July 2009 – MyWellness Network

Massage and Physical Therapies

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Massage is one of the oldest, simplest forms of therapy and is a system of stroking, pressing and kneading different areas of the body to relieve pain, relax, stimulate, and tone the body. Massage does much more than create a pleasant sensation on the skin, it also works on the soft tissues (the muscles, tendons, and ligaments) to improve muscle tone. Although it largely affects those muscles just under the skin, its benefits may also reach the deeper layers of muscle and possibly even the organs themselves. Massage also stimulates blood circulation and assists the lymphatic system (which runs parallel to the circulatory system), improving the elimination of waste throughout the body.

The Healing Point – Prenatal Massage, Pregnancy Massage, Sports Massage, Myofascial Release, Shiatsu, Deep Tissue Massage – Montgomery County, PA, Southeastern Pennsylvania

Maury Malyn, MS, PT – Myofascial Release, Physical Therapy – Main Line of Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia and Chester, Delaware and Montgomery County, PA

The Henderson Center – Dr. Jon Garzillo – Chiropractors, Shiatsu Therapists, Massage Therapists – King of Prussia, PA, Montgmery County PA, Southeastern Pennsylvania

Ame Salon and Spa
– Hair Salon, Waxing, Facials, Nails, Day Spa, Holistic Wellness, Massage, Reiki, Nutrition – Wayne, Delaware County PA, Main Line PA, Southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware

Acupressure/Shiatsu
Acupressure is a term encompassing any number of massage techniques that use manual pressure to stimulate energy points on the body.

Deep Tissue Work
This term describes a large variety of hands-on methods which focus on the deeper tissues of the body. Examples of deep tissue work include Rolfing, connective tissue massage, and deep friction massage. This work is often done around a joint and on the
ligaments and tendons which lie below the muscle level.

Jin Shin
Jin Shin Jyutsu was developed in Japan by Jiro Murai, who rediscovered the ancient qi flow in his own body and mapped a powerful system of healing points. Combinations of points are held with the fingertips for a minute or so, usually with the client lying on his or her back. Various schools of Jin Shin style have evolved, including Jin Shin Do and Jin Shin acupressure.

Hanna Somatics
Addresses the traumas,tensions, memories stored in the musculoskeletal system. Practitioners utilize a number of therapeutic techniques to facilitate release work and awareness for further integration/development of the self. Dr. Thomas Hanna’s Somatic exercises, based on the work of Moshe Feldenkrais®, are body reeducation movements that make changes in the sensory-motor areas of the brain in order to maintain internal control of the muscle system. Also referred to as Biokinetics.

Myofascial Release
A hands-on technique used to work the connective tissue or fascia around a muscle. This can be helpful if a person is experiencing muscular or joint pain.

Oriental Body Therapies
Refers to techniques and training in various Chinese Massage therapies.

Reflexology
Reflexology involves stroking or applying pressure to one part of the body in order to effect changes in another part of the body. This method emphasizes free-flowing vital force, or Chi. It is usually applied to the feet.

Shiatsu
Shiatsu, like acupuncture, deals with the flow of vital energy along meridians in the body. Shiatsu uses the application of gently applied deep finger pressure, as well as other manipulative techniques, to affect the balance of energy in the body. This “touching” stimulates the immunological and natural curative abilities of the body to move toward balance. It also releases endorphins into the blood stream and beneficially affects the nervous system.

Swedish Massage
Massage techniques based on a circular pattern of stroking and kneading, often a more gentle form of massage, depending upon the practitioner’s style.

Thai Massage
Originating in Thailand thousands of years ago, this is an expanded form of floor massage, involving long, relaxing, slow stretching movements. It is a comprehensive, full-body massage, which also utilizes the meridian system common to Eastern cultures. Shiatsu is a modern, shortened version of Thai Massage.

Trigger Point Therapy
Trigger points are points on muscles, ligaments and tendons that, when
touched, are extremely painful and, because of that pain, often cause
referred pain to another part of the body. The Nimmo Receptor-Tonus
Chiropractic Technique uses digital pressure to remove “nerve interference” at trigger points. This develops a response (reflex) from the body which causes the blood vessels to open up and enlarge. Built-up toxins then have a chance to escape into the blood stream.

Acupuncture Shiatsu and Chinese Medicine

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Chinese Medicine is a philosophy of nature that involves herbal preparations, food therapy, exercise, and massage, and acupuncture. It involves a completely separate form of anatomy, physiology and diagnosis which relates to imbalances of energy or Qi in the body (Qi is pronounced “Chee”). Energy circulates through pathways known as meridians or channels. Acupressure and Acupuncture seeks to rebalance these disturbances through stimulation of specific points along these channels.

Mary Ann Settembrino – Licensed Acupuncturist – Narberth Family Medicine and Acupuncture – Main Line of Philadelphia and Southeastern Pennsylvania

Dr. Marina Yanover, ND, LAc – Naturopathic Medicine Family Practice & Acupuncture – New York City, Brooklyn, Connecticut

The Henderson Center – Chiropractors, Shiatsu Therapy, Massage Therapists – King of Prussia, PA, Montgomery County PA, Southeastern Pennsylvania

Chinese Medicine modalities include:

Acupressure
Acupressure is a term encompassing any number of massage techniques that use manual pressure to stimulate energy points on the body.

Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a system of treatment which has been in existence for thousands of years. It is totally different from Western Medicine, having its own complete system of anatomy, physiology and diagnosis, which relates illness to imbalances of energy in the body. This imbalance causes a disruption in the flow of vital energy, Qi, that circulates through pathways in the body known as meridians and channels. Acupuncture seeks to re-balance the fundamental disturbance in the body’s energy through the stimulation of specific points which lie along these channels. There are, in fact, two types of acupuncture which are used. The most common is the Traditional Chinese method, and the other is known as “trigger point needling”. The latter is of most value in treating painful conditions, but it also has a variety of other uses.

Chinese Herbs
Herbal medicine is a primary part of Chinese Medicine. Formulas may contain six to nineteen different substances from the vegetable, animal and mineral kingdoms, and are assembled with great care. They are prescribed to treat the root cause of the disease and its manifestation, and the formula must also be balanced within itself.

Electro-Acupuncture
Electro-acupuncture has become widely used as an effective way to treat pain. By adding micro-current to the acupuncture points, the muscles and painful area relax and the Qi flows more smoothly. Just as with traditional acupuncture, needles are inserted in patient- specific points on the body to which a device is connected. The device genereates an electric pulse through small clips attached to the needles. Most patients feel a tingling sensation, some patients do not feel anything at all.

N.A.E.T.
An allergy elimination technique, developed by Dr. Devi Nambudripad, with over fifteen years of research. N.A.E.T. (Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Technique) is a combination of kinesiology, acupressure and acupuncture that clears and rebalances the energetic and nervous systems. By eliminating energy blockages that cause allergic reactions, N.A.E.T. restores the body to a balanced and healthy state.

Five Element Shiatsu
Five Element Shiatsu is based on the naturalistic Chinese Medicine’s Law of the Five Elements. The Five Elements are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water and they have corresponding physical and emotional aspects in people. These physical and emotional energies move in specific pathways or meridians on the surface of the entire body. The goal of the Five Element Shiatsu practitioner is the maintenance of a smooth flow of these energies through the body to help prevent or alleviate dis-ease which they believe is the result of poor energy flow caused by the effects of an unbalanced lifestyle: excessive work, little exercise, poor diet, and stress.

Behavioral Medicine

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BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE

This is a rapidly growing therapeutic system which is founded upon the ever increasing amount of scientific evidence — technically called Psychoneuroimmunology — that the ways in which people behave, think and feel, have both subtle and profound effects on the body. Thus things like negative thoughts and feelings may themselves be a source of illness. The best known of these, and the most highly researched, is emotional stress as a cause or at least a contributing factor to disease. So, therapists working with this model employ an array of stress reduction techniques to help people with painful and/or serious illnesses, as well as working on negative thoughts and feelings to prevent the development or progression of illnesses, and to restore wellness.

Karen Clark-Schock, PsyD, ATR-BC – Behavioral Medicine, Hypnotherapy, Psychotherapy, Art Therapy – Paoli, Chester County, PA

John Salerno, PhD, MSW – Behavioral Medicine, Biofeedback, Psychotherapy – Central NJ (Hunterdon, Monmouth, Ocean County)

The Hypnosis Center, LLC – Hypnotherapy, Hypnosis, Smoking Cessation, Weight Loss, Treating Depression, Phobias and Pain Control – Metro New York City (NYC) area

Penny Goldberg, L.C.S.W., B.C.D. – Licensed Pyschotherapist, Couples Therapy, Marriage Counseling, Imago Relationship Therapist, Behavioral Counseling – Main Line of Philadelphia PA

Express Yourself Health and Wellness Coaching, LLC – Sonia Decker, M.A. – Holistic Health and Wellness Coaching, Stress Relief and Stress Management, Success Coaching, Individual Coaching, Group Coaching – Central and Northern New Jersey – Union County NJ, Morris County NJ, Somerset County NJ, Middlesex County NJ, Essex County NJ, Hudson County NJ

Dr. Elizabeth Webb, Ph.D. – Homeopathic Medicine, Holistic Healing, Intuitive Counseling, Herbal Nutrition and Medicine, Color and Mineral Therapy, Past Life Regression and Hypnotherapy, Foot Reflexology, Reiki – West Chester, Chester County PA, Southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware

Behavioral Medicine includes:

Biofeedback Training
A technique in which one learns to consciously monitor and gain control over automatic, reflex-regulated body functions by using information obtained from various types of instruments and electronic devices. Biofeedback is a holistic, non-invasive, client-centered method of training the body to self-regulate physiological functions. The biofeedback therapist can coach the client in learning new skills, to reduce stress, eliminate headaches, control asthmatic attacks, recondition muscles, and relieve pain.

Hypnosis, Hypnotherapy
Therapist-facilitated techniques utilizing skills of relaxation,meditation or imagery to help a client with changing behaviors, such as habits. These techniques have a measurable effect on the reduction of the stress response in the body. Most Hypnotherapists are Licensed as Psychologists, Nurses, or Psychiatrists.

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
Developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, this training involves techniques for stress reduction, and pain management. Often taught in classes, but may be experienced individually with the assistance of a teacher.

Stress Reduction Training
Refers to a group or individual program that may include a combination of education, awareness exercises, relaxation training, and integration of massage, expressive therapy, verbal therapies, visualization techniques, depends on style and training of the practitioner. Usually taught by an educator, nurse or psychologist.