Patients dealing with cancer or with chronic conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, have access to a wealth of programs that work with the mind and spirit, as well as the body. Many of the downtown area's integrative health services are offered through Sutter Cancer Center, Sacramento, due to the number of studies substantiating the effectiveness of integrative practices on cancer patients' mental, emotional and physical progress.

Some of the services offered through the Sutter Downtown Integrative Health program are available to Sutter patients only, and in some cases are limited to cancer patients; however, many of the programs are open to anyone in the community. Thanks to the generosity of the community through the Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento Foundation, most programs are offered at no charge. Detailed information for each program is listed below.

Programs at Sutter Downtown Integrative Health Care include:

• Acupuncture
• Art Therapy for Adults with Cancer
• Biofeedback
• Children's Art Therapy Support (CATS)
• Children's Bereavement Art Group
• Chiropractice and Functional Rehabilitation
• Creative Rehabilitation
• Dance/Movement Therapy
• Family-Patient Counseling for Cancer Patients
• Healing Touch
• Healthy Choices, Healthy Lives Weight Loss Group Medical Appointment (.pdf)
• Insight Meditation
• Massage Therapy
• Medical Consultations
• Meditation
• Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Chronic Pain
• Music Therapy
• Naturopathic Medical Practitioner
• Nutrition Counseling for Cancer Patients
• Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation
• Pet Therapy
• Pediatric Facility Dog Program
• Rolfing
• Sexuality Counseling
• Spiritual Care
• Stress Reduction for Cancer Patients
• Volunteer Services Pet Therapy Program
• Yoga

Acupuncture | back to top

Acupuncture is a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a system of healing that has been used for centuries. It is based on the theory that there is energy, called chi or qi, flowing through the body. Chi is thought to flow along energy pathways called meridians. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, blockage or imbalance of this chi was felt to result in illness; traditional Chinese medicine practitioners seek to unblock and rebalance the flow of chi to restore health.

Acupuncture has been used to relieve pain, especially chronic pain; it has also been used to relieve post-operative pain, as well as the nausea and vomiting that can occur with chemotherapy; some people have also found it useful for asthma and allergies. In China, acupuncture has also been used as anesthesia during surgery. Western medical researchers who have studied acupuncture believe that it may reduce pain by stimulating the production of the body's own natural pain-killers.

Traditional Chinese acupuncture is usually done by putting very thin needles into the skin at certain points on the body to produce energy flow along the body's meridians. Other types of acupuncture may use heat, pressure, or mild electrical current to stimulate energy flow along these meridians. Acupuncture in general is felt to be very safe and likely produces fewer side effects than traditional western medicine. It is important that only sterile, single-use disposable needles are used by the practitioner. In addition, skin infection at the site of needle insertion has been reported, so the skin ideally should be wiped with alcohol before needles are inserted.

For more information, contact Miles Roberts, Lac at (916) 483-0743.

Healing Images: Art Therapy Support Group for Adult Cancer Patients | back to top

This group offers creative ways for adults to deal with the many changes that illness may bring to their lives. The goals of the group are to:

• Promote the creative process, offering a variety of art media to channel personal experiences into a visible and a manageable form;
• Gather patients together as artmakers, experiencing the healing and integrative power of the nonverbal
• Foster sacred, ritual space where artmaking restores and nurtures the whole person

There is no charge for Sutter Cancer Center patients. For more information and to register, please call the group facilitator Peggy Gulshen, ATR-BC, MFT at (916) 454-6555.

Biofeedback | back to top

Biofeedback training uses simple electronic devices to measure and report information about a person's biological system. Biofeedback training can improve health by teaching a person to consciously regulate bodily functions that are normally unconscious, such as heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. EMG Biofeedback measures muscle activity or muscular tension and can help improve a person's awareness and ability to either activate muscles for strengthening or learn how to relax muscles to decrease tension or spasm. Biofeedback training is particularly useful in treating health conditions where psychological factors are present. This form of healthcare is used for pain relief, stress reduction, insomnia, headache treatment, and muscle injuries with weakness, in-coordination, or abnormal tension.

