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Christopher Self D.O.
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Courtesy of E/G Observer |
Background
I qualified as an osteopath in 1990, gaining my Diploma in Osteopathy (D.O.) after a four year, full time course. Having qualified, I spent a year in Australia, moving to Sussex in 1993. I worked for two and a half years within the Tunbridge Wells-based practice of Stuart Korth, who is a leading authority in osteopathy in the cranial field and in the treatment of children. During this time, I also began setting up my own osteopathic practice within the premises of East Grinstead’s Ship Street group of GPs. I am one of the Cornmill’s founder practitioners and began when the Centre opened in 1999. Today I divide my time between The Cornmill and the GPs’ surgery in Ship Street.
Osteopathy
The subject of osteopathy addresses the whole body’s structure, function and integration. Many of my referrals are from local GPs and my patients consult me with a variety of structural challenges, ranging from back and neck pain to dysfunction of arms, shoulders, legs and feet. I can assist with the discomfort/pain arising from any area of the body’s structure that may be disturbed, stressed or in need of reintegration. The gentle process of cranial osteopathy which, when offered in addition to the more familiar osteopathy ‘toolkit’, can take health and wellbeing to new heights.
Cranial Osteopathy
I developed a particular interest in cranial osteopathy and took my first course in this specialist discipline in 1992. I felt that cranial work would enable me to reach a certain point of balance with my patients, adding another tool to my osteopathy toolbox and helping me to explore a deeper way. I initially worked with Stuart Korth because I was keen to explore the many opportunities cranial osteopathy offers to work with children and babies. During eighteen months of my time in Tunbridge Wells, I spent two days each month at the Osteopathic Centre for Children (OCC) in London, learning from some extremely skilful paediatric osteopaths on how cranial osteopathy can assist with conditions as diverse as autism, cerebral palsy, asthma and many more.
In 1995 and 1996 I followed specialist courses in specific aspects of cranial osteopathy, and have subsequently taken annual courses to expand my skills and understanding of osteopathy’s bio-dynamics. My last nine years as an osteopath have been full of intensive cranial development and I have chosen courses offered by the Sutherland Cranial College (SCC); the college that follows the teachings of William Garner Sutherland, who originally introduced and developed the concept of cranial osteopathy.
In 2003 I joined the faculty of the SCC; which means I teach newly qualified osteopaths and introduce them to the cranial approach. One of my main messages to them all is that cranial osteopathy will lead to a lifetime of development and deeper understanding.
Cranial osteopathy addresses the search for ‘whole body’ health. It enables patients to express their bodies’ internal dynamics in a more integrated and balanced way, encouraging them (and giving them the means) to develop a life of harmony within the environment in which they live. This gentle form of treatment is as suitable for the two day old baby traumatised by the effects of birth as it is for someone in their nineties, suffering the effects of an arthritic neck.
What happens during a treatment?
During the first consultation I will take a comprehensive case history. This enables me to assess the unique challenges of each patient and to formulate the appropriate treatment, which may be a combination of osteopathy and cranial osteopathy; may indicate the need purely for structural work - or the gentler, cranial approach. Osteopathy can involve manipulation of joints and tissues to bring health and relief or, where appropriate, the almost-imperceptible movements associated with cranial osteopathy to encourage health and balance. Whereas the effects of manipulation experienced during traditional osteopathy can be obvious, the tiny movements and changes experienced during cranial osteopathy can seem minimal; nevertheless, the results can be far-reaching.
Unique Benefits
Cranial osteopathy is for everyone, in all age groups. It is a relaxing and gentle treatment; one of the many branches of the osteopathic tree. Those branches combine to address structure, function and, in the case of cranial osteopathy, dynamics. I work with all the branches of the tree to move each of my patients towards the comfortable, integrated working of the body as a whole.
Cranial osteopathy is as relevant to a child with asthma as it is to a teenager suffering with whiplash after a car accident; to the child with glue ear as to the middle aged or older person with neck or lower back pain. Indeed, around 50% of my patients consult me to help them with pain in the lower, middle or upper back. Health already lives within the tissues of the body I am treating and the blueprint of life cannot be diseased, no matter what we do. My job as an osteopath, and particularly with my cranial osteopathy speciality, is to encourage the bodies of each of my patients to remember and express their inherent health; returning to a true expression of the original, healthy blueprint with which they were born.
Appointments
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 8.30am until 1pm
Fees
Consultations for adults (30 minutes): £35.00
Consultations for children (30 minutes): £33.00
Contact
The Cornmill Complementary Health Centre 01342 301085
Ship Street Surgery 01342 410606 (appointments on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons)
Mobile: 07831 146500
Email: cj.self@virgin.net
