FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

QU: Must I complete the whole Hellerwork Series or can I simply do a couple of sessions?

ANSW:  Joseph Heller once said "Having some work is better than none at all".

However, to reap the full benefit of this therapy, you need to complete the whole 11 session series. This not a random number. Each session blends into the other so that every conceivable area of the body's musculature is addressed; from the superficial  through to the core fascia.

QU: Why Hellerwork? Why don't I just have a deep-tissue massage?

ANSW:  Deep-tissue massage may address the symptom but may not necessarily get to the cause of a problem because it is not dealing with the structural balance and alignment of the body.

QU: What's to stop my body reverting back to old patterns once I complete the Hellerwork Series?

ANSW:  This is where hellerwork varies from a multitude of therapies.

The three components of the Series i.e., bodywork, movement and dialogue, all work in unison to effect long-term change in the client.

The Hellerwork Series is tailored towards the needs of the individual as each Hellerwork Practitioner draws on their own varied, multi-disciplined skills to further enhance the set programme of the Series.

On completion of the Series, clients often return at a later stage for 'tune-up' sessions. The difference here is that they want rather than need to come back.

The Hellerworker's job is to educate and empower the individual so that they are not reliant on any practitioner or therapy to keep 'fixing' them. Clients will more likely be referred on to activities conducive to furthering their self development.

QU: Is Hellerwork like the Alexander Technique?

ANSW:  Yes and No. Similar to Hellerwork, the Alexander Technique teaches people to be aware of balance, posture and movement in everyday activities and improving these functions; how going about everyday activities we all support and balance our bodies against the ever present pull of gravity; and how with time, the emotional and physical strains accumulated through life become habitual and fixed into the body in the form of our individual muscle tensions and patterns of distortions.

Hellerwork varies on two scores. Firstly, the deep-tissue bodywork component of the Hellerwork Series is not a part of the Alexander Technique. Hellerwork Practitioners may also use photography and audio-visual equipment to monitor the client's development, as well as producing direct feedback on their progress throughout the Series.

Secondly,while both techniques explore the underlying cause of the client's psychological and emotional patterns which manifest as chronic tension in the musculature, the Verbal Dialogue component of the Hellerwork Series relates to themes exploring developmental phases of the client's growth from childhood to maturity. Specific dialogue techniques are used to enhance the client's awareness of out-dated patterns.

QU: Does it hurt?

ANSW:  Dr. Ida Rolf, the originator of Structural Integration, is known to have said that " Pain is resistance to change ".

Unlike massage, someone undergoing the Hellerwork Series is actively participating in their own re-integration. This may involve them looking at areas of their life that pertaining to tension in their body that they might ordinarily ignore if not sub-consciously avoid.

No one in their right mind would consciously choose to re-live a trauma from their past. However, it is not uncommon for clients to experience some form of discomfort prior to breaking through to a new level of self-awareness: just a seed experiences extreme pressure in darkness prior to breaking through the soil to reach the sun light, furthering its growth. This may sometimes be referred to as the 'healing crisis'.

QU: Can I claim Hellerwork or Cranio-Sacral Therapy on Health Insurance?

ANSW:  In all the time I have been in practice, only two people have actually applied and had the full cost of the Hellerwork Series refunded to them by their Health Insurance. All the while they were monitored by an Orthopaedic Surgeon who found the impact and long-term results of the Hellerwork Series on their patient's body to be astounding and therefore worth refunding their fee for the Series. However, the patient had to have the foresight to undergo the Series of their own volition and therefore put all their mind and body into changing themselves; something that might not have happened had 'someone else' picked up the tab.