For more information, contact Risa MacDonald, PT, Ph.D. at (916) 457-8802

Children's Art Therapy Support (CATS) | back to top

The Children's Art Therapy Support Group (CATS) helps children learn to cope with and accept the cancer diagnosis of a loved one through education, peer support and creative art expression.

The goals of the group sessions are to:

• Create a safe, non-threatening space where children can openly express their feelings through art making and verbal sharing
• Provide art activities that help the child move through the emotions associated with family illness
• Reduce common behavioral responses in children who are experiencing a family illness (e.g. sleep disturbance, decreased concentration, regressive behaviors, and changes in school performance)

This 10-week course meets on Tuesdays at the Sutter Cancer Center from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. There is no charge for children whose loved one is a Sutter patient. The group is facilitated by Lyla Tyler, M.S. For more information, please call (916) 454-6555.

Children's Bereavement Art Group | back to top

This peer support group, facilitated by trained art therapists and volunteers, assists grieving children (ages four through 17) in expressing emotions over the recent death of a loved one by utilizing art and other creative outlets.

The goals of the group are to:

• Create safe, sacred space where children and teens can gather with peers to experience validation
• Provide a variety of art media so that participants may express their own unique loss experience in a healthy and constructive way
• Assist the whole family with the grief process through role modeling, normalization and education

This program is provided free of charge to all grieving children and teens in the greater Sacramento region For more information or to register a child, contact Peggy Gulshen, ATR-BC, program coordinator at (916) 454-6555.

Chiropractic | back to top

Chiropractic, which loosely means "to treat by hand," is a type of manipulative therapy that has been practiced in the U.S. for over 100 years. This discipline is based on the premise that function of the joints and muscles around the spine can have a profound effect upon health. Through a complex relationship with the nervous system, problems with vertebral (spinal) joints can result in local neck and back pain and even cause pain to be felt in the head, arms, and legs ("referred" pain). Chiropractors identify these problems in specific joints as chiropractic "subluxations" or "joint dysfunctions. Chiropractic manipulation or adjustments seek to restore normal function to the spine and other joints. Typically, this entails the chiropractor applying a specific, highly-controlled treatment directly to a joint or muscle with his or her hands. When successful, this often reduces or eliminates both local and referred pain, allows muscle spasms to relax, and is thought to remove irritation from the nervous system, which may result in other health benefits.

Chiropractors (referred to as chiropractic physicians in some areas) serve as portals of entry into the healthcare system. This means that a patient may choose to see a chiropractor before seeing any other practitioner. 6 Consequently, chiropractors are trained to perform the same standard orthopedic, neurologic, and physical examination procedures as those performed in traditional allopathic medicine. This enables them to screen their patients for fractures, cancers, and other serious diseases requiring medical treatment.

In addition, chiropractors do a further evaluation of the motion and positioning of spinal and extremity joints, the functions of muscles, and an overall evaluation of posture and movement. Chiropractors usually identify subluxations by carefully evaluating a number of factors. This approach may include assessing points of tenderness, subtle movements of individual joints, the amount of joint "springiness" in response to gentle pressure, altered muscle tone (such as a spasm), and any asymmetry in the feel of the bone or other tissue beneath their fingertips.

Most chiropractors share a philosophy that medications and surgery should be saved as treatments of last resort for many conditions. Chiropractic care also has a history of blending nutritional and other alternative therapies with a natural approach to promoting health through lifestyle modification and exercise. Many modern chiropractors receive additional training in physical rehabilitation and specific exercise therapy that can be useful when treating patients with whiplash injuries, shoulder or knee injuries, or stubborn low back pain. Others make nutritional analysis, botanical therapy, and in some states even acupuncture a significant part of their practices. Other treatment options that chiropractors may employ include traction, supports and braces, and electrotherapies, such as ultrasound, muscle stimulation, and TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation).

For more information, contact Universal Chiropractic at (916) 683-3900.

Dance/Movement Therapy and Creative Rehabilitation | back to top

The Dance/Movement Therapy program offers a variety of programs tailored to the specific needs of patients. The program is directed by Nandi Szabo and includes services covering a range of needs, including:

• Dance Movement Therapy support group for people healing from cancer at Sutter Cancer Center in Sacramento California. This 12-week program uses dance movement and imagery to enhance the healing process. Classes are held at both Sutter Cancer Center and Sutter Davis and require physician approval. Call (916) 457-1966 for more information and registration.

