Most therapies that address chronic pain, like massage and chiropractic, are passive. That means that you do not move while the therapy is being performed on you. While passive therapies are often very enjoyable, their results usually don’t last more than a few days simply because they haven’t created any lasting change in your nervous system.

You need to be actively moving in order to form new neural pathways and create lasting change in the functioning of your nervous system. This is very important to understand: You need to be actively, consciously moving in order for your nervous system to learn something new. Nothing that anyone does to you is going to create any lasting change.

Most pain treatments, whether they be medication or a form of bodywork, only address the symptoms of the problem. These treatments either focus on relieving the sensation of pain or use spot work, an approach which assumes that the problem is only occurring in the area of the body where the pain is being felt. For example, if you’re having pain in your elbow, these treatments will only address your elbow. For this reason, the results of most pain treatments typically don’t last.

Clinical Somatics addresses the underlying cause of pain by working with full-body patterns of posture and movement. No part of the human body moves independently. Every time you move, adjustments happen throughout your body to allow the movement to happen. So believe it or not, that pain in your elbow is most likely related to how you are using your entire body. In order for the problem to go away for good, the entire movement pattern must be addressed.

Many treatments and therapies for pain are based on some sort of dependence, whether it be that you have to return on a regular basis for sessions or must continue to take medication.

Clinical Somatics teaches you how to take care of yourself with slow, gentle exercises. Healing tools are placed in YOUR HANDS. In fact, Clinical Somatics is founded upon the belief that people have the ability to and should take care of themselves instead of relying on others to maintain their health.