At the beginning of Matt Callison's class a couple of years ago I thought: What's a simple bodyworker like me doing in a class about acupuncture? At the end of the class I thought: This makes so much sense; how can I keep on doing it without being able to use needles? The answer, I discovered, was teamwork.

I was at the class because of my friend -- and now associate -- Rosemary Cody. She is an acupuncturist, and had sponsored Matt Callison to make his first Alaskan visit. Matt is an acupuncturist in San Diego, where he works closely with the University of California's athletic department (he travels with their football team) in developing therapeutic techniques for severe and recalcitrant problems -- you know, those tough problems everyone in the healing profession gets, such as the client who walks in bent over to one side with lumbar back pain, or the person with the torn rotator cuff who can't lift a pencil, or the client with three rear-ending car accidents in the last four months whose neck now looks like a winding country lane on the x-rays. Matt has created an approach called "The Energetics of Structural Balance," which combines applied kinesiology and structural testing (to pinpoint the area in need) with specific acupuncture needle patterns that he confesses he's mostly discovered by trial and error. He also incorporates some bodywork techniques, such as gentle structural corrections and Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) stretches.

The results are close to miraculous. I've been a professional bodyworker for over 25 years. During that time, I've studied and been exposed to several different types of therapeutic approaches, both to increase my own knowledge and practice and to heal my own body. I combine structural release (Osteokinethesis) and suggestions about changing body movement (Labon Movement Analysis) with whole-body affecting work on the intercranial membranes (Cranial/Sacral Therapy). I have a pretty good success rate with my clients, even with those hard cases. Matt Callison's work, however, makes a quantum leap beyond anything I've previously encountered. During that first seminar, I became determined to somehow integrate this knowledge into my practice, even though I'm not an acupuncturist. Matt was opening up that first class to massage therapists, giving us acupressure points instead of needling points, because there are so few acupuncturists in the state. Subsequently, however, I came to the conclusion that to be totally effective, his system needed to be practiced with needles, to "break loose" the stuck chi and prepare the client's body for a better structural balance.

Acupuncture, of course, is all about chi -- that intangible, powerful, essential force mapped thousands of years ago by Chinese practitioners. Within traditional Chinese medicine, working with structural correction is called "bonesetting." In the West, structural correction is achieved through several methods, such as chiropractic, Rolfing, Feldenkrais, etc. To combine the release of chi with the relaxation of the skeletal structure is a powerful prescription. The West has embraced acupuncture warily, making sure that safe practices are followed by instituting strict regulations. Every acupuncturist is licensed.

I had occasionally recommended acupuncture for clients needing relief from severe pain. Now I was learning a system that went beyond pain relief into healing changes! Shortly after the class, Rosemary and I got together to review and practice the work. At that time, I had a client who was afraid he'd have to quit his postal delivery job because of his crippling sciatic pain. He had been to several experts, but was still barely able to climb stairs. He was in constant burning pain and very worried. I had made a slight difference; he was more comfortable for a day or so after my sessions, where I would stretch and release his super-tight lumbosacral ligaments, gently pull and twist his lower body to attempt some structural movement and give him exercises, but my work wasn't lasting long enough to get him back to work. I sent him to Rosemary, but his pain was only slightly relieved. This man was willing to try anything! As such, he was an ideal subject for Matt's work. Neither Rosemary nor I felt secure about the complicated testing and I suspected that acupuncture was needed instead of just acupressure, so we decided with the client's permission to team up or, as he put it jokingly, "gang up" on him.

Our client didn't have any identifiable incident of injury, though we all suspected that the lifting of heavy packages was a factor. Severe and chronic sciatica and low-back pain often isn't traceable to an isolated event. The stress and wear-and-tear on the disks, infraspinus ligaments between the vertebrae and trauma to surrounding soft muscle tissue is a slow, accumulative process. Repetitive motion, such as lifting, turning, bending, doesn't help. Bad postural habits reinforce damage. When the body is in pain it often 'guards' and restricts movement; this can lead to an unconscious change in posture. Our client showed signs of guarding with a stiff, slightly bent-over stance and a careful, locked-kneed walk. In advanced cases, few postural changes can happen until a significant amount of pain is eliminated.

Rosemary and I mapped out a joint approach for our recalcitrant client. I would do the manual muscle testing, the applied kinesiology that would give us a map of his problem. Matt uses standard kinesiology tests. This involves gentle client resistance against the practitioner's pressure to reveal where potential muscle weakness lies. Matt's theory is that these tests show where the chi blockages can be found. Rosemary would place the needles according to Matt's patterns. I would support any soft tissue work for support (there are some muscle stimulations that are done manually). After our client had an appropriate time with the needles, they were removed and I would do a little more bodywork attempting to relax the skeletal structure and release pressures on the sciatic nerve. I also worked with him on his posture and exercise where necessary. At this point, our client was willing to try anything.

We were all amazed at the results. I found that releases I had attempted and failed at accomplishing were much easier after the needles. Our client experienced greater pain relief than with needles alone. The joint sessions had a much more profound effect; pain relief and ease of motion increased and lasted substantially longer. Our client wasn't only back on his feet and at full capacity in his job; he was back to health! Although it wasn't an overnight cure, we saw rapid progress working together where we had seen little progress working alone. Since our first joint client, we've worked on several clients with stubborn problems. Teamwork has taken the best of our individual practices to provide a potent package of healing.

I wondered why combining our different approaches worked so much better. Matt Callison wrote about this in the introduction to his class notes: "By structurally setting the body with manual methods, we are treating the body from the outside in; by using the energetics of Chinese medicine, the body is being treated from the inside out." Matt is talking about a "synthesis of modalities" that together make more than a sum of their parts. The different modalities reinforce each other, support each other, and provide opportunities for a more complete healing. This doesn't mean that our individual work is lacking. It only means we are complimentary to each other. Rosemary and I have gone on to treat several clients with chronic neck injuries, from repetitive car accidents to a broken neck. We've helped shoulder injuries (I also have a rotator cuff injury that put me in a sling and through months of recovery -- combining Matt's shoulder and neck points with good physical therapy has my healing ahead of schedule). After our first low-back and sciatica client, we've seen results on several others. Clients are willing to commit to a more intensive and expensive treatment because of the spectacular results. The proof is in their recovery. They don't mind it when we "gang up" on them! Jocelyn Paine (276-8195) has been in solo practice in Anchorage for over 20 years. She is very much enjoying the day during the week she shares clients with acupuncturist Rosemary Cody (563-0071).