Hamilton · Stoney Creek · Burlington · Ancaster

Manual Osteopathic Therapy for Babies, Children and Adults

Gentle, hands-on care that looks for the root of the problem rather than managing the symptom in front of you.

Your treatment session may be covered partially or in full if you have extended health coverage for Osteopathy or Occupational Therapy. Please check your coverage at the time of booking.

Have questions first? Book a free Right Fit Call.

What Manual Osteopathic Therapy Actually Is

Osteopathy works from a simple idea. The body is one connected system, and when one part of it isn’t moving freely, the rest of it compensates. Sometimes that compensation is quiet and you’d never know. Sometimes it shows up as a baby who won’t turn her head to one side, a 6 year old who can’t sit still, or a back that’s been aching since a pregnancy 4 years ago.

I use my hands to find where movement is restricted and to help your body release it. There’s no cracking and no forceful adjusting. How much pressure I use does vary, and with a newborn it can be barely more than the weight of my hands resting on them. What never varies is the rule I work by: never enough to make them say ouch. If a body braces against me, I’ve already lost the thing I came for.

What I’m doing is feeling what the tissue tells me, and then working with it rather than against it. Bodies tend to know how to unwind. Most of the time they just need the right conditions.

Never enough to make them say ouch.

Who I See

Babies

Most babies come to me because something isn't going the way their parents expected, and nobody has been able to say why.

• Feeding difficulty, a shallow latch, clicking, or a strong preference for one side
• Reflux, spitting up, arching, and discomfort that gets worse when lying flat
• Body tension, stiffness, or a baby who is hard to settle into a curled position
• A flat spot, a head turn preference, or a tilt
• Babies preparing for a tongue tie release, and babies who have had one and still are not feeding comfortably
• Difficult births, long labours, fast labours, forceps, vacuum, or a caesarean birth
• A baby who cries in a way that feels different from ordinary fussing

If you've been told to wait it out and your gut says otherwise, that's a good enough reason to come.

Toddlers and Children

• Retained primitive reflexes affecting balance, coordination, handwriting or attention
• Frequent ear infections, congestion, or mouth breathing
• Constipation and digestive discomfort
• Difficulty with sleep that has not responded to routine changes
• Growing pains, headaches, or recurring aches with no clear cause
• Sensory struggles, difficulty settling, or a nervous system that is always on

Adults

The Stoney Creek clinic is now open to clients of all ages. Adult bodies ask for a different set of hands than newborns do, and osteopathy training is where I learned them. This isn't pediatric work stretched to fit.

• Neck, back, shoulder and jaw pain, including the kind that arrives from carrying a baby all day
• Postpartum recovery, pelvic discomfort, and bodies that never quite reorganised after birth
• Headaches and migraines
• Old injuries that healed but left something behind
• Tension that builds when your nervous system does not get to switch off
• Digestive discomfort and breathing restriction

I treat a lot of mothers who've spent 2 years focused entirely on their baby's body and haven't thought about their own once.

Why My Approach Is a Little Different

I’m a Manual Osteopathic Therapist and a Certified Infant Craniosacral Therapist, with 19 years of experience as an Occupational Therapist behind me.

That last part changes how I see a body on my table.

Occupational therapy taught me to look at function. Not just where something is restricted, but what that restriction is stopping this person from doing. With a baby, that means I’m not only feeling for tension in her neck, I’m thinking about how that tension is affecting her feeding, her sleep, her ability to tolerate tummy time, and how all of that is landing on you at 3am.

It also means I think in systems. A baby’s feeding difficulty is rarely only about the mouth. A child’s trouble sitting still is rarely only about behaviour. An adult’s neck pain is rarely only about the neck. Your body’s struggles aren’t separate problems. They’re clues, and they’re usually connected.

So I work slowly, I ask a lot of questions, and I look for the root. I’d rather find out why something is happening than teach you a better way to live with it.

If you want to see how this plays out in practice rather than in principle, I’ve written up 5 case studies of babies I’ve worked with: what they came in with, what I found, and what changed. Read the case studies.

What a Session Looks Like

Before we start

We talk. For a baby, that means birth history, feeding, sleep, positioning, what you've already tried and what other people have told you. For an adult, it means the history of the thing you're bringing me and what your body has been asked to do over the years. This part matters as much as the hands-on work, so give yourself the time for it.

The assessment

I watch how you or your baby moves, and then I use my hands to feel where movement is restricted. With babies I work around feeding, sleeping and being held. Nobody has to lie still on a table.

The treatment

Gentle, sustained contact. Often it looks like very little is happening. Babies frequently fall asleep. Some babies fuss, particularly if we're working somewhere that's been uncomfortable for a while, and that's alright too. You stay with your baby the whole time and feeding is welcome at any point.

Afterwards

I'll show you 2 or 3 things to do at home, because what happens between sessions matters more than what happens in the room. Some people feel a change immediately. Others feel tired for a day and then notice things shifting. Both are ordinary.

How many sessions

It depends on what we're working with, and I'll be honest with you about it. Many babies need 3 to 4 sessions. Longstanding adult patterns often take longer, and I'll tell you when I think we're done.

Where to Find Me

Families come to me from Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Ancaster, Dundas, Burlington, Waterdown and Grimsby.

What About Craniosacral Therapy

If you found me through craniosacral therapy, or if that's the phrase your midwife or lactation consultant used, you're in the right place.

Craniosacral therapy is one of the ways I work. It's a very gentle approach that focuses on the membranes and fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord, and it's particularly useful with newborns, with babies after a difficult birth, and with anyone whose nervous system is stuck in a state of high alert.

Osteopathy is the wider framework. It includes craniosacral work alongside everything else I've trained in, which means I'm not limited to one technique when your body needs another.

In practice, if you booked with me for craniosacral therapy you'd get the same session either way. The difference is that osteopathy lets me follow the problem wherever it goes.

About Coverage

Your treatment session may be covered partially or in full if you have extended health coverage for Osteopathy or Occupational Therapy. Please check your coverage at the time of booking.

I provide a receipt after every session with the information your insurer needs. Plans vary quite a lot, so it's worth a quick call to your provider before your first visit rather than after it.

Occupational therapy is exempt from HST. Osteopathic manual therapy is not, so HST is added to those sessions.

Ready to Book

If something feels off and you haven't been able to get an answer, you don't need to be certain before you book. Come and let's have a look together.

Your treatment session may be covered partially or in full if you have extended health coverage for Osteopathy or Occupational Therapy. Please check your coverage at the time of booking.

Have questions first? Book a free Right Fit Call.

Already working with me? Book a follow-up.