. Therapeutically, this nerve can be stimulated very effectively though advanced craniosacral and visceral manipulation techniques, as well as specific exercises using eye and neck movements.
Meet Georgie Hattingh
BHSc Physio (Hons)
Georgie Hattingh, integrative physiotherapist at Beyond Body Healing, is dedicated to helping individuals heal from chronic pain, dysfunction, and illness using a holistic approach that combines physiotherapy with complementary therapies.