• Private practice offering individual sessions for Dance Movement Therapy and Expressive Therapy.

• Lymphedema Services for individuals and groups sessions geared toward preventing fluid retention and maintaining proper drainage of the lymph system using the Lebed Method®, Focus on Healing through Movement and Dance.

• Creative rehabilitation providing individual and group sessions for those recovering from a major illness and surgery using the Lebed Method™®, Focus on Healing through Movement and Dance.

• Consulting service offered through Creative Interventions in Sacramento. Facilitates in-service training, workshops and retreats for hospitals, corporations, educational groups and social service organizations that focus on employee wellness, stress management, team building and vision planning.

• Community forums of workshops or experiential lectures for the general public using the arts as a healing modality. Subjects include "Movement as Medicine," "The Healing Power of Intentional Movements," "Joy as a Daily Practice," and others.

• Reintegration Services contracting with agencies to help the chronically mentally ill reintegrate into the community.

The programs are designed to reach a range of audiences that include the general public, women with breast cancer, patients recovering from surgery and heart attacks, and people dealing with chronic mental illness, including schizophrenia.

For information about the programs, please call (916) 529-1079.

Family-Patient Counseling Services for Cancer Patients | back to top

Patients and families facing the uncommon stress of a cancer diagnosis and cancer treatments can take advantage of the counseling services and support groups offered through Sutter Cancer Center, Sacramento. The center provides individual and family counseling to assist in reducing the stress of the cancer experience and to enhance the patient's and family's skills at coping with the physical and emotional aspects of the illness. Counseling is provided by Leslie Duket, a licensed healthcare professional who specializes in counseling cancer patients and their families. Sarah Beaudry also provides care through Sutter Hospice/Visiting Nurses Association for those dealing with end-of-life issues.

Within a supportive and confidential environment, patients and families have the opportunity to:

• Learn valuable skills including stress reduction, deep relaxation, and visualization.
• Strengthen coping skills, improve self image, and gain new insights.
• Improve communications within the family, and gain a greater appreciation for each other and the effect cancer has on everyone in the family.

Services are offered at no charge to patients and their families, though donations to the Sutter Cancer Center are welcomed. For more information about counseling services and support groups, please call (916) 454-6866.

Family/Patient Support Groups | back to top

Sutter offers two support groups: one exclusively for patients and another for the patient's family members and caregivers. The groups provide a safe atmosphere for patients and families to learn positive ways to cope with the personal consequences of cancer on the patient and those who are close. The atmosphere of each group emphasizes informality, openness, confidentiality, respect and humor. The ongoing groups are open for new members to join at any time and are facilitated by healthcare professionals who specialize in counseling cancer patients/caregivers.

During group sessions, participants:

• Exchange information, provide support, discover and express feelings
• Learn valuable skills including meditation, visualization, deep relaxation, stress management and assertiveness
• Appreciate the effect cancer has on families and learn how to ease everyone's path
• Examine life patterns and sometimes risk changing those that are unhelpful

There is no charge for attending the support groups, though donations to the Sutter Cancer Center are always welcome. For more information about counseling services and support groups, please call (916) 454-6866.

Healing Touch | back to top

Healing Touch is a holistic energy therapy that emphasizes compassionate, heart-centered care in which the Healing Touch provider and client are equal partners in facilitating health and healing. Healing Touch providers use gentle, non-invasive touch to influence and support the human energy system within and surrounding the body. The goal of Healing Touch is to restore harmony, energy and balance within the human energy system. This goal supports the client's self-healing process of becoming whole in body, mind, emotion and spirit. Healing Touch complements conventional health care and is compatible with all other approaches to health and healing. It is used in many settings to assist with anxiety relief, pain management, and wound healing. Although the course is targeted for nurses, all disciplines of healthcare providers and community are welcomed.

All courses taught according to standardized curriculum of Healing Touch International. Endorsed by the American Holistic Nurses' Association. Nursing CE available. Training is applicable toward certification in Healing Touch practice.

For course information or registration, contact Nursing Education Sutter Medical Center Sacramento at (916) 733-1727.

