Karen's Blog

Karen Partisch, Licensed Craniosacral Therapist

podcast karen partisch rohlf

Karen Rohlf's interview with me on her podcast was published on December 27, 2020.  You can hear it here.

podcast karen partisch rohlf

Karen Rohlf's interview with me on February 4, 2020.  You can hear it here.

My webinar with Wendy, discussing similarities between treating people and horses with CST.

My second webinar with Wendy Murdock.  We continue our discussion about Cranial Sacral Therapy for Horse and Humans.

About My Work

For those of you who don’t know much about me, here is a little bit about my work…

To start, I will share two quotes that help shape how I approach my work.

The first is from Rachel Naomi Remen, MD. Many consider her one of the first wholistic physicians. She says…

“Helping, fixing and serving represent three different ways of seeing life. When you help, you see life as weak. When you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. Fixing and helping may be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul.”

Listening to the Root Cause

People sometimes come to me because they are in pain. When I ask them what they want to do with the pain, they usually say, ‘Get rid of it!’ As part of craniosacral therapy, I often ask if we can talk to the pain. I ask what the person wants to say to the pain. The typical reply is usually something like, ‘get out of here!’ It’s not a very nice way to talk to our pain or our self now is it.

What if we got to know our pain? I believe that most of the time, pain is information. What if we sat with it, talked with it, like we were trying to get to know it? Maybe this pain has something to teach us.

The Partisch Process

Bodies want to self correct and sometimes they need a little help. This is where good bodywork can help us relax deeply to let go of stress and other restrictions. In my work, much of my job is bringing awareness to what might need to change and allowing the horse or person to make their own changes ... at their own pace ... in the way that is best for them in this moment.

In this video, I talk with Karen Rohlf about some of the things that make my form of bodywork unique. I call this The Partisch Process. It's based on Equine Craniosacral Therapy and my many years of being around horses.

Clients in Action

This is a fun little video showing several of my clients doing the things they love. Being able to live full on should be a requirement for all of us. As we know, sometimes things get in the way and this is why getting good bodywork is essential to living a full on life.

Each human and equine in this video has been treated by me. Enjoy!

Meet Mirror. At the time of this video, Mirror was part of a herd managed in a very holistic environment. His story goes that early in his life, he did a lot of showing including halter classes. He is what some natural horsemanship people refer to as an introvert. Some people use the word stoic. However you define it, he tends to hold a lot in and not display signs of release or any other information. Fortunately, with my hands on work, I get to feel the positive changes he was making all throughout our treatment.

In my line of work, we often joke that it’s like watching the grass grow. Here is the grass growing in high speed. Enjoy!

Treating Solana

Here is a video with me treating Karen Rohlf’s horse, Solana. She often wants me to treat her head and upper neck. It frequently feels like the lymphatics are sluggish and maybe backed up, causing or adding to some sinus congestion. It’s challenging for her during this session. Knowing her as I do, I stay with her and back off my pressure and intention as needed, and wait to be invited back in to work.

When Less is More

Most of the horses I treat are healthy, happy horses. My treatments help these horses process their stress, release restrictions, mobilize fascia, improve fluid flow, and increase connection with their humans. They help relax their own nervous systems and upgrade performance, increasing Dynamic Balance.

Every once in a while, I get to treat a horse that has some unique set of circumstances that are baffling to their people. In years gone by, the vets would give them the ‘ADR’ diagnosis. We don’t know what’s wrong, but we know he ‘Ain’t Doing Right,’ hence the acronym ADR. In April, I got to treat a horse that fit that description.

Karen Partisch will not diagnose any illness, disease or dysfunction. Craniosacral Therapy (CST) has a proven record of success as a stand alone therapy and integrates well with other allopathic and holistic treatments. There are rare cases CST when should not be the treatment of choice.