There are three main approaches to craniosacral therapy:

sutural, meningeal, and reflex.

The Sutural Approach

At the beginning of twentieth century osteopathic physician Dr. William Garner Sutherland popularized the sutural approach. In this technique, the therapist manipulates the sutures of the skull (where the bones meet) in order to ease pressure and increase mobility of the cranial bones. By removing the stress between the cranial bones, the sutural approach normalizes the relationship of one bone to another. This allows for a remodeling of the entire craniosacral system, and an enhancement of its function and capacity for adaption.   When he was a medical student, Dr. Sutherland observed that the bones of the skull are designed to move in accordance with one another. At the time, his theory was considered ridiculous, as prevailing scientific opinion stated that the bones of the skull become fused together around the age of thirty-five. Despite both scientific and clinical evidence to support Dr. Sutherland's view, debate continues to this day within the scientific community, and many anatomical texts still teach that the bones of an adult human skull are fused and immobile.   Dr. Sutherland spent years experimenting with his hypothesis, and eventually developed a sophisticated system of diagnosis and treatment known as cranial osteopathy.

The Reflex Approach

The reflex approach relieves stress in the craniosacral system and in other structures and organs of the body. By stimulating nerve endings in the scalp or between cranial sutures, this approach triggers the nervous system to turn off stress signals. As a result, stress patterns and consequent cranial restrictions are released. Applied kinesiology, developed by George Goodheart, D.C., utilizes the reflex approach in conjunction with specific cranial adjustments to locate and treat distortions in the craniosacral system. A system of craniosacral therapy that combines the sacral, meningeal and reflex approaches is Sacro-Occipital Technique (S.O.T.), developed by Dr. Major B. DeJarnette, a chiropractor who studied with Dr. Sutherland in the 1920s. Also known as "craniopathy," S.O.T. removes restrictions between the cranial bones and in the craniosacral system. S.O.T. strives to reestablish structural stability and improve neurological function. Dr. DeJarnette produced positive clinical results with S.O.T. in the treatment of conditions related to the central nervous system. He also found that disorders such as diabetes, constipation, anxiety, impotence, asthma, cataracts, and inflammation, when associated with specific restrictions between sutures of the cranium, could be alleviated with a precise cranial technique.  Restrictions of motion of a particular cranial bone can pose serious consequences to the function of the body. Marc Pick, D.C., D.I.C.S., a widely acclaimed researcher and teacher of S.O.T., recalls a woman in her late seventies who had complete deafness in one ear for twenty-five years. Dr. Pick corrected the restricted motion of the temporal bone (which houses the inner and outer ear on the affected side) and the woman's hearing immediately returned.