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Dynamic Somato-Structural Integration DSSI by Joe Rozencwajg, Review

Dynamic Somato-Structural Integration DSSI / Joe Rozencwajg

Joe Rozencwajg

Dynamic Somato-Structural Integration DSSI   

The Ikebana of Manual Medicine - A Neurophysiological and Biological approach to Manual Medicine

   
Brian R. Murray
by Brian R. Murray

Dynamic Somato-Structural Integration

In a word: Integrated!  Dr. Joe Rozencwajg has become an authority on combining various alternative health disciplines and his latest book “Dynamic Somato-Structural Integration” (DSSI) has set fresh and exciting new standards for Manual Medicine. This publication is the confluence of neurophysiological, somato-structural and dynamic medicinal disciplines – each one reinforcing and enhancing therapeutic efficacy. 

Subtitled “The Ikebana of Manual Medicine, " Dr. Joe demonstrates the incredible healing results that flow from simply combining techniques that address the individual needs of each patient’s specific aetiology.   He shows how understanding the underlying causes directs us to an optimal therapeutic approach for each and every person.  The minimalist approach of Ikebana that creates beauty through simplicity is applied to the healing arts, with startling results.

Dr. Joe stresses that understanding the dynamics and scope of each discipline allows us to know what the true causes of ill health are for each patient.  A professional level of training and expertise is a prerequisite for anyone seeking to apply these principles, as this is no superficial “do-it-yourself” manual.  Thorough understanding and experience in several disciplines becomes the basis of DSSI – an approach that supports patients over many dimensions.

Specialists using a limited range of therapies can miss underlying causes that may be preventing well-applied techniques from working.  The traditional dichotomy between manual therapies (Osteopathy, Chiropractic, Ortho-bionomy®, Physiotherapy etc.) and ingested treatments (Homeopathy, Herbalism, Nutrition etc.) manifests as a failure to address deep-seated emotional and psychological causes of disease. 

Dr. Joe demonstrates that Eastern medicine incorporates mental and spiritual dimensions together with somatic and medicinal approaches to provide a truly wholistic approach.  Western training for manual therapies rarely includes instruction on psychological problems that can lurk as deep-seated causes of structural or pathological disease.  Ayurveda and TCM both address mental balancing, while Homeopathy requires that mental, emotional and peculiar symptoms rank equally in importance with physical and metabolic dysfunction.   

Thus, for me: this amazing little book was elevated from merely a useful academic manual to a reference of incredible significance through the many case histories that demonstrated how the psychosomatic dimension of DSSI can achieve miracles. 

An obese lady with a history of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, backache and other related pathologies had been receiving treatment for five years with little improvement.  Her Chinese pulses indicated depleted energies in the liver, while liver manipulation indicated a lack of intrinsic motion of the organ.  One day she began to cry during a liver manipu-lation; silently at first, then profusely and finally “sobbing her heart out.”  She opened up and angrily recalled familial violence and childhood abuse that had plagued her existence for thirty-five years.  After this release triggered by the DSSI, there has been a rapid history of recovery - a more accurate remedy could be prescribed - and within months the blood pressure and glycaemia had stabilised.          


Case histories abound throughout the book and serve to illustrate the range of therapeutic results that are possible through DSSI.  Dr. Joe Rozencwajg has the rare ability to unite the essence of different fields of manual medicine into a logical and effective approach. He draws on the best disciplines, e.g. Ortho-Bionomy® and visceral manipulation and then integrates techniques such as yoga, craniosacral therapy and homeopathy.  The effectiveness of this combined approach is stunning.

Each chapter progressively reviews the basic approaches of DSSI.  The applied anatomy and physiology sections elucidate fascial/muscular releases that are in current use to bilaterally release tensions within the patient.  Visceral manipulation (aka Liquid Osteopathy) is examined, quoting from the work of Barral and Korr to demonstrate the influence of these techniques on brain wave patterns, immune reactions, allergic and endocrine activity and cellular metabolism.  It was Barral who affirmed that vertebral misalignments are often the result of deeper organic pathology and that musculo-skeletal manipulation will fail unless the abnormal pathology is corrected. 

The significance of fasciae and connective tissue in the healing process is discussed, with a dramatic illustration that we would still have a recognisable person left if all but the fascia was removed.  Even the skeleton is but a mineralised extension of the fascial network, becoming a psychophysiological factor in the treatment of trauma.  That the fascia is innervated by the parasympathetic system becomes the basis of several intriguing case histories, demonstrating once again the effectiveness of DSSI in clinical practice.  

In his section on breathing as a medical tool, Dr. Joe is grateful that licensing, certif.-ication or registration is not yet required for this vital aspect of the healing process.  In various branches of TCM, the diaphragm is seen as the ‘central station’ through which all meridians traverse, either directly or indirectly.  It is important in relaxing, removing tensions and ‘letting go’ of hypertonicity throughout the muscles and organs of the body.  The good doctor reminds us that a happy episode of belly-laughter remains the best medicine, complete with a generous release of endorphins for good measure! 

In conclusion, Dr. Joe admits he dislikes protocols, especially those followed without thought and reflection.  In truth, the routine physical and constitutional examinations are an essential part of gaining the patient’s confidence, without which essential symptoms remain unmentioned.  As our fat lady demonstrated, actual causes of disease can remain hidden for years until the patient feels safe enough to share their innermost secrets.  No amount of manipulation or medication will replace the trust a Practitioner can engender through a familiar routine of balancing and treatments. 

Such an approach will include a routine bilateral release of psoas, ilium, sternum and ribs, clavicles, scalenes etc. – with adjustments to sacrum, atlas (C1) and each of the cervicals in turn.  These corrections are most easily done using Ortho-Bionomy®; or a Practitioner trained in Cranio-sacral techniques can also restore the Primary Rhythm to great effect.  Specific trouble-points for the patient may then suggest attention to the spleen and thymus for immune dysfunction; kidney function restoration in “idiopathic” hypertension; restoration of movement to the entire chest and diaphragm in respiratory disorders and visceral manipulation of the full digestive tract where dyspepsia is a concomitant. 

Dr. Joe prefers to begin and end each treatment with an assessment of the Chinese Pulses as a measure of responses achieved during the session.  Any abnormalities or stasis noted can then be entered in the patient’s notes for further attention.  Some normalisation must be achieved before any session can be concluded.  A substantial Bibliography is given giving references to the many books and research papers used in the compilation of this publication.  A colourful profile of the author rounds off this amazing little book.  DSSI will become the structure of Manual Medicine well into the twenty-first century…

 
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Reviews about this book
Joe Rozencwajg
Dynamic Somato-Structural Integration
by Brian R. Murray