The following is Part 3 of a 3 Part Feature with Athletic & Bowen Therapist, Brynn Bicknell. Brynn currently works out of a multidisciplinary clinic in Coquitlam as well as with a lower mainland hockey team. Last week we discussed Brynn’s first experience receiving a Bowen Therapy treatment, and how it changed her concept of pain and healing.
Part 3 – My Practice & Bowen Therapy
Explaining Bowen Therapy to patients isn’t always easy. How do you explain the astounding results one can achieve with such a gentle treatment?
Brynn Bicknell has found that a patients receptivity to Bowen changes with age. When she has treated young athletes that range in age from 14-17 years old, she finds that they are more interested in the results than understanding how the therapy works. This openness to the treatment often effects how quickly they recover and see results. There is a lot of trust between Brynn and her players, and this trust allows her to explore Bowen in different ways, not just with a full-length treatment but being able to make adjustments and do moves on the fly with great results.
Brynn also finds that with her older patients, it usually takes more sessions than it does with youth to break through and heal. Whether that is because of the cumulative injuries mounting with older patients, or their receptivity and pre-conceived notions about the effectiveness of such a gentle therapy when they are accustomed to more invasive or aggressive therapies, is hard to say.
Here is how Brynn explains Bowen Therapy to her patients:
“Bowen is a technique that I am going to use, it involves a release of specific trigger points on the body that will rebalance and realign your muscle and nervous system. There are breaks in between the moves to allow your body to adapt and set.”
In her practice, treating patients out of a multidisciplinary clinic in Coquitlam, she sees a different kind of patient. Most of her patients are between 40-70 years old. Some have come from athletic backgrounds where old injuries were never properly addressed and are now surfacing, and some are trying to maintain an active lifestyle without pain getting in their way. Chronic back pain and migraines are what she sees the most of. Here is a story from Brynn about one of her patients:
“When I was completing my case studies, I had a patient who was an older gentleman, who had been an athlete his whole life but hadn’t taken proper care of himself. He had tried everything to help his chronic back pain – acupuncture, massage, and was still seeing a chiropractor once a week, but really didn’t like the forceful cracking. When he came in, he was anxious and nervous, but by the end of the session, he was completely relaxed. As we went through a couple treatments, old injuries came up and we were able to treat them so he could properly heal. He claimed he felt 20 years younger, and by the end of 5 appointments he said he felt better after those treatments than he did when he was in his 20’s – he was an entirely different person!’’
This ends our series with Brynn Bicknell. We would like to thank her for her time and are so glad she was able to share her experiences with us. If you would like more information about Brynn Bicknell and her practice please visit:
Website: http://www.aspiresporttherapy.com
