FAQ'S WITH ANSWERS FROM OWEN

hy haven't I heard about Rolfing before?
This is a question I heard 25 years ago, and it sometimes seems that little has changed. The media has given Rolfing some good coverage, but I find the vast majority of my clients come from referrals from previous clients. It is the people who have been Rolfed that inspire others with what is possible.

What takes place during a Rolfing session?
The sessions are performed in a sequential manner which means each session is different and based on the work of the previous sessions. I have multiple goals when I treat a client. The first is to reduce or eliminate the pain that is causing you to seek treatment; the next is to address the cause(s) of that pain; and the final is begin work on the aspects that will enhance your body's performance and the stability of the improvements.

The session begins by me asking what has occurred since the previous session and by observing how you move and hold your body. Then I will ask you to lie on the Rolfing table. I will first work on the areas that will provide the most change.

The change in the soft tissue (myofacia) is achieved by slowly and gently applying pressure to specific areas and levels. On tense areas, the first sensation may be discomfort. I work at the pace of the tissue that is releasing. If there is pain, it will change into a sense of pleasure with the release. Each subsequent time we work on one of these areas, there is more pleasure.

What can I expect from a session?
A Rolfing session is not a massage, but like a massage, you will be relaxed afterwards. Clients often report sleeping deeply the night after the first session and feeling relaxed and tired for a few days. There is usually no soreness after a session. When there is soreness, it isn't the type you get from an injury, but is more like how you would feel after a good stretch or workout. I recommend that you do not workout later in the day after receiving a session. The next day should be fine to exercise.

Because I can usually get at least two or three sessions worth of change in any given session, your body can keep changing after the session. Clients frequently report that they feel things shifting and letting go days after his or her session.

Do I have to commit to the 10 session series?
No. Clients schedule and pay for a session one at a time. If at any point you or I feel we are not achieving the desired results, we will quit.

What shall I wear?
Women normally wear a two-piece bathing suit or workout outfit while some prefer to wear their underwear. Men wear either gym shorts, bathing trunks or their underwear. I do not care what a client wears as long as long as he or she is comfortable, and it does not interfere with the areas I need to work on.

Does Rolfing hurt?
Yes, there can be times in the beginning before the tissue releases when there can be a sensation of pain. As that area and the entire body learn to release and relax, the discomfort is often transformed into pleasure. The majority of the time, a first-time client will say, "I thought this would hurt but it didn't."

We train ourselves to hold and brace against pain and injury. This is a common response to all forms of stress. Over time, this response becomes ingrained and self-replicating. For chronic pain clients in particular, this pain cycle can ultimately develop into the client's worse enemy. Learning how to relax and not to hold the tension in the body is commonly a leading benefit of Rolfing. You can fix a specific problem, but if the body doesn't learn a new way to do handle tension, the problem can return.

After working with clients for more than 25 years, I have developed an indirect style of Rolfing that minimizes discomfort and maximizes effectiveness. This indirect technique applies pressure to specific areas and then follows the tissue to where it wants to go. The common way to work with soft tissue is the direct technique where pressure is applied and the tissue is directed to where the practitioner wants it. The indirect approach assumes the client's body has its own intelligence and when relaxed it will release its soft tissue to the most appropriate place. The skill comes in knowing where and how to work to maximize this process.

What is the age range of your clients?
I have Rolfed clients of all ages - from an infant to an 86-years-old woman. A person's age is not a major variable to how well he or she will change. The level of vitality and the willingness to change are bigger determinants of success.

Where do your clients come from?
My Rolfing clients regularly come from north Idaho; Spokane, Washington; northwest Montana; and southeast British Columbia. Less frequently, clients fly in from the East and West Coasts for Rolfing sessions.

How often do clients have sessions during the series?
If someone is in acute pain, I may see him or her twice the first week. Usually people come in once every week or two. I advise my clients to not go beyond a month between sessions, or we may need to repeat some of the work that we have already done.

I book only one session at a time. In this way we can determine what is best as we progress.

When would you not Rolf someone?
Generally, if clients' goals or problems are connected to a condition other than stress, soft tissue or structural areas and do not get better from the body releasing, I will refer them to someone else. More specifically, if a person has cancer or another illness that can spread with increased circulation, I will not Rolf him or her.

For example, Rolfing cannot directly affect polio. Yet I have been able to help clients who were experiencing post-polio syndrome which is a condition that evolves from years of compensation and stress from polio.

If during the course of the series of sessions I have not produced the level of change I desire, I might suggest taking more time to complete the series. I might also suggest using other therapies in conjunction with or without Rolfing.

Does insurance pay for Rolfing?
Clients are responsible for payment. However, when a client provides me with a prescription from a referring physician, I give the client a receipt for their insurance company. With that receipt, the client attempts to obtain reimbursement for their payment to me.

I have had good success with clients' auto insurance paying for Rolfing sessions following auto accidents. When I practiced in Arizona, I was an approved provider for Workman's Compensation which made reimbursing easy for work injuries. Medical insurance usually does not pay for Rolfing.

