FOREWORD.. . .The following article is the first in a series of two which were published in October issues of Physical Therapy Forum, a weekly magazine with a circulation of over 50,000 physical therapists throughout the United States. Reprinted with permission of the author and publisher.Some asides from the author before you read: While my clients often see me because of physical or emotional trauma, after working for two and one half years in a large orthopedic group, I am very clear (with myself and with my clients) that Rolfing is not physical therapy. On the other hand, it is also very clear to me that physical therapists can and should be our allies and that communication between our groups does everyone a lot of good. Lastly I refer to clients in this article as “patients”. That is only because of the context.

Note: In (a previous) article I stated that the body’s reaction to trauma–or to the expectation of trauma–was a combination of predictable responses, withdrawal and collapse. Withdrawal can be separated into four components: contraction, retraction, immobilization, and often, rotation. (Hence, the mnemonic “CRIOR”.) We maintain the withdrawal posture as long as we believe re- injury is possible. There is a two fold value in understanding these responses. First it establishes a referent to evaluate the effectiveness of a particular treatment. Second, it gives the therapist a larger perspective: the whole body reaction can provide a strategy for the overall rehabilitation.

Paul Gordon is an Advanced Rolfer and Fascial Anatomy Instructor who practices in Cambridge, Massachusetts and on the Southern Coast of Maine. What follows is from a talk he gave at The American Back Society meeting last December Paul says: “Eight out of every ten people experience disabling back pain at some point in their lives. It brings more clients to Rolfers than any other complaint. Although the subject here was the healing process and chronic back pain, I believe the process described is relevant not only to bad backs, but also to gimpy knees and broken hearts. So often people come to us wanting an answer a cure. What I have attempted in this short paper is to explain is why they are frequently disappointed. People can and do get better sometimes, as we know, marvellously better When they do, it is usually because they have a different outlook and have employed a different process.”