The Cranial Academy

The professional organization representing D.O.'s who practice cranial osteopathy, The Cranial Academy, requires a 40 hours basic course just for membership and after that most osteopathic physicians have an additional 100 to 200 hours of training in osteopathic manipulative medicine related to the cranial field. In addition, The Cranial Academy offers competency testing and fellowship certification for D.O's receiving national prominence.

Cranial osteopaths were originally labeled as quacks for identifying that the bones of the skull were slightly mobile and that this mobility allowed for membranous articular strains that could cause dysfunction and pain. Today, scientist and many M.D's through the use of high-tech diagnostic equipment agree that there is a motion present in the cranium.

There are many other therapies and therapist out there that claim to be cranial osteopaths. But only physicians (M.D's. D.O.'s and dentists) can be trained by The Cranial Academy, the national organization recognized by the American Academy of Osteopathy and the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) as the professional organization in this field.

Cranial osteopathy cannot be effectively learned via the Internet or reading books. It is a psychomotor skill be best taught with hands on guidance. It must be practiced on living human heads with a skilled trained practitioners providing guidance, experience, knowledge, skill and information to the student