SET is a body restructuring therapy that incorporates medical massage techniques and is based on the individual needs of the client. The SET therapist works from the client’s problem areas and releases the specific areas of pain. Often a structural imbalance is responsible for the soft tissue problems that cause the discomfort. The SET therapist restructures the body by releasing the toxins and fluids in the muscles, inflammation, myofascial holding patterns, adhesions, and scar tissue.
Once the pain (usually the initial complaint) is reduced, the therapist works to release the other structural limitations that were responsible for allowing the body to maintain the structural imbalances that produced the pain.
For example, in a whiplash injury the neck muscles are treated and brought back into a more balanced position resulting in reduced pain. To maintain this balance and achieve the maximum reduction in pain, the structural limitation and imbalances of the pelvis and thoracic are addressed. This results in a total structural balance that supports the neck enabling the neck to maintain a new pain-free structure.
SET has developed over 25 years and is constantly in a state of evolution. It integrates Quick Release Technique, cranial structural techniques, myofascial unwinding, neuromuscular applications, myofascial restructuring, emotional energy release, acupressure, kinesiology and muscle testing, passive and active resistance, postural analysis, scar tissue and adhesion release, deep tissue therapy, and rehabilitative massage.
A SET session begins with an evaluation that includes a written client intake form, a consultation to further assess the client’s condition, and postural analysis. Treatments usually begin with cranial structural therapy to initiate a release of the body’s holding patterns, and thereby begin the rebalancing. At this point, the client’s body begins to unwind. This often releases enough tension to noticeably reduce spasms and pain symptoms preparing the soft tissue for more extensive work.
Following the cranial structural releases, the SET therapist can work from the superficial myofascial layers to the deeper layers in the first session. The therapist uses a combination of myofascial unwinding techniques, myofascial restructuring, deep tissue therapy, scar tissue and adhesion specific fiber techniques, active and passive resistance, rehabilitative massage, and allows for emotional energy releases.