The Rolf Method of Structural Integration

There are 3 Main Differences:

1) Structural Integration has a strong visual component. We use a highly-trained way of seeing the body, which Dr. Rolf called “touch at a distance”. We use this to assess your structure at the beginning and end of every session. Before we touch, we see the structure and what's going on in the structure so we can address problems in the most efficient way. The result is improved health throughout the body AND symptom-relief.

2) Structural Integration offers a systematic approach to working with the entire body.

The goal and intention of Structural Integration is not just symptom resolution which is the case for many other modalities. We’re trained to see and address the relationship between symptoms and the rest of the structure.

3) With Structural Integration, we’re focused on improving the organization of the whole structure in its relationship to gravity.

The ever-present force of gravity is something that most other modalities ignore even though it has a profound and constant effect on us.

So in a nutshell, we’re not focused on a problem, but looking beyond it. And we have a proven strategy and technique to work with.

That is part of my goal! Most clients come in because of chronic pain and back pain is a very common complaint. The vast majority see lasting improvements that exceed their expectations.

Here's how: most chronic pain is related to physical structure so as we improve structure, the chronic pain often dissipates.

Depending on the severity of the situation, the rate of healing and pain relief varies, but in general clients begin to see lasting pain relief by the third session if not sooner.

In the rare instance that I don't think I can help, I will refer clients to another practitioner.

Physical and emotional health are deeply entwined. Emotions are actual physical feelings, physical experiences. If the physical body is made to be more comfortable, the emotional pain or intensity from a past or recent wound or trauma will almost always lessen in direct proportion to the body approaching balance.

As long as a few months have passed since the surgery (ideally, about 6 months after major surgery), Structural Integration and Scar Tissue Work can often bring tremendous relief.

I recommend 10 weekly sessions. After the initial session, which usually takes around 90 minutes, each session usually take about 60-75 minutes. I will work with your body with a different focus and intention each week to fulfill your goal to feel freer, lighter, taller, and pain-free.

You are welcome to try 1-3 sessions. By that time you should know fairly well how you feel towards this work. After 3 sessions, I recommend committing to complete the full series or stopping. The reason for this is that after session three we begin to address deeper aspects of the structure, and each session builds on the last and prepares for the next. So for optimal balance, the full series should be followed through with.

Once you’ve done a full 10-Series, it is not necessary to do another, though it may be a good idea depending on what happened in the prior 30 years.

Often, after completing a 10-Series, a 3-5 session series is enough to keep things moving in the right direction.

Both Structural Integration and Rolfing refer to the work of Dr. Ida Rolf, and they both provide pain relief through Dr. Rolf’s methods and techniques. The name “Rolfing” is a registered trademark owned by the Rolf Institute.

Structural Integration is the name Dr. Rolf called her work, however the term “Rolfing” caught on as a shorthand for Structural Integration.

I don’t take insurance, but I can provide a receipt for you to submit to your insurance.

First make sure they have learned from an accredited school or have some formal training in the field.

While reviews and recommendations are often signs of someone doing good work, keep in mind that this work is very personal and individual, as well as the fact that marketing skills are not always equivalent to practicing skills. So, one person’s positive experience may not ensure your own positive experience with the same practitioner.

Call them or meet them for a consultation, and see how you feel. If you feel comfortable, that you can trust them, and there is good rapport, that is a good sign. If you don’t have that, keep looking. And if you try a session with a practitioner you’ve chosen and are bruised or injured by them, that is probably a sign you should not be receiving treatment from them.

A good practitioner is worth a longer drive and paying more money per session. You’ll benefit more from 10 sessions with the right practitioner than 50 sessions with the wrong one.

My personal experience has been that the clients that benefit the most from my work are those that come to me when they are ready, not people that have been pressured or pushed to come in. When the time is right, we will meet.

Bruising is not normal in an SI session.

In 22 plus years of practice, I have seen bruising exceedingly rarely.

This is a very important question. There have been and are practitioners out there that have, by poor practice, inexperience, and over-zealousness, that make a point to make sessions needlessly painful. The telltale sign that the pain is needless is that there is often bruising and or other types of harm to the body afterwards, and it work does not make the client feel empowered, nor does it open a new way of being or path of movement which benefits the client. Part of the reputation that SI is painful is due to this.

However, even when done by someone skilled, knowledgeable and talented in the art there can be moments of intensity, which are often equated to pain. The difference is that the intensity passes the moment the practitioner is no longer working in the area, and the result is a feeling of being lighter, freer, more open, and having a new options of movement or being which was not possible prior—meaning a change in structure. As a result, the client is left empowered. The intensity of the work is extremely subjective, and will vary greatly from client to client depending on what has happened to their body, their age, what types of activities they engage in, their general level of body and self-awareness, etc.

As the work progresses, if done properly, the same area when worked on again will not show anywhere near the same level of intensity or discomfort. This is a result of the newly established order in the system.

SI is not just about manipulating fascia, it involves engaging the awareness of the client to produce the lasting change. SI cannot be done on a comatose person, for example.

The analogy is this: When communicating with words, one needs voice and speech. Voice is the the volume. Speech is the clarity of thought match with words that can be understood by the other. If one speaks clearly and is very sophisticated in their language but their voice is too quite (or the other is hard of hearing), the message is not communicated. And if the volume is ample but the proper words are lacking, the message again is not communicated. One case is due to lack, one is due to excess in each of the areas.

When one goes for an SI session which feels light and pleasant but does not leave lasting change, the “volume” may have been lacking. And if one goes for an SI session and gets beat up and leaves feeling that this was the main event, the “volume” was likely too loud. The degree of skill of the practitioner is in being able to modulate these two aspects to client. Volume being akin to force, and speech to technical and practical knowledge of SI.

If the end result of an SI session is one of lasting, positive change, in line with the goals of SI, which are a longer, taller, freer, more organized, refined, empowered individual, the work was accomplished.