Charting Course
Dear Friends,
First off a big thank you to all of you who sent cards and emails and catch up letters during the holidays. I love seeing what everyone is up to, how we’ve all changed and lived and loved our way to 2026. I couldn’t be more blessed to know so many incredible people shining their light into the world.
Also another big thanks for those of you who filled out the Loving Feedback Form. You all helped affirm my intuitions about everything practice related. If any of you would still like to participate, here’s the link. Your input matters.
This winter has been a deeper kind of cold than I’m used to and I am packed in layers of mismatched clothes. I never used to be a weather wuss but I notice scarfs and hats aren’t taking away the bite of winter chill and my resolve is somewhat low. For this reason, I forwent resolutions and opted instead for intentions. I created six of them for 2026–one of which is writing, and is spurring me on today.
One of my interests this year is to attempt to describe this unusual work. I came to Craniosacral Therapy (CST) through the study of Integrative Manual Therapy (IMT). The founder of IMT, Sharon Weiselfish-Giammatteo passed away the work is not as known as it used to be.
Sharon studied with seminal practitioners including Upledger who brought CST out of the osteopathic cannon and into the realm of body work. She also studied with Barral who is a master of visceral manipulation, Lawerence Jones who’s work formed the basis of Strain Counterstrain, and Janet Hulme who pioneered pelvic floor PT. Sharon eventually created her own energetic system that veered heavily into infectious disease, autoimmunity and trauma. Her multi-systems approach changed my understanding of what manual therapy could do and expanded my clinical depth.
The IMT program was an incredible download of modalities and techniques that didn’t fully bloom until I studied biodynamic CST. Craniosacral Therapy helped me translate IMT concepts into perceptual awareness through cultivating the relational field with my clients. In order for a system to reveal itself, Craniosacral Therapy emphasizes a holistic approach to aassessment and treatment. CST introduces the idea that the body will reveal itself in accordance with its own priorities for healing (the Inherent Treatment Plan) when it is held in relationship to a skilled practitioner. The Inherent Treatment Plan explains why sessions are nonlinear. The body moves through time and space in its own rhythm resolving conditional forces from injuries, illnesses, environmental and emotional traumas in its own unique way.
I am back in school because it’s time for me to take all of this learning and make it my own. I want to understand my perceptual gaps, continuously refresh my knowledge, drop fully into the relational field, and trust the mentorship process.
More precisely, I hope to deepen my palpation of the energetic, fluidic, and structural systems; refine my knowledge of anatomy and physiology; hone my awareness of the interrelationships between (seemingly) unrelated structures or processes; identify embryological tissue characteristics and neurochemical signaling pathways; locate and treat vascular disruption; tune in to ancient energetic systems; and heighten the capacity to hold trauma—all of which support the system as it recognizes its own health.
Though my work is not scalable, I imagine an ever-larger energetic field holding an ever-growing “us” in health. This might allow us to slow us down, to encourage chaotic forces to leave us, and to trust the exquisite nature of our inherent treatment plan no matter where it leads.
May 2026 bring us health and peace inside and out.
With folded palms,
Jennifer