Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy
Accessing the inherent healing power of the body with gentle somatic touch.
There is are inherent, intelligent and unexplained forces that create and maintain the human body.
Every second, 10 million cells are destroyed in the body, and have to be replaced immediately and precisely, otherwise the body would explode or dissolve. There is no way to predict where the cells will be destroyed. And yet - every minute, our bodies continue to re-produce themselves and we don’t even notice.
When we were formed as embryos, we first existed as fluid dynamics - before genes and neurons, fluid dynamics impeccably shaped our bodies.
What are the mysterious forces that reliably create and sustain life? What goes awry when they no longer function and disease, dysfunction and pain take over?
These are the questions at the heart of the practice of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST). While these mysteries go unexplained by modern science, the founders and innovators in the field of BCST found that there are subtle fluctuations and movements in the body, and that when these movements are augmented by therapeutic listening, patients recovered from a host of conditions.
Craniosacral Therapy is a gentle therapeutic approach based on the Osteopathic discovery of micro-movements in the body. Through extensive experimentation, early osteopathic physicians determined that when this motion has full expression, many conditions improve. The name “Craniosacral” specifically indicates the importance of the central structures of the body including cranium, spine and sacrum.
At its start, the work was very manipulative, but later practitioners discovered that less and less intervention was needed in order to make substantial changes, and that creating a supportive environment so that the client’s system generates therapeutic change from within, was actually very effective. This more subtle approach to the work was called “Biodynamic” Craniosacral Therapy.
A skilled biodynamic craniosacral practitioner listens to the subtle pulsations of the system as the body tells its story. The body speaks through its rhythms, micro-movements and especially through its experience-managing patterns of physical shaping. With deep listening the practitioner encourages revitalization of the inherent healing potential of the system, and facilitates the release of resistance patterns. This approach emphasizes hearing the health of the system and encouraging its expression.
Craniosacral Therapy involves gentle hands-on work that honors the client’s own self-healing process. The intention is not to fix problems, but rather to encourage the emergence of new levels of order in mind and body. Practitioners know how to recognize the presence of the Breath of Life in many levels and locations of the body, and use appropriate methods to support and nurture its natural expression.
Our BCST training program blends the development of practitioner skills for subtle sensing with thorough study of anatomy, the autonomic nervous system, trauma, and innovative scientific research. Our programs emphasize personal growth as an integral part of the learning process, creating an experiential and evolutionary approach to learning this work.
“Any one can find the disease, the call of the true doctor is to find the health.”
“I consider the fluctuation of the cerebrospinal fluid to be the fundamental principle in the cranial concept. The “sap in the tree” is something that contains the Breath of Life, not the breath of air– something invisible…
There is a deeper layer of activity that has barely been touched upon. This deeper layer has to do with the energies that integrate the animated, living, homeostatic body. The day will come when they too will be catalogued and their laws understood.”
“I am in deep gratitude. This class has blown my mind open so far; I couldn’t have comprehended how much I would have learned or how deep I would have gone into the experience of being connected with everything around me.”
“This course was a jaw dropping, life changing, health restoring, amazingly nourishing initiation into new world of work supporting the growth and healing.”
“This course has been the most profound learning I have experienced in my life. I have such a deep understanding and felt sense now of how we as humans are all connected and resourced with and between each other. ”
Training Dates
Annual BCST Intro
*This is not a pre-requisite for the full training.
Our annual introductory training gives a window into our full training and is suitable both for those interested in joining the full 2-year program and practitioners of other modalities looking to add some BCST into an existing modality. The week will include theory and hands-on practice and will culminate in a 40-minute session that students can practice on their own.
Dates: December 10-14, 2025
Times: 9am - 5pm daily; ending at 2:30pm on Sunday
Cost: $820
Instructor: Elizabeth Chitty Sandoval
BCST Practitioner Training
This training leads to certification as a ‘Registered Craniosacral Therapist’ with the Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Association of North America and/or ‘Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist’ with the International Affiliation of Biodynamic Trainings.
Dates:
Cohort AA with Elizabeth Chitty Sandoval and Kristin Sipley, with guest instruction from Anna Chitty
This will be a dual-certification course in Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy and Polarity Therapy - offered in tandem with 3 additional modules of Polarity Level 1 which will occur after the 10 modules of BCST - in 2029. To participate in this group - students must sign up for both the BCST Practitioner Training and the Polarity Therapy Level 1 training. For the Polarity Level 1 Curriculum overview, please check the Polarity Therapy Classes page.
Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Practitioner Training Modules:
Module 1: Feb 23-27, 2027
Module 2: May 4-8
Module 3: July 13-17
Module 4: Sept 14-18
Module 5: Nov 16-20
Module 6: Feb 8-12, 2028
Module 7: May 16-20, 2028
Module 8: July 11-15, 2028
Module 9: Sept 12-16, 2028
Module 10: November 14-18, 2028
Polarity Therapy Level 1 Modules:
Module 11: February 13-17, 2029
Module 12: May 1-5, 2029
Module 13: July 10-14, 2029
Please note that attendance in all modules are required for graduation. Modules are presented sequentially and must be done with your cohort.
Times: 9am - 5:30pm daily
Cost:
10 Modules of BCST: $9,000 (paid in $900 increments / module)
3 Modules of Polarity Therapy: $3,150 (paid in $1,050 increments / module)
We charge a $20 administrative fee / module for payments made via Credit Card & PayPal.
We have scholarships available for BIPOC students, as well as modest scholarships from the John Chitty Memorial Scholarship Fund. We also offer no-interest payment plans. Both the John Chitty Memorial Scholarship Funds and no-interest payment plans have a cap per cohort - so please inquire ASAP if you are in need of these financial support.
