Fundamental osteopathy

It is difficult to talk about osteopathy without talking about its founder Dr Andrew Taylor Still (1828–1917). A.T. Still brought us the concept of osteopathy. Osteopathy teaches that the body has its own innate mechanisms to heal itself if the whole being maintains its normal anatomical and physiological relationships. He was born in Virginia, USA and was the son of a Methodist minister.

Stills life reads like a novel, and here I only have a few lines. But in short, at that time conventional medical treatment was very rudimentary. Antibiotics and modern medical treatments did not yet exist. After several personal family tragedies he wondered if other methods of treatment existed. Eventually he came up with the principles of osteopathy. He had several treatment modalities. But one of them was a gentle treatment of the head sacrum and vertebral axis.

These are his words. 'The cerebro-spinal fluid is one of the highest known elements that are contained in the body, and unless the brain furnishes this fluid in abundance, a disabled condition of the body will remain. He who is able to reason will see that this great river of life must be tapped and the withering field irrigated at once, or the harvest of health be forever lost.' (The Philosophy and mechanical Principles of Osteopathy.)

One of Dr. Still’s students, Dr Sutherland passed his professional life applying the work of Dr Still to the head. He is often cited as being the founder of 'Cranial Osteopathy', but he gave us the concept of the 'Primary Respiratory Mechanism'. The deep manifestation of the bodies inherent health mechanism.

He did not create a different kind of Osteopathy but deepened the work of Dr Still. William Sutherland graduated in 1900 from the American School of Osteopathy under Dr Still. While he was there, after seeing an exploded skull he had the idea that the articular surface of the temporal squama looked like it was made for movement.

After much research, even on himself he realized that there was indeed a movement. But he could not explain where it came from as there are no voluntary muscles capable of producing such a movement. He spent the rest of his career studying and teaching this phenomena, and exploring how it can be effectively used in treatment. This Involuntary movement he named the Involuntary Mechanism.

Dr Becker was friend and student of Dr Sutherland. After the death of Dr. Sutherland Dr. Becker was President of the Sutherland Cranial Teaching Foundation (USA) for 17 years. The whole axis of the treatment approach that Rollin Becker transmitted to Jacques Duval was around obtaining a deep, stable clinical change in a patient. As Rollin Becker said, make it clinical. Whatever you do or however you describe what you're doing, you need to be able to transform that into treatment, and it needs to help you get stable results in treatment. 

Rollin Becker had osteopathy in his blood. His father, Arthur Becker, was a student of Andrew Taylor still, and his brother, Alan Becker, was also an osteopath. When Rollin left osteopathy school, he was already getting results with his patients. But he felt that he could not be sure about how he was getting his results, or indeed when he would get his results. He wanted a diagnostic and treatment method where he could be absolutely sure that he could get a deep, stable change.  So he went back to the drawing board, especially revisiting the writings of Dr Still, and imagined that if indeed the primary expression of health of the interaction between anatomy and physiology in the human body is a unity, on a deep level, then what would the palpatory method look like to diagnose and treat? Rollin already had his treatment method before meeting Dr Sutherland. But upon meeting Rollin realized that Dr Sutherland had already been treating in this manner since several decades. Dr Sutherland became Rollins lifelong friend and Mentor.

The essence of the treatment approach of Rollin Becker is that we apply our treatment to the involuntary mechanism, which is the powerhouse behind the voluntary mechanism. As the involuntary mechanism harmonizes, the voluntary mechanism will follow. That does not mean, however, that we do not use anatomy or have technique. This approach requires a deep anatomic knowledge and with many specific techniques that flow out of it. After meeting Rollin Becker and spending some time with him in Dallas, Jacques asked Rollin what he should call his new method. Rollin, said he should call it fundamental osteopathy. It is not a different kind of osteopathy in any way. It's purely osteopathy.

But the idea of fundamental osteopathy, to get to the nuts and bolts, the real moment of therapeutic change in a patient, ask for a palpation method which is very deep and sustained. It also allows for demands for a treatment method which is very deep and sustained. It demands for listening skills that take into account the fundamental principles of osteopathy, that is the relationship between anatomy and physiology in its totality. The palpatory method of fundamental osteopathy asks for a total palpation of the patient on a very deep level. In this way, we are 100% sure that the patient has made a therapeutic change. You are present in the moment of this therapeutic change. So when a patient walks in between the time a patient walks in and the patient walks out, you know 100% that the patient has made a therapeutic change. That doesn't mean that you've fixed all their problems or that they will walk out without any symptoms, but you know they have made a change on the road to better health.

Jacques was a French osteopath renowned for his contributions to osteopathy, Becker. He was deeply influenced by the teachings of his teacher and friend Dr. Rollin Becker, and dedicated much of his career to refining and disseminating Dr Becker's approach particularly in the treatment of newborns and children, and his work on Rollins embryological approach. Jacques qualified from the BSO (British School of Osteopath) in London in 1962 winning the gold medal for technique. After practicing his original approach and teaching in the faculty of the BSO he became dissatisfied with his results and began studying cranial osteopathy in the early 70's.

The first time that Jacques met Rollin was in 1975 at an Osteopathy conference in the USA with another famous lecturer. Rollin was assisting. Jacques was asking the lecturer his questions and problems about the involuntary mechanism. The lecturer visibly could not answer and was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Eventually Jacques realized that he would not get the answers that he craved and let go. Then during a practical session where Jacques was at the head of his patient with his eyes shut, his model started to present with the strangest patterns eventually turning into uncontrollable lateral fluctuations. Jacques opened his eyes, only to see Rollin grinning broadly at the feet of his model, as he was inducing patterns and fluctuations via the big toes. Rollin whispered into Jacques ear, 'I know what you mean Jacques, You can come and see me when you want and I'll explain it to you'. Jacques spent the next five summers studying with Rollin, but continued meeting him and exchanging with him until his death.