Insight Meditation Course | back to top

The Beginning Insight Meditation Course is a comprehensive introduction to the world of meditation practice and meditative awareness. The course is a hands_on, experiential program for beginners as well as those more experienced meditators who are interested in revisiting and sharpening their meditation skills. To date, over four hundred (400) individuals have participated in this training.

Insight (Vipassana) Meditation is a process that helps us understand and experience our lives from a more spacious and relaxed perspective and develop wisdom and compassion in our relationships with ourselves, others, and the world around us. It involves the moment_to_moment observation, without judgment, of the mind/body process through calm and focused awareness.

This meditation process develops an increased awareness of our inner life as well as valuable qualities of mind, including concentration, quietness and calmness, the ability to listen deeply, a more spacious approach to problem_solving and relationships, a less personalized and attached view of experience, and greater understanding, kindness, and compassion. The combined affect of these developments expands our capacity to deal with difficult life situations and to experience deeper levels of balance, peace, and happiness.

This course meets on Monday evenings, January 16 through February 13, February 27, March 6 & 8; including a one day retreat on March 4. There is an Administrative and materials fee of $35 and an opportunity for voluntary teaching donation during course sessions.

Instructor: Dennis Warren

For more information, please call (916) 447-9999.

Massage Therapy | back to top

Massage is the practice of applying the hands to the soft tissues of the body, especially the muscles, to help relieve pain, stress, strain; massage therapy can range from gentle contact to deep tissue work. There are many different styles of massage, and while each technique may differ somewhat from the others, they all have the common goal of reducing pain, releasing physical and psychological stress and tension, improving circulation, and promoting healing.

Medical Consultations | back to top

Drs. Maxine Barish-Wreden and Kandeel Judge are board-certified internal medicine specialists who provide an integrated approach to care that combines conventional medical practice with mind-body-spirit practices that enhance the capacity of the individual to heal. Though both are well trained in western medicine and hold great respect for its contributions, they believe that many medical concerns prevalent in our culture can be treated effectively through an integrative approach. They also feel that physical symptoms may be signals that a person's life and body are out of balance and that by listening to and honoring symptoms, the person may discover what is needed to bring about healing. Illness can also be a means for profound spiritual growth and the doctors view illnesses as teachers rather than enemies. Through partnership within the patient and outward to others, patients can explore what is needed to restore balance and wholeness. Tools used to promote change include the power of intention, forgiveness, and committed action to bring hopes and dreams into reality. Each patient receives one-to-one care to explore alternative therapies and to help create a wellness plan that addresses interests, strengths, and needs. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call (916) 733-8713.

Physician's Assistant Joel Grey also incorporates a holistic approach to care in working with patients within the Sutter Medical Group Family Practice Residency Program. As a member of the American Diabetes Association, he provides weekly group medical appointments for patients with diabetes. For information, please call (916) 451-4400.

Meditation | back to top

The meditation and MBSR programs supported by Sutter focus on the development of three sets of skills:

First, learning how to focus our attention in a concentrated and sustained way. This results in our mind becoming calm, stable and peaceful.

Second, consciously cultivating generosity, kindness, compassion, equanimity and patience towards our experience, ourselves and others. This results in our engaging experience, and particularly difficult experiences, in a less judgemental and more spacious and flexible way.

Third, experientially investigating the process of how and why we struggle and suffer in life, including our habits of mind that lead to repeated emotional reactivity. This results in a less personalized view of experience and a more relaxed and wise approach to living, relationship and problem solving.

Meditation and MBSR are used as an adjunct to medical treatment for a host of conditions including but not limited to chronic pain, chronic stress, insomnia, high blood pressure, anxiety disorders including PTSD, and depression and depression relapse.

For more information, contact Dennis Warren at (916) 447-9999.

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Chronic Pain Course | back to top

Chronic stress and pain deform bodies, personalities and the quality of our lives. They have debilitating physical, psychological, and emotional consequences. The Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Chronic Pain Program (MBSR) is an experiential and intensive training program in the use of meditative awareness for entering into a new relationship with these troubling realities facing so many of us.

MBSR offers a powerful, integrated approach to tapping into and mobilizing our inner resources for developing a life_affirming approach to living with chronic stress, pain, and related conditions, such as anxiety, anger, depression, headaches, high blood pressure, sleep disturbances, and gastrointestinal problems. The program is based on the pioneering work of Jon Kabat_Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and featured in Bill Moyers' television special, "Healing and the Mind."

