The focus of Osteopathy is to align and mobilize the body (bones, fascia, organs, all tissues). The philosophy of Osteopathy is that good alignment and mobility free circulation. The blood contains natural medication and healing properties, enabling the body to heal itself from within. A good practitioner uses more than a series of techniques. They use extensive knowledge of anatomy and intricate palpation skills to restore alignment. Osteopathy doesn’t force the body to do anything (i.e. force a bone to move), rather, the practitioner travels along the path of least resistance to restore mobility. When an area is properly treated, it shouldn’t need the same, repeated adjustments over and over. This is why it’s known for being a gentle and safe, yet effective, therapy.
There are four tenets of Osteopathy that guide the Osteopathic Manual Practitioner:
- The body is a unit (body, soul, and spirit, none of which should be forgotten)
- The body has self-regulating and self-healing abilities
- Structure and function are interrelated
- Rational treatment is based on an understanding of these principles: body unity, self-regulation, and the interrelationship of structure and function
History of Osteopathy
Andrew Taylor Still officially founded the practice of Osteopathy in Missouri, in 1874. (Fun fact: it’s two years older than the chiropractic profession). People came from all over the world to get trained by A.T. Still and it quickly grew to be a worldwide profession. While it has thrived in the USA and Europe, Canada lacked osteopathic educational institutions and it became a dead profession. Thus, people today often mistake it for being a new therapy
Check out this video on “What is Osteopathy?”
Accurate historical readings about Osteopathy can be found at the A.T. Still Univesity’s website.
Here is a Canadian YouTube channel dedicated to Osteopathy.
Meet Our Osteopathic Manual Practitioners
Alyssa has been a Registered Massage Therapist since 2008. Upon graduation, she started a seven-year program at the Canadian College of Osteopathy in Toronto, and graduated as an Osteopathic Manual Practitioner. Osteopathy has since become her primary therapeutic focus.
She’s taken postgraduate courses on treating concussions, post-traumatic brain injury and infant assessment and treatment. She also did a lot of personal studies on Auditory Processing Disorder in children.
She loves to learn and enjoys a challenge. She commonly sees patients with various types of head and body injuries, headaches, digestive, reproductive, urinary and respiratory issues. She is honest with her abilities and will refer out if she thinks a patient would benefit more from a different therapist or modality.
Jenny became a Registered Massage Therapist in 2018, graduating locally from the Canadian College of Massage and Hydrotherapy. Following this, she immediately began studying Osteopathy at the Canadian College of Osteopathy in Toronto, which has now become her primary therapeutic focus. She has completed all of the courses at the CCO and is in the final year of the program, which focuses on research. Her research is studying the impacts of General Osteopathic Manual Therapy on Primary Dysmenorrhoea.
One of her main interests is rooted in understanding how all of the systems of the body interact and she uses a variety of techniques to try and treat the cause of pain or dysfunction. These include Fascial Stretch Therapy (FST), proprioreceptive techniques, visceral manipulation, cranial techniques and many more.
With her experience as a CrossFit coach, she is able to incorporate functional movements into her treatments as well as home-care recommendations for patients. Jennifer enjoys working with patients to help them perform to the best of their ability. She is an excellent resource for athletes, those recovering from injury, or educating patients on injury prevention.
In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her pup, family or friends, playing hockey, or soccer!
Morgan is currently studying Osteopathy, which is now her treatment focus. She studied at the Canadian College of Osteopathy in Toronto, and is now finishing her last year at Sutherland Chan, which also offers excellent training. She works with Alyssa, who assists and supervises osteopathic sessions. Prior to this, she graduated from TriOS college for Massage Therapy.
She has been working with the body for 10 years in various ways, from personal training, Fascial Stretch Therapy, Massage Therapy and now Osteopathy; including visceral, cranial, proprioceptive techniques and more. Her goal is to keep the body in balance, believing your body is the guide and has everything it needs to function optimally, but sometimes just needs a little assistance!
Her goal is to help you feel your best. Utilizing all aspects of her previous experience, she loves to talk holistically about health and is happy to make recommendations for home care. She has a passion for women’s health and health conditions, and will be completing a research study on Osteopathy’s effect of babies posture during tummy time, to help them grow strong and develop optimally.
In her spare time she loves to travel, enjoy time with her pup, husband and son, pilates and yoga.