Craniosacral Therapy

   Greetings! My name is Rebecca DeCoster. I am the owner of A Focused Touch and I am a Nationally Board Certified and Illinois-licensed massage therapist specializing in Upledger CranioSacral therapy. When I started out as a massage therapist, I immediately pursued certification in Equine Bodywork (massage for horses). One horse in particular was incredibly resistant to any type of touch I tried to offer. While I managed to safely navigate our sessions together, I was eager to find another way to engage with him. At the recommendation of a colleague, I signed up for a CranioSacral therapy class. She thought it might be the appropriate tool to get through to that horse. I had no idea what kind of transformation I would undergo that weekend. I found space inside my skull that had previously been unavailable to me. My thoughts felt effortless, and I was inspired and tapped into my creativity in a way that I still struggle to articulate. 

 

That weekend in June of 2015 changed my career trajectory entirely. Since then, I have continued to deepen my knowledge and skill practicing with clients and becoming certified in Upledger CranioSacral techniques. This work is in high demand, and so I also enjoy building community by volunteering as a teaching assistant to support Upledger instructors in their classrooms, presenting introductory classes to massage therapy students, and hosting study groups for local practitioners. I continue to work with horses, and they teach me more and more each day about the subtleties of this fascinating work. Horses and children are great at demonstrating the efficacy of  CST; they don't know what placebos are, but they respond profoundly to this gentle touch.

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CranioSacral therapy is a gentle, hands-on way of working with the whole body, while supporting the movement of cerebrospinal fluid around the nervous system. Cerebrospinal fluid, or CSF, nourishes and detoxifies the brain and spinal cord. Think of your body as a garden, and the nervous system as the garden hose. Injuries, scar tissue, stress levels and postural habits can all effectively crimp the hose of the nervous system, preventing the garden from flourishing. When we restore connection with the nervous system, all body systems tend to benefit, often resulting in a reduction in symptom severity and frequency.