Visceral Osteopathy: The Peritoneal Organs

Visceral Osteopathy: The Peritoneal Organs is concerned with the application of osteopathic concepts to the abdominal viscera, specifically the organs of the gastrointestinal tract. It lays out a comprehensive manual approach to these viscera based on physiological research and extensive clinical experience. The visceral paradigm developed in this book is centered on the mechanical expression of the biological forces within the organs themselves. In this paradigm, the most important aspect of the viscera of the gut is their intrinsic, autonomous regulation. The focus is therefore on the inner mechanical architecture and power centers of the viscera.Visceral Osteopathy offers a comprehensive and clinically sound system of diagnosis and treatment of the digestive organs, and firmly establishes visceral manipulation in the context of contemporary physiological research. The diagnostic and therapeutic approaches of visceral osteopathy are described in detail and are accompanied by hundreds of photographs and drawings that clearly illustrate each of the techniques, including an original bi-manual form of palpation for all the viscera. A separate chapter is devoted to each of the peritoneal organs.

Jerome Helsmoortel, D.O. (Belgium) (1952 -2007). A native of Belgium, Jerome was a distinguished practitioner and researcher in the osteopathic field. His special interest was the clinical and scientific advancement of visceral osteopathy in all areas of practice. In 1994 he co-founded the School for Traditional Osteopathy in Hamburg and taught extensively throughout Europe. He was widely respected for his skills as a practitioner and admired for his inspiring teaching style. In 2006 he co-founded the two-year post-graduate course on Qualitative Visceral Osteopathy in Berlin. He died far too soon after a short illness in 2007.Thomas Hirth, D.O. (Germany) practices osteopathy in Berlin. He is on the teaching staff at the School for Traditional Osteopathy in Hamburg and in 2006 co-founded (with Jerome Helsmoortel) the two-year post-graduate course on Qualitative Visceral Osteopathy in Berlin and Zurich. He has published a series of clinical articles on visceral osteopathy and pediatrics.Peter Wuhrl, D.O. (Germany) is a graduate of the School for Traditional Osteopathy in Hamburg. He practices in Providence, Rhode Island and in Hamburg, where he is co-director of the Center for Osteopathic Medicine. He is co-editor of the German Journal for Osteopathy - DO and has published on a wide range of clinical and conceptual topics in osteopathy. Peter runs the training program “Working with the Inner Body” in Providence, and is academic director of a permanent post-academic conference in Hamburg (Hamburger Osteopathie Tage). He is currently organizing a course system and teacher collective based on an integrated osteopathic approach, entitled form.function.psyche.