STRUCTURAL INTEGRATION & AWARENESS

My name is Gabriel Rosenthal.  For 14 years I have been an advanced practitioner of Structural Integration (Rolfingã) and have studied eastern bodywork for almost 25 years. From two main therapies, Ayurveda (Indian Medicine) and Traditional Chinese Medicine, tens of therapies have come to be in favour today. I would like to share some of my thoughts here with you.

Many people today look for some sort of holistic treatment when their problems have not been solved by conventional medicine, when pills, injections or surgery did not bring the desired relief. Many clients realize the importance of holistic treatment where the person is treated as a whole and not as a body part to be serviced.

At first when you ask yourself “What is the most suitable treatment for my problem?” you must understand that there is no ‘one fits all’ treatment. Finding the right treatment is not a question of luck, every person is unique and therefore what helps one will not necessarily help another. It is your choice that will determine what is good for you. If you are a member of a sick fund, speak to your doctor- most Kupot Holim have a holistic department and physical therapy - he might understand or at least know the doctor/head of department and will refer you.

There is no law at this time in Israel that protects patients and reassures them about the skills and competence of holistic practitioners. This brings about huge differences between therapies. Some demand 2-4 years of study, whereas others take 2 or 3 Friday/Saturday study groups. The lack of legislation also allows a person to call himself a ‘therapist’ or ‘medical advisor’ without studying at all. Therefore the patient is ‘on his own’ to research what is on the market.

As to the question of how to find a holistic practitioner, you might decide on a therapy that speaks to you, outside the services you are entitled to in Kupat Holim,-a practitioner in private practice. This article will assist you in selecting a practitioner who will guide you through a series of sessions so that you are free of pain, through quality treatment that gave you the feeling of complete acceptance, based on cooperation and mutual trust so that you could express yourself, your needs and feelings.

1. Considerations (whichever practitioner you choose)
Ideally you would find a good practitioner near to where you live or work. But you may have to travel to the place your practitioner works, since only a few practitioners can treat your condition adequately. This also may be influenced by:
a) the practitioner’s fee being covered by your insurance, not Kupat Holim
b) the practitioner providing you with the best possible care
c) the combination of a & b which will lead you to your decision of who and where
d) the waiting period for your appointment
e) the working hours of your practitioner
f) paperwork – letter from your GP, referral, x-rays, CT, MRI, bone scan etc. (or an interpretation of these)

2. Regular Trained Practitioners

The regular practitioner is able to treat regular conditions, provided that after he receives his diploma from a reliable school with good teachers, he makes a living from his skills, gains experience, and follows up on his study with continuing courses. As he routinely handles low back pain, flu and other everyday problems, he gains experience of neck pain, knee pain, headaches, etc. In this he is often better than the more educated specialist.

3. The Specialist

Structural Integration is a process, created by Dr. Ida Rolf (PhD), of re-educating the body through movement and touch. It teaches you how to live in your body, reducing stress and discomfort and improving the function of the body. Its primary goal is to help the body work within gravity. S.I. and S.A. ease and slowly erase pain through realignment, flexibility and balance, and establish the body/mind connection.
Its goals are to:
- eliminate acute and chronic pain
- reorganize the body structure to give it length, symmetry and balance
- free the body from the constraints of years of poor posture, stress or injury
- establish a body structure that can cope more effectively with stress
- raise the level of physical and emotional awareness.
Gabriel Rosenthal is an advanced practitioner of S.I. and is certified in
S.A. He has been a body worker for 24 years, certified also in shiatsu, acupressure, hand and foot reflexology, applied kinesiology and many other treatments. He has continued to study over the years, is a member of the Guild for Structural Integration (Boulder, Colorado USA) and also specializes in the treatment of scoliosis and other spinal curvatures. He wrote and conducted an intensive workshop on scoliosis for the school of the Guild.
In S.I. Gabriel uses his hands to release adhesions, strains and sprains in the connective tissue, which is the fibrous web that binds muscles, bones and organs together. The relative flexibility of connective tissue determines how well the muscles move. S.I. is done in a series of 10 sessions, each about 1½ to 1¾ hours long. Most people come once a week, though Gabriel says that scheduling is flexible.
Some people may experience pain in a S.I. session. An experienced practitioner like Gabriel always respects the client’s threshold of pain. Generally, however, when chronic aches and pains are released, people feel much better. S.I. is done while the client lies on the table, sits, stands or walks, but always with movement. The client actively participates in the work through movement, breathing, imagery, exercise, etc., which are taught in the sessions. This is where Structural Awareness (S.A.) comes in.