Two decades of published research indicate that the majority of people who complete MBSR courses report:

• an increased ability to relax;
• greater energy and enthusiasm for life;
• an ability to cope more effectively with both short and long_term stressful situations;
• major improvement in pain_related anxiety, depression, hostility, and the tendency to become preoccupied with painful sensations in both body and mind;
• lasting decreases in difficult physical and psychological symptoms; and
• reductions in pain levels with an enhanced ability to cope with pain that may not go way.

This course meets on April 14, Monday evenings April 24 through May 29, and June 6; and includes a one day retreat on May 20.

There is a course fee of $375.00 which includes a course materials and guided meditation and movement instruction on audio tape or cd.

Instructor: Dennis Warren

For more information, please call (916) 447-9999.

Music Therapy | back to top

Sutter patients receiving health care through adult oncology and bone marrow transplant or units of Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento or Sutter Cancer Center have access to music therapy services. Music Therapy is provided by board certified music therapists who have been credentialed by the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT). The program is a free service, generously funded by the Sutter Medical Center Foundation.

Music Therapy is an established health service utilizing music experiences based on a therapeutic relationship that develops with the patient and their families to address physical, cognitive, psychological, emotional and social functioning for improved health and enhanced quality of life. Through this medium, patients and their families may experience benefits that include:

• A decrease in perception of pain and greater effectiveness of pain medication
• Opportunities to deal with grief and their feelings about life-altering events, disability or death
• Resolving conflicts with loved ones
• Ability to increase and foster a positive outlook
• Distraction from uncomfortable procedures
• Improved ability to handle stressors, with a reduction in depression, anxiety and insomnia
• Skills that enable them to use music to reframe difficult experiences and environments or tune out chaos and ambient electronic hospital noise

These outcomes may be achieved by some of the following music experiences, music skills are not required:

• Receptive or passive music listening
• Music improvisation
• Lyric analysis/discussion
• Music combined with imagery
• Relaxation exercises accompanied by live music
• Vocal exercises for increased energy and breathing capacity
• Instrument exploration and learning

For more information about music therapy, visit www.musictherapy.org. For more information about Sutter's Music Therapy programs at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, Music Therapy Services, (916) 733-5824.

Nutrition Counseling for Cancer Patients | back to top

Sutter Cancer Center provides individual and group nutrition counseling to cancer patients who may experience difficulty eating and/or maintaining their weight.

Patients can obtain nutrition advice from a registered dietitian who specializes in counseling cancer patients. With the nutritionist's help, patients learn how to adjust their diet to help manage cancer therapy side effects such as nausea, diarrhea, constipation, mouth sores, loss of appetite, weight loss and/or weight gain. Patients can also learn the healing benefits of a proper diet.

There is no charge to Sutter Cancer Center patients for this service due to the generous support provided through donations to the Sutter Medical Center Foundation. Counseling is available by appointment. For information and scheduling, please contact Nutrition Counselor Sue Hazeghazam, R.D. at (916) 454-6867.

Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation | back to top

Pelvic floor rehabilitation is a specialized physical therapy approach that helps to reduce pain as well as restore strength and function to the muscles of the pelvic floor and the pelvic organs such as the bowel and bladder. It may involve muscle strengthening as well as relaxation, and can be useful for chronic pelvic pain, impaired sexual function, and elimination disorders, including incontinence as well as difficulty emptying the bowels or bladder. Physical therapy hands-on techniques for pelvic floor disorders include internal and external soft tissue mobilization and myofascial release; trigger point massage; visceral and joint manipulation; and pelvic floor muscle retraining with EMG biofeedback. Pelvic floor physical therapy may also include modalities such as ultrasound, electrical stimulation, and cold laser.

For more information, contact Risa MacDonald, PT, PhD at (916) 457-8802.

Pet Therapy | back to top

Research has shown that when people interact with animals, especially animals that they love, this can have a profound effect on their blood pressure, heart rate, and overall well-being; this effect is often more profound than relaxation training or meditation; interaction with pets has also been shown to improve survival after a heart attack. Pet therapