Danis Bois method fasciatherapy: theory, research and practice 

Purpose of workshop and learning outcomes The first three International Fascia Research Congress have shown the interest that fascia holds for manual therapies (Simmons et al., 2011; Chaitow, 2012) and have brought an understanding of the role those therapies play on the structure of the fascia, on its tensional and architectural organisation and on the somato-psychical structure (Schleip, 2003; Schleip, Jäger 2012; Oschman, 2012; Chaitow, 2013; Findley, Chaudhry, Stecco, Roman, 2012). The research carried out on the psychotonic touch of Fasciatheray DBM shows an action on fascial and vascular stress (Quéré et al., 2009; Payrau et al., 2011). It also shows a modification of the patients overall perception of their own body and of their psycho-emotional states towards a strengthened sense of self (Courraud, 2007, Duval, 2010, Bois, Bourhis, 2010, Angibaud, 2011). The workshop will introduce to participants the theoretical and practical principles of Fasciatherapy DBM in its dimension of a body-mind integrated approach and its uses in the treatment of patients suffering from various manifestations of tension, musculoskeletal disorders and symptoms related to stress. The participants will learn the theoretical and practical modalities of application of the touch specific to this approach as well as its most current therapeutic uses. During the morning we will present how the psychotonus can be harnessed and stimulated, and how it responds. The afternoon will be devoted to practical experimentation through an indepth session of psychotonic manual therapy, with the use treatment couches. We will begin by presenting the theoretical principles to allow the participants to understand the foundations and modalities of application of psychotonic touch which is seen as the distinguishing feature of the body-mind connection of the fascial system and as the manifestation of the living dynamics of human fascia. This part of the workshop will bring together the lastest research within the field of Fasciatherapy DBM (particularly the works of Rosier, 2013; Bontinck et al., 2012; Angibaud, 2011; Bousson, 2013; Janian, El Hachem, 2011; Duprat, Vanhalst, 2013; Courraud, 2012; Payrau, 2012; Bourhis, 2012; Bois, Bourhis, 2011; Austry, Berger, 2011) and the advances of the last few years on the role of fascia in the coordination and the central and peripheral organisation of movement in its interactions with the nervous system (Purslow, Delage, 2012; Huijing et al., 2007; Huijing, 2012; Langevin, 2006; Langevin et al., 2011; Van der Wal, 2009; Turrina et al., 2013; Schleip et al., 2012; Ingber, 2008; Levin, Martin, 2012; Guimberteau, 2004, 2012) The psychotonus that is perceived by the trained practitioner gives access to a signal that resembles what Schleip et al. (2012) calls fascial tonicity: it reacts to touch in the form of a particular modulation that favours the re-organisation of the architecture of the tissues, the stimulation of the processes of body-mind self-regulation and the enrichment of bodily perception for the patient (sensations of warmth, depth, wholeness, presence, sense of existence). Experiencing the perception of psychotonus and its responses to a specific touch will be the focus of the afternoon. How specifically does the workshop content relate to human fascia? Include reference to supporting evidence from laboratory or clinical studies. Fasciatherapy DBM is a technique used in conjunction with physiotherapy and massage therapy, and through its relational touch, in certain types of personal development practices. A number of studies have been conducted on the impacts of Fasciatherapy DBM on human health (see bibliography below). It has also led to numerous cross-disciplinary studies in the fields of education and social sciences, aiming to clarify the learning processes at work in the experiencing of psychotonic touch. A large number of experimental studies (by practitionners in their practices and with their own patients) have also been conducted over the past two years using for example qualitative scales to measure anxiety, pain, stress symptoms, relationship to illness, or the normative indices of traumatology (flexibility index, angle of stress/rotation index etc.) to compare the efficacy of different treatment methods (see bibliography below). What are the cross disciplinary applications? The area in which most cross-disciplinary approaches can be found is the scientific research carried out on Fasciatherapy DBM. However its particular range of application go beyond the field of health (education, wellbeing, training for artists in the performing arts). It should be noted that the touch used is born from a practice of osteopathy, from which it differs through an intention of the touch that is non-manipulative (Bosphore, 2013). On a scientific level, the studies carried out on the gestural aspect of fasciatherapeutic touch and its effects required at the same time qualitative methods enquiring on lived experiences (through methodologies inspired by psycho-phenemenology – Berger, 2009) and comparative studies based on a more experimental methodology (Bontinck et al., 2012; Decoenne et al., 2011; Quéré et al., 2008). More recent studies are based on the epistemology of mixed methods research (Creswell and Clark, 2010) to address in a same process human fascia and touch, tissue and experience, the mechanisms of touch and its effects, the physiological impacts and associated body-mind experiencing. Quantitative and qualitative research has also been carried out on health issues up till now considered to belong to the field of subjectivity (for example on post-effort recovery among high-level athletes, Rosier, 2013). Biography narrative approaches have also allowed the study of the learning processes at work of people in contact with the psychotonic touch used in Fasciatherapy DBM (Bois et al., 2010). They have also highlighted the possible contribution of fasciatherapy DBM in the field of therapeutic education and health education (Duval, 2010). Finally large surveys are being introduced in conjunction with qualitative interviews and narrative analyses (Bosphore, 2013; Courraud, 2012). A transversal analysis of the studies conducted since 2002 shows the possible impacts (detected but not yet proven) of Fasciatherapy DBM on corporal wholeness, on tones, on the transmission between mechanical information and biochemical information, on changes to blood flow (from turbulent flow into laminar flow) and on the body-mind connection (Quéré, 2010).