Ongoing Trainings (Enrollment Closed)
Cohort Y with Anna Chitty and Elizabeth Chitty Sandoval
This cohort is closed.
Module 1: August 21 - 25, 2024
Module 2: October 23 - 27, 2024
Module 3: January 8 - 12, 2025
Module 4: March 26 - 30, 2025
Module 5: June 11 - 15, 2025
Module 6: August 20 - 24, 2025
Module 7: October 22 - 26, 2025
Module 8: January 7 - 11, 2026
Module 9: March 18 - 22, 2026
Module 10: May 27 - 31, 2026
Cohort Z with Anna Chitty and Elizabeth Chitty Sandoval
This cohort is closed.
Module 1: Sept 25-29, 2024
Module 2: Dec 4-8, 2024
Module 3: Jan 22-26, 2025\
Module 4: April 16-20, 2025
Module 5: June 25-29, 2025
Module 6: Sept 10-14, 2025
Module 7: November 12-16, 2025
Module 8: Jan 28 - Feb 1, 2026
Module 9: April 8-12, 2026
Module 10: June 17-21, 2026
Curriculum & Logistics Overview
Logistics
CSES Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy training leads to BCST and/or RCST® practitioner status. The dual-certification training consists of thirteen modules of five days each, held roughly nine weeks apart. Certification is for 825 hours of training, 430 in class and 395 in supervised independent study.
Price: $970 for each five-day module ($9,700 total). Administration fee ($20/module) is waived for payments received via cash, check, Zelle or Venmo. Tuition is usually paid incrementally, per module.
Instructors: Anna Chitty assisted by Elizabeth Chitty Sandoval
Location: Boulder, CO
Hours: Wed-Sun 9am-5pm
Curriculum Overview:
Module 1: Practitioner Skills: Presence, Relationship and Listening
Module 2: Co-Regulation, Settling, Social Nervous System and Wholistic Shift
Module 3: Working with the Autonomic Nervous System: Anxiety, Depression and Trauma
Module 4: The Reciprocal Tension Membrane system
Module 5: Embryological Forces and the Spine
Module 6: Venous Sinus Drain & Cranial Base Dis-engagement
Module 7: The Face: Ethmoid, Maxilla, & Frontal Bones
Module 8: The Mandible, TMJ & Hyoid
Module 9: Birth Processes
Module 10: Completion
Meet the Faculty
Lead Teachers
Kristin Sipley, RCST®, BCST, APP, PLC
Kristin is a somatic wellness consultant and practitioner, workshop facilitator, educator and mentor who assists individuals, couples, families, groups and other professionals across the globe to connect with the wisdom and health within and the field around us.
Her integrative, holistic approach is based on the belief that we are whole from the very beginning. She recognizes the inherent intelligence and health that supports each of us throughout our lives. She combines aspects from her training in pre- and perinatal (PPN) somatic health, parent-infant mental health, lifespan development, trauma integration, biodynamic craniosacral therapy, Polarity Therapy, Reiki and adult education.
Kristin is an approved Castellino Womb Surround Facilitator and Mentor, an approved Family Practitioner, a Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist (BCST), Registered Craniosacral Therapist (RCST), A Polarity Practitioner (APP) and a Polarity Life Coach (PLC). In addition to her private practice and the workshops she offers, she contributes to various PPN and bodywork trainings throughout the US and Canada.
Elizabeth Chitty Sandoval, RCST, RPP, PLC
Liz is a somatic therapist and teacher - passionate about sharing the wisdom and health of the body. Raised putting together mailing lists for CSES and playing with disarticulated skulls while her parents finished weekend workshop, Liz has been active in CSES for nearly her whole life. She began training as a teacher alongside Anna Chitty in 2019 - and is grateful to be able to support the continued unfolding of her parents’ work through her work with CSES.
Liz’s appreciation for the innate intelligence of the human body was sparked through her study of dance. She began her therapeutic training while dancing professionally in San Francisco. She received her BCST and RPP certifications in courses from CSES, and completed advanced study in trauma resolution and energy work with Anna Chitty & Ray Castellino. She has also studied at the San Francisco School of Massage, the Doctor Ida Rolf Institute and Responsive Body with Holly Johnston.
Liz became an Approved Teacher with the Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Association in 2023 and has taught for many years alongside Anna Chitty in the Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy and Polarity Therapy programs. She runs a private practice at biodynamicsinmotion.co and is otherwise busy as a mother of 3 boys.
Guest Teacher
Anna Chitty, RCST, RPP, PLC,
In her nearly 50-year career, Anna has focused on understanding how body, emotions, and mind are essentially interdependent and unified in their function. Anna is the director of the Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy 700-hour training program. She has developed a unique approach to teaching that combines experiential and cognitive approaches based on an understanding of the Autonomic Nervous System.
In the 1980s she was the lead teacher and director of the Polarity Therapy and Holistic Health programs at Murrieta Hot Springs, CA. Her responsibilities included curriculum development and teaching staff management for five training tracks, from weekend seminars to months-long professional programs.
She contributed to the creation of the Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Association of North America and served as a teacher liaison to its first Board of Directors. She was also a co-founder of the International Association of Biodynamic Trainings. She has been a keynote speaker and presenter at many professional association conferences.
In addition to directing her own programs at CSES, Anna has collaborated with many other holistic health leaders, including courses relating to birthing, embryology, group dynamics, Autonomic Nervous System, End-of-Life and other topics. She was a co-facilitator of Matrixworks and co-teaches trainings with Ray Castellino. She is also an approved teacher of the Diamond Approach and an ordained Zen Practitioner in the Rinzai Zen Lineage.
She has been a guest teacher in many places around the country including Santa Barbara, Ojai, Los Angeles, Portland and Asheville.