Peggy K. Zola

I was lucky to have been introduced to CranioSacral Therapy early in my career while volunteering in a private Physical Therapy practice prior to attending Physical Therapy school, I was fascinated by how well clients responded to the traditional Physical Therapy treatment when it was combined with CranioSacral Therapy.

Several years after graduating with my Masters in Physical Therapy from Temple University, it became clear to me that traditional physical therapy alone was not enough.   I was treating clients using traditional treatment methods such as strengthening and stretching but I was seeing neither the speed nor scale of recovery I saw when combining traditional Physical Therapy with CranioSacral Therapy.  

With this revelation and newfound trajectory, I began taking CranioSacral Therapy classes in 1998 through the renowned Upledger Institute, founded by Dr. John E. Upledger, pioneer and developer of CST itself.  My work in pediatric rehabilitation led me to focus on early intervention–newborns to 3-years-old. Supporting that population is where I also focused my CST training, taking classes in SomatoEmotional Release, Pediatrics, Conception, Pregnancy and Birthing. My training confirmed for me two things: first, physical and emotional trauma can be sustained at any age, including in the womb; and second, when you treat both the physical and emotional trauma, true healing occurs.  

Working in the homes of newborns, infants and toddlers offered me the unique opportunity to interact with the entire family.  Almost always, one or more members of the family became part of the treatment, bringing healing for the child to a higher level.  Most often it is the mom who becomes an integral part of the session, often releasing emotional energy from the same trauma or from an unresolved trauma of her past.

A mom once brought her newborn to me because nursing was not going well.  There was no physical reason for this difficulty. Through the interaction, it became apparent that nursing was difficult because mom and baby had not bonded.  While verbalizing that she didn’t know how to bond with her baby because she never felt a bond with her own mother, she instantaneously released a flood of emotions that were long trapped in her body.   What the mom experienced was a SomatoEmotional Release. In the days and weeks to come, she began to bond with her child and, as if by magic, nursing also began to improve. Mom also reported that as she worked on her bond with her baby, her relationship with her own mother shifted in a positive way.  

What a beautiful example of the adage:

“Heal the Parent …Heal the Child,” …and of how healing one person can assist healing–both forward and backward –through the generations.

Since opening my practice The Touch of Sunshine in 2008, I’ve sought to enlist and engage both the child and their families in the benefits of my work.  My goal is to help the parent heal in order for the child to heal. My goal is also to support and assist healing across the generations. Changing or lightening one soul or heart can affect many souls and hearts.