Rolfing

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Rolfing (/ˈrɔːlfɪŋ, ˈrɒl-/)[1] is a form of alternative medicine originally developed by Ida Rolf (1896–1979) as Structural Integration.[2][3] Rolfing is marketed with unproven claims of various health benefits,[4][5] is recognized as pseudoscience[6] and has been characterized as quackery.[7][4] It is based on Rolf's ideas about how the human body's "energy field" can benefit when aligned with the Earth's gravitational field.[8][9]

Rolfing is typically delivered as a series of ten hands-on physical manipulation sessions sometimes called "the recipe". Practitioners combine superficial and deep manual therapy with movement prompts.[10] The process is sometimes painful.[5] The safety of Rolfing has not been confirmed.[11] The principles of Rolfing contradict established medical knowledge,[12] and there is no good evidence Rolfing is effective for the treatment of any health condition.[11]

  1. ^ "Rolfing". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference recipe1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Sherman KJ, Dixon MW, Thompson D, Cherkin DC (2006). "Development of a taxonomy to describe massage treatments for musculoskeletal pain". BMC Complement Altern Med (Review). 6: 24. doi:10.1186/1472-6882-6-24. PMC 1544351. PMID 16796753. Some massage styles with different names may be essentially the same (e.g., Structural Integration and Rolfing)
  4. ^ a b Ernst E (2019). Alternative Medicine – A Critical Assessment of 150 Modalities. Springer. pp. 192–193. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-12601-8. ISBN 978-3-030-12600-1. S2CID 34148480.
  5. ^ a b Russell J, Rovere A, eds. (2009). "Bodywork". American Cancer Society Complete Guide to Complementary and Alternative Cancer Therapies (2nd ed.). American Cancer Society. p. 170. ISBN 978-0944235713.
  6. ^ Cordón, LA (2005), "Rolfing", Popular Psychology: An Encyclopedia, Greenwood Publishing Group, pp. 217–18, ISBN 978-0-313-32457-4: "The idea of vital energy... does not correspond to known facts of how the human body operates. Similarly, there is absolutely no support in psychological literature for the idea of traumatic experiences being repressed in the form of muscle memory, and so the basic ideas of Rolfing certainly fall into the category of pseudoscience."
  7. ^ For "quackery" see:
  8. ^ Ida P. Rolf, Ph.D. (1990) [1978]. Rolfing and Physical Reality. Inner Traditions / Bear & Co. p. 27,31. ISBN 978-1-62055-338-1. This is the gospel of Rolfing: When the body gets working appropriately, the force of gravity can flow through. Then, spontaneously, the body heals itself.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference carroll was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Deutsch was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference aus17 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Clow B (2001). Negotiating Disease: Power and Cancer Care, 1900–1950. McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-0773522107. Before we explore medical reactions to therapeutic innovations in this era, we must stop to consider the meaning of 'alternative medicine' in this context. Often scholars use the term to denote systems of healing that are philosophically as well as therapeutically distinct from regular medicine: homeopathy, reflexology, rolfing, macrobiotics, and spiritual healing, to name a few, embody interpretations of health, illness, and healing that are not only different from, but also at odds with conventional medical opinion.