Research on Structural Integration
The following is a summary of some major findings: Ida Rolf performed a study entitled Project Breakthrough in 1963 in which she discovered that children that had received Structural integration work exhibited better muscle tone, better alignment, and improved social responsiveness.
Dr. Valerie D. Hunt and Dr. Wayne W. Massey of the UCLA Department of Kinesiology conducted a five-year study finishing in 1977 entitled A Study of Rolfing Structural Integration from Neuromuscular, Energy Field and Emotional Approaches. They found the following in subjects that had received Structural Integration:
1. Extraneous movements were smoother, larger, and less constrained.
2. There was greater movement efficiency and improved neuromuscular balance.
3. Body movements were more dynamic and energetic with less fatigue.
4. Carriage was more erect and there was less obvious strain to maintain held positions.
5. There was increased emotional calmness and sense of well-being, and decreased anxiety.
Other studies include:
PROJECT BREAKTHROUGH 1963 with Brain Injured Children
Undertaken by:
Richard Demmerle, D,C. D.N.( 1932 – )
Co-developer of Rolfing®
Licensed as Chiropractic Physician New Jersey, N.Y. California
Structural Integration, Dr. Ida Rolf, Rockefeller Institute, N.Y., 1918 – 1927 Stress, Stimulus Intensity Control, and the Structural Integration Technique, Silverman, Rappaport & Hopkins, (abstract: Confinia Psychiatrica, Karger Publisher, Switzerland, 1973)
Effects of Structural Integration On Strait-Trait Anxiety, Robert Wagner and Valerie Hunt, UCLA, 1976, (abstract : Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol. 35, No.2, USA, April 1979)
Electromyographic Evaluation of Structural Integration Techniques, Dr. Valerie Hunt and Wayne Massey, UCLA, (abstract: Psychoenergetic Systems, Gordon & Breach Science Pub., U.K., 1977)
Biomechanical Structuring For Figure Skating, preliminary pilot study report for the U.S. Figure Skating Association, Helen James, Katharine Robertson, and Neal Powers, Olympic Training Center Camp, CO, 1988
Effects of Soft Tissue Mobilization On Pelvic Inclination Angle, Lumbar lordosis, and Parasympathetic Tone: Implications for Treatment of Disabilities Associated with Lumbar Degenerative Joint Disease, Cottingham JT. Public testimony presentation to the National Center of Medical Rehabilitation Research of the National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD; March 19,1992. Rolf Lines 20 (2) : 42-45, 1992
