Member Spotlight: Alison Chan

Alison Chan

Biodynamic craniosacral therapist

Fave food - Cantonese
Fave book - My last favourite was Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson
Fave flower - Dahlia
Fave tree - White Pine
Teacher/elder you give special thanks to - Jan Pemberton (my BCST teacher) for embodying the most important aspects of the work, and for passing them on to me; and Myrna Martin (my Pre-/Perinatal teacher) for transforming my life and the lives of countless babies.

connect with alison

1. How would you describe your work, to somebody that doesn't know anything about what you do?
I am an integrative bodyworker. My background is in Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, and pre-/perinatal somatic trauma therapy. So I use a combination of light-touch therapy and body-centred dialogue that settles the nervous system and allows physical and emotional restrictions to come up safely and be released. My clients relax on a massage table in comfy clothes and I take them through this process.

With COVID, I’ve shifted my practice to working online over video, which can work really well because I am engaging with my clients’ systems energetically. They are safely and comfortably in their own home during the session. I do look forward to returning to hands-on work when that feels safe to me again.

2. What kinds of issues do you have a particular gift with supporting people through?
My calling is in helping adults to heal birth and early life trauma, which can express itself as chronic pain or illness, depression, anxiety, gastrointestinal issues, and auto-immune disorders. I also welcome emotional pain, grief, and exhaustion.

3. What is the most fulfilling part about working with this specific healing modality?

What I love about this work is that it really gets to the root of a person's pain and trauma, whether it's physical or emotional, and it doesn't matter how long it's been there or how deep it is. And even though it’s deep work, it is very gentle.

And in a session my client no longer has to deal with this pain alone, they're being held in a safe and grounded connection. It is deeply healing.

4. What are some of your go to pieces of advice to help someone cultivate more resilience?
My focus is on helping my clients build resilience by working with our nervous systems.

When we get triggered emotionally, our brains are not in present time; they are reliving survival strategies from early life experiences. The brain is very good at focussing on what is not safe and figuring out how to protect us, because that’s its job. But to stay in survival mode is obviously a problem, and over time it affects our mental and physical health.

We want to train our nervous systems to focus on feelings of safety and goodness. The more we do that over time, the less easily we get triggered into challenging mental/emotional states. So the practice is this: every time you are enjoying something — an activity, being with someone — or feeling content, safe, and happy — just pause for a minute and really notice how it feels in your body. What sensations are you feeling on the inside? It could be something like warmth, expansiveness, an openness in your heart, maybe softness in your muscles. Name it to yourself and to your brain — “I am feeling good right now. I am safe.” You are imprinting those sensations into your body memory and helping your nervous system to stay oriented to the present. As you do this over time, your brain learns that it can relax some of its vigilance.

5. How does somebody find out if you are a good fit for Craniosacral Therapy or not? 
They are welcome to email me ([email protected]) to arrange a chat, and we can discuss what your challenges and goals are and how we might work together.

The first session I offer is an Evaluation Session where you can experience the gentleness of the work and get a taste of its effects, and then we follow up by phone a few days later to chat and see if it makes sense to continue together.

6. If you were to write a self-help book, what would the topic be, and why? 
It would be about building resilience in our nervous systems! The state of our nervous systems is really key to overall health. Period.


7. Do you have a daily self-care practice or ritual that is helpful for you?
I find meditation really beneficial, and I also make sure I go for a long walk in a ravine at least once a week so I’m surrounded by quiet and by trees. That has really helped my mental health during COVID.


8. What do you think are the key ingredients to living a happy life? 

I wish I knew! Ha ha!

I suppose I would say having safe, mutually supportive relationships is key. Expressing emotions in a healthy way and having healthy boundaries. And learning to ask for help when you need it. Being of service to others. Having compassion for yourself and others.