Positive Health Online

Phil Young's book discusses his personal approach to Polarity Therapy, including thoughtful insights on the client-practitioner relationship and the meaning of healing itself. The book also includes information on conceptual and treatment aspects of Polarity Therapy not included in Siegel's book, e.g., the different degrees of touch used in Polarity Therapy are discussed in detail, as is also case history taking and diagnosis. The techniques described include: cranial work, heart therapy, breast therapy, digestive treatment, releasing leg muscles and treating pain in the long bones of the legs. There is an extensive section on structural balancing, in which structural changes are induced using energy rather than manipulation.

These two books have been used by the reviewer as a source of ideas for treatments and teaching and have proved valuable in this regard, indeed, any practising Polarity Therapist would benefit by having them available for reference. However, to those without prior knowledge of Polarity Therapy, these books may prove confusing rather than helpful. Polarity Therapy needs to be learnt in a workshop situation in which the touch may be developed and the underlying simplicity and profundity of the Polarity approach appreciated. It is then that these books will prove their worth. To quote from Phil Young: "We talk of Polarity Therapy as a healing art. The shift from being a practitioner to being an artist occurs at the point when you can let go of the idea of doing therapy and have the confidence to simply 'be' with the energy.

The above title has now been republished as Polarity Therapy – where Energy meets Structure and Function

In this extensive revision and expansion of the book, The Art of Polarity Therapy – A Practitioner's Perspective, the author has added to the theory behind each bodywork session and provided a much-needed expert perspective on the aspect of Polarity Therapy known as Structural Balancing.

Polarity's roots in Osteopathy and Chiropractic are nowhere more evident than in the structural work that Dr. Randolph Stone included in his system of healing. Polarity's structural work is uniquely effective due to the added component of energetic interaction. The author reviews the history of manual medicine and the importance of always addressing the parts in relation to the whole and introduces new perspectives to Stone's original work by exploring structure as identity, relationship and history. This new edition is of immense value to all Polarity Therapists who seek a deeper understanding of the relationship of energy, structure and function.