Catherine C. Goodman, MBA, PT, CBT, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1976 with a B.S. in Physical Therapy and in 1986 with a Master's in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Montana.
Catherine has over thirty years of experience in a variety of clinical settings. She specialized in pediatrics for the first 10 years, then served 8 years in the U.S. Army Reserves as an orthopedic therapist. She has since broadened her skills in home health care, acute care, inpatient/rehabilitation, hospital out-patient services, and through private practice as a hand therapist.
Catherine is a faculty affiliate at the University of Montana School of Physical Therapy and the co-author of two textbooks: Differential Diagnosis for Physical Therapists: Screening for Referral, 4th edition (2007), and Pathology: Special Implications for the Physical Therapist, 3rd edition (2008).
Currently, Catherine is a medical writer for Medical Multimedia Group and remains at the University of Montana as a Faculty Affiliate. She lives in Missoula, Montana and continues to provide physical therapy continuing education courses.
Catherine now brings to her patients and clients new skills as a certified BodyTalk practitioner. She has combined her knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and pathology from a traditional medical background along with BodyTalk energy medicine. This is a great way to bring a new approach to achieving and maintaining health, as well as recovery from diseases, illnesses, and injuries.
What is BodyTalk?
BodyTalk is an alternative form of health care that allows the body's energy systems to regain balance. This state of balanced health is sometimes referred to as homeostasis. Many things can cause the body to become unbalanced including injuries, illness, surgery, and stress. For the person with cancer, chemotherapy, radiation and other forms of medical treatment can cause the body to function less optimally or become unbalanced.
BodyTalk encompasses a wide range of knowledge from Western medicine, Chinese acupuncture, and osteopathic and chiropractic philosophy. The goal of BodyTalk is to re-establish communication between the systems, organs, and even at the cellular level. It is considered a form of energy medicine designed to optimize the body's internal communications and restore biologic and/or emotional, psychologic, and spiritual health.
How does BodyTalk Work?
When the body is functioning normally and maintaining balance, each system, organ, and microscopic cell are in constant communication with each other. Anything that disrupts these lines of communication can compromise the function of the system, organ, or cell and ultimately lead to a decline in health. When communication is altered, overloaded or cutoff, signs and symptoms of "dis-ease" within the body may begin to appear.
The BodyTalk method reconnects and integrates communication pathways. If we were to use an analogy to computer systems, we might say that BodyTalk "defrags" the system. The practitioner finds areas where communication is broken down and restores two-way communication.
The result is that the body is able to heal itself as BodyTalk re-establishes this system of communication in the order necessary to regain that balance. So, instead of focusing on the signs and symptoms, the priority for restoring communication is identified and rebuilt layer by layer.
The practitioner uses muscle testing and a series of "yes" or "no" questions to find imbalances that the innate wisdom of the body considers a priority. This is similar but not exactly the same as muscle testing in applied kinesiology used by naturopaths, homeopaths, or other alternative health care providers.
The practitioner helps the body return to a state of homeostasis or balance by focusing on the areas that have been identified as a priority. Then the practitioner gently taps on the patient's head (alerting the brain to the new communication pathways) and on the sternum (storing the new information in the heart to be passed on throughout the rest of the body). It's no coincidence that when we are learning something we say we know it "by heart".
By tapping into the nervous system, BodyTalk has been effective in turning off areas of physiologic function that are over working. Using this same method, BodyTalk can turn on areas that may not be working at all or under functioning.
Likewise, for patients experiencing chronic symptoms such as pain, anxiety, depression, even skin rashes, the nervous system may have set up a negative feedback loop involving stress, pain and emotion. As we respond to a stressor, our nervous system is aroused and we become tense and hyperalert. This is called the "fight, flight, or freeze" response. The adrenal glands release cortisol. The sympathetic nervous system kicks in and the adrenaline rushes through our system. Muscles contract and don't relax even when we think we are at rest. The function of our organs and endocrine systems may be put on hold, but don't get turned back to a state of homeostasis.
The more tense and aroused we are in response to a stressor, the more uncomfortable we are emotionally, and the more we hurt or the more tired we become. The more uncomfortable and sore we are, the tenser we become and so on. BodyTalk helps re-establish normal patterns of energy flow and communication between the brain, nervous system, and body.
Who can Benefit from BodyTalk?
Anyone can benefit from the balancing BodyTalk offers regardless of age, health, or diagnosis. Some rely on it to maintain a healthy balance, while others use it to restore health. BodyTalk has provided benefits to many individuals with a wide range of problems including headaches, infections, viruses, back pain, allergies, digestive disorders, and chronic fatigue.
Athletes and sports participants may seek out the skills of a BodyTalk practitioner to enhance performance or speed recovery from sports injuries. Other individuals with learning disorders, phobias, and emotional disorders have been helped by this method.
People who have experienced cancer or other serious illnesses often require medical care such as surgery or complex medications. These individuals can especially benefit from the rebalancing provided by BodyTalk techniques. Body chemistry, fluid balance, hormones, and energies can be balanced to help bring the body back to a place of ease and comfort.
What can I expect from BodyTalk?
The BodyTalk process restores function at optimal levels to speed up healing. Because communication pathways between cells, organs, and systems are balanced, the patient experiences more than just short-term relief from symptoms. The overall flow and balance of energy throughout the body is vastly improved.
The corrected energy patterns are stored in the body's cellular memory. Long-term improvement in health is the expected result. BodyTalk is a non-invasive technique that is safe and effective. Benefits can be seen immediately. It can be used alone or in conjunction with other complementary and alternative techniques.
BodyTalk does not diagnose or treat specific diseases, conditions, or disorders. Some individuals may still need medical care from a traditional allopathic doctor.
By Catherine Goodman, MBA, PT, CBT
Sources used: International BodyTalk Association: The BodyTalk System [www.bodytalksystem.com], 2007; and
Medical Multimedia Group: A Patient's Guide to BodyTalk, Missoula, MT, 2008.
Used with permission. Randale C. Sechrest, MD (www.medicalmultimediagroup.com)
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For a limited time, certified BodyTalk practitioner Catherine Goodman is pleased to offer complementary BodyTalk sessions to GOCW patients. To schedule your BodyTalk session in one of GOCW's healing rooms, please contact your primary nurse at (406) 721-1118. For those who are not GOCW patients, private BodyTalk sessions are available by contacting Catherine directly at (406) 549-5404.
For more information about BodyTalk, visit bodytalksystem.com