Do other types of healthcare plans cover Rolfing?
Consumer-driven healthcare plans (CDHP) are being used more frequently by clients. These are plans that the client or his/her company contributes to so the client can be reimbursed for out-of-pocket healthcare costs. These costs can be from procedures that their standard health insurance will not pay for, such as Rolfing. Examples of these plans include:

FSAs - Flexible Spending Accounts
MSAs - Medical Savings Accounts
HRAs - Health Reimbursement Arrangements
HSAs - Health Savings Accounts

How does Rolfing work with pain?
Pain is an interesting phenomenon. Healthcare providers often tell clients that nothing is wrong, and in many ways that is true. Yet even these clients' physicians will readily admit that the person is in pain. There are no tests that can quantify pain; there are no tests that can measure tension.

Chronic pain can snowball into a medical issue of its own, wearing down a person where he or she is in constant pain and exhausted. From my Rolfing practice and teaching Mindfulness Stress Reduction courses, I learned that if I can assist a person to release tension and learn not to recreate it, we can often reduce or alleviate his or her pain.

Pain is a great example of a place where the efficiency of high-tech health care is often ineffective and the time spent doing labor-intensive alterative therapies can be effective.

Can Rolfing affect the aging process?
Aging is do to the collective affect of stress and how it wears out the body. Hans Selye, MD, the original researcher of stress, called fascia - the soft tissue Rolfing releases - the organ of stress. It is also the organ that shows much of the aging processes. Collagen, the primary protein of fascia, for years has been injected into aging skin.

Rolfing has been shown to aid suffers of chronic fatigue syndrome, the condition where stress exhausts the body. Aesthetically, Rolfing is known to produce reduction in cellulite, another believed consequence of aging. Through releasing stress, many clients not only report feeling younger, but also are told they look younger. Simply, having good posture and moving freely connote the vitality of youth.

Why do the results from Rolfing last so long?
All therapies have their niche where they are most effective. For Rolfing, it is treating chronic tension and structural patterns. Rolfing, when optimally performed, addresses the causes of problems - not just the symptoms. The core goal of Rolfing is to integrate the body's structure. Treating a specific symptom so that the immediate pain goes away is often easy; creating a level of order so that it does not return is the challenging part.

Problems can also return because a client's body hasn't learned how to break a pattern. We often develop behaviors such as not breathing correctly or moving a limb in an unusual manner. A more natural pattern needs to be learned if the body is to maintain order and comfort. In every session, I work with the client on learning these more efficient patterns. In the beginning, it is hard to believe that change is possible, but as the body responds to the Rolfing, it becomes much easier to change patterns.

What is good posture?
While we all would agree that it is a good thing to stand up straight; opinions vary on how to define straight and how to best achieve it. My experience has shown me that what our mothers, gym teachers, drill sergeants and culture have taught us is often not the best posture. Posture, the behavior aspect of structure, is created by what we teach our bodies to do in gravity. It evolves to be a set of habits we no longer think about as we go through life.

Oftentimes, when a person is asked to stand up straight, he or she attempts to straighten up and further distorts his or her misalignment. The person will work even harder at standing erect, which means holding parts of his or her body more. Not only does this often make one become more tense, it creates an imbalance.

My goal is to assist a client in achieving good posture that not only looks good, but also works well and feels good. This is achieved by first releasing the soft tissue so the body can be aligned. Then - and this is often the difficult part - old habits need to be unlearned and replaced with more appropriate habits. My goal is to have a person stand up straight without effort and without holding.

How is Rolfing different from other therapies?
Like massage and physical therapy, Rolfing works with the soft tissue. Massage generally addresses problems that are more acute in the muscle system with a primary goal of relaxation. A massage therapist also stands and uses his or her hands to create the relaxation. I often sit on the edge of the Rolfing table which is low and use the side of my arm to create the release. Physical therapy focuses on using strengthening exercises for rehabilitation. Rolfing does not focus on strengthening, at least through exercise. Rolfers can work on clients after an injury, but we usually see them after they have gone through their rehabilitation process.

Chiropractors primarily concentrate on adjusting the vertebrae of the spine. Rolfers focus on organizing the soft tissue system; I do not do boney adjustments. I refer clients to chiropractors or osteopaths for these types of adjustments.

After a Rolfing series is completed, a client often finds that therapists and doctors enjoy working on them because it is easier for a client to relax and hold his or her treatments longer.

What does the medical community think about Rolfing?
Over the years, I have experienced a growing familiarity and acceptance of Rolfing, which goes with the growing acceptance of holistic health practices. Patients who tell their physicians about their personal experiences with Rolfing drive some of this, and some of it is due to the physicians' desire to help their patients. I also believe that the profession's appreciation of Rolfing is growing because more physicians are getting Rolfed. Since I started practicing, I have had over 70 doctors see me. A wide range of physicians - from orthopedic surgeons to OB-GYN's - have referred clients to me.

Why do you want your clients to stop seeing you?
Much of the change from Rolfing occurs after a series is completed as the body needs time to integrate. I have had clients come back after six months with an entirely different body. Places that hurt and were extremely tense became pleasurable and relaxed. We spent years getting tense; it takes several months to unwind that tension.

I usually suggest other therapies or classes instead of continuing with more Rolfing. Clients can get the most for their money if they seek the assistance of others after the series is completed.