Two Convenient Locations in Maryland:

Holly Howard has offices in both Baltimore MD and Columbia MD ( Howard County ) with openings available by appointment. Click here to make an appointment.

Introduction

Over the past 35 years, I have practiced the manual modalities of Advanced Rolfing®, biodynamic craniosacral therapy, visceral manipulation and neurofascial work. These address most issues of misalignment, dysregulation and pain that my clients present. I also use movement and perceptual therapies to help clients change habitual patterns of moving and being.

Somatic Experiencing® :

"Meaning is rooted in agency(the ability to act and choose), and agency depends on embodiment."
- Sandra Blakeslee

Recently, I completed a 3 year training in Somatic Experiencing® which has reorganized my priorities and strategies in sessions. The focus of SE is the autonomic nervous system, which regulates our deep physiology, arousing us to meet demands and calming us to restore and renew our energy.

Chronic stress and pain often indicate an imbalance in this normally self-regulating system. The SE tools of tracking sensation, slowing pace, noticing resources, titrating discharge of excess energy and rebuilding stability help to release trauma and reestablish stability. I have found that Somatic Experiencing strategies can add a lot to manual work in balancing muscle tension, breath, heart rate, blood flow, cranial movement and electromagnetic coherency. My sessions are now guided by the framework and principles of both kinds of work.

One of the key components of health is the resilience and self regulation of the nervous system, especially the more ancient autonomic system, which governs our physiology. This system cycles through activation and discharge as it regulates homeostasis and stability. Much of what ails us is the accumulation of stress and trauma which can overwhelm the system. Somatic Experiencing brings awareness to what we feel, our”felt sense”, in order to support our reregulation and capacity for resolution of stress. By noticing the nervous system in action, we can find what feels good (resources), create a safe container (rebuild boundaries) and participate in the process of nervous system regulation.

Somatic Experiencing and Rolfing or other manual therapies are woven together in each session. In the initial consultation, I will discuss with you the options and recommendations regarding the work that will best address your concerns.

Rolfing® Structural Integration:

Dr. Ida Rolf developed Structural Integration out of her studies of the body’s connective tissue network which wraps all the bones, muscles and organs together. Rolfing, as it came to be known and then trademarked, systematically stretches and revives this network bringing the body into better alignment in gravity in doing so. It also revives movement by feeding new information into the movement brain underlying our conscious brain.

In a Rolfing session, you typically lie or sit on a table while the Rolfer stretches ligaments, tendons and fascial sheaths. Sometimes you participate by moving through the stretch. Click on the attached article to learn more about Rolfing. If you have questions regarding whether Rolfing can address your particular needs, please call me to discuss these. More... Download Complete Article

About Holly’s Training: (most recent first),

  • Tonic Function Movement, 2000-2009 (resourcesinmovement.com)
  • Somatic Experiencing, 2007-2009 (traumahealing.com)
  • Advanced Rolfing, 1999 (rolf.org)
  • Rolf Movement Education, 1998
  • Visceral Manipulation, Upledger Institute’ 1994 (upledger.com)
  • Ongoing studies in Continuum, 1994-2009 (continuummontage.com)
  • Developmental Movement, 1994 (schoolforbodymindcentering.com)
  • Certification as a Rolfer, 1986
  • B.S., Physiological Psychology, University of Maryland, 1984
  • Member of International Association of Structural Integrators since 2001