It is impossible to touch the physical body without touching the emotional body. All individuals develop compensatory patterns, ways of the body holding and defending itself against a variety of physical and emotional traumas.
For most Rolfers, emotional catharsis is not something consciously desired nor intended for their clients. Rather, the person is approached with reverence and compassion. When emotionally charged areas of the body have been identified by the client, or intuited by the practitioner, they are normally accessed slowly and with constant communication between the Rolfer and the client.
Sometimes, however, repressed memories or experiences will arise for which the client and the Rolfer may not have any advanced warning. In this situation, the goal of the Rolfer is to provide a safe container for their release, taking the requisite time to integrate the experience into the physical and emotional body in a way that promotes maximum resolution and minimal trauma to the system.
Rolfer’s are trained to ease a client through such an experience but are not trained as therapists. The nature and quality of accessing and resolution of emotionally charged material may be the most profound portion of a client’s Rolfing experience. However, the client should not enter the Rolfing process with anticipation of such a major release but should remember that the Rolfer’s area of expertise is integrating and balancing connective tissue. The emotional component, as attractive or dreaded as it may be, remains an ancillary aspect of the Rolfing process and not its primary intention.
