What to Expect
A Hellerwork Structural Integration session with David Murphy typically runs 75–90 minutes and combines hands-on bodywork, movement coaching, and guided dialogue. Sessions are available in Manhattan, Beacon, NY, and Cold Spring, NY. Here's what you can expect at each stage of the process.
Initial Assessment
If you'd like more information about whether Hellerwork, Cranial Sacral Therapy, or Somatic Experiencing® are appropriate for you, David is happy to offer a complimentary 30-minute initial consultation. In this meeting we will discuss what you would like to address, do an extensive intake, and make a plan of treatment that best suits your specific needs. This is an opportunity to ask any questions you have about the process before beginning the work together. You'll walk away with a better sense of what you can do to start feeling better.
Your first session
The basic Hellerwork Series consists of 11 sessions. The first session is 90 minutes to allow time for an extensive intake; subsequent sessions are 75 minutes. Most people prefer to come once a week, although scheduling is flexible.
At your first session, David will take a thorough history, listen to your description of what you are experiencing, and ask about your goals for the work. Together you will create a plan to address your concerns throughout the series. Most often this leaves sufficient time in the first session to experience some bodywork and to learn basic movement principles that will help you find more ease in daily life.
Clothing
Hellerwork sessions are done with some clothing. Please wear a bathing suit, loose-fitting shorts, or underwear (and a bra if you are a woman) to your first session — whichever is more comfortable. Please also refrain from wearing perfume or cologne.
Checking in
Each session begins with at least 15 minutes of checking in. This gives us a chance to go over any changes in your body or your life that may be relevant to the goals of that particular session. Your body will most likely be changing throughout the series, and this time helps David tailor the work to your specific needs. Sometimes check-ins go longer and can even become the entire session — you are always welcome to decide whether to continue the conversation or move on to bodywork.
Clinical assessment
Several times throughout each session David will do various kinds of clinical assessment to determine what has shifted from the work being done. This allows for greater accuracy, saves time, and helps ensure that postural changes last longer and are more effective. Assessment may include postural analysis in standing, sitting, or walking; myofascial range of motion testing; visceral, energetic, and cranial sacral diagnosis; and occasionally photographs. Feel free to ask what any assessment is for — learning more about what's happening in your body can be an empowering experience.
Movement coaching
The work of Structural Integration is always in service of movement. The focus of movement coaching is awareness — though it's not always apparent at first, this is often the key element to making the opening created by structural integration last a lifetime. When we become aware of how we move, we have the opportunity to create lasting change.
The primary focus is on sitting, walking, standing, and whatever movements you find difficult in daily life. If your work involves repetitive movements or long hours at a desk, becoming more aware of your movement patterns will be a key part of your treatment. The exercises and awareness practices you develop together will help reconnect you to your core long after the series is over.
Dialogue
Dialogue during the bodywork provides an opportunity to examine how you think, feel, and sense through your body. By bringing awareness to the physiological patterns that create stress, anxiety, physical tension, and certain emotional states, we can begin to uncover their causes and consciously reduce their effects. This is what makes Hellerwork genuinely holistic work — it addresses the whole person, not just the physical structure.
The bodywork
After clinical assessment, the bodywork begins. Treatments are completed on a massage table, sitting at a bench, or in various supported postures that help unwind deep postural or movement patterns.
Structural Integration is a unique method — don't come expecting a massage. While many sessions are relaxing, the work is often challenging and sometimes intense. Treatments are deeper and slower than massage, and you will often feel a shift in the balance of your body with each stroke as range of motion is restored, stuck areas are released, and scar tissue from previous injuries is reorganized.
Your posture
Simply put, the more aligned your body is, the more energy you have available for everything else. Most pain and tension patterns are reflected in posture. Many clients discover that their attitudes about themselves are held in their posture — and that when they find more balance in their bodies, they have more options for how they feel and how they move.
Throughout the series, David will work with your postural imbalances to improve your relationship to gravity and help you find more ease and grace. More energy, easier movement, and greater balance in all aspects of life become available. You may never feel the same again.
Have more questions? Check out the FAQs or get in touch directly.