Seeking practice clients for Rubenfeld Synergy training

[mattlistener.livejournal.com]

I'm coming up on two of four years complete in my Rubenfeld Synergy training, and am in need of more volunteers to work on. If you're interested or have questions after reading the below, please drop me a line!

Practice clients will receive relaxing and self-awareness-enhancing sessions that include gentle hands-on and dialogue about what you're experiencing in your body, but do not (at this point in my training) explore deep emotions or life issues. The client is always fully clothed and is welcomed to stop or modify the session at any time if they feel uncomfortable.

My own background includes a Diploma in Counselling from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland (which teaches Client-Centered Therapy, aka Rogerian), as well as a 2-year program at the Muscular Therapy Institute in nearby Cambridge. Today I'm a Licensed Massage Therapist with a private practice based in my home office. My intention is to practice a healing discipline that makes use my talents both for "talking cure" therapy and for bodywork -- and Rubenfeld Synergy is definitely the most well developed discipline in that space.

Sessions at this point in my training are free of charge. Sometime in 2010 I will be able to get certified as a "Level 1" practitioner of Rubenfeld Synergy enabling me to set my own professional rates -- they're still working out the timeline.

To be eligible to be a practice client, a person:
- Can't be a "good friend". (eg one of us has visited the other's home, or we're on "hugs hello" terms.)
- Can't have seen me before in either my Massage Therapy or Counselling practices.
- Has not been hospitalized for a mental health issue or recent major injury.

My home office is near Ball Square in Somerville, a 12 minute walk east up the bike path from Davis. Please send an email to [mattryan at pobox dot com] if you'd like to discuss more. Or feel free to comment here if you'd like to post your questions publicly.

-------------
Diligent davis_square readers may recall a similar post from dietrich back in June -- we're in the same training program together. :-)

Comments

A bit off-topic but... My question is always the same:

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

With the thousands of Therapy, Training, Improvement and whatnot methods, is there ANY serious scientific evidence that some of them work beyond mere placebo effect? By this I mean double blind clinical trials with decent N, published in a decent scientific journal.

Re: A bit off-topic but... My question is always the same:

[mattlistener.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with you that double blind clinical trials with decent N that can pass publication muster are the best source of data for judging what methods work.

In order to undertake the time, effort, and expense of such studies, a given method must already be in widespread practice, be well-systematized (so it can be clearly defined what is being studied), and be perceived to be effective to a sufficient degree that it is considered worth researching.

40+ years ago none of the newer healing disciplines had such backing. Those that have been around longest have matured enough that there has been some good research now. Massage Therapy has been clinically proven to reduce muscular tension and improve circulation. Client-Centered-Therapy, Rational-Emotive Therapy, and Cognitive Behavioral therapy were all developed mid-1900s and have been clinically proven to be more beneficial than just talking to someone who listens. Chiropractic Medicine and Acupuncture have had mixed research results, though in some narrow areas are well-proven -- for example Acupuncture is proven to reduce bed sores better than any other intervention.

Rubenfeld Synergy is earlier in its evolution than all of the above. There's practitioners in most states, and in some areas there's enough activity in the field that some research initiatives are starting up. I'd hope to see double-blind trials with decent N published in 10-20 years.

In the meantime, it'll thrive or die out on the strength of individual judgments about whether it works. :-)

Re: A bit off-topic but... My question is always the same:

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'm curious now; how did you pick Rubenfeld Synergy, then? Random reasons (perhaps they had a center near your house, don't know...)?

Re: A bit off-topic but... My question is always the same:

[mattlistener.livejournal.com]

After my counselling training I came to the conclusion that I wanted to add a discipline for healing through touch. The medium of dialogue and being in the same room together didn't feel enough -- and people I was giving random neckrubs to were having strikingly positive experiences.

I knew I could go directly to find a healing discipline that made use of the mediums of dialogue and touch, but I felt strongly that I wanted to get a separate foundation in each first. So I next went for the Muscular Therapy training, and practiced that discipline for a while.

Then when I was ready I did a survey of the established disciplines that are out there in this dialogue+touch space. The two that appealed to me most (in terms of a well-developed method and a well-organized training curriculum) were Rubenfeld Synergy and Rosen Method. I attended a weekend workshop in each and was much more impressed with Rubenfeld.

Re: A bit off-topic but... My question is always the same:

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Fascinating. The path that led to it. Thanks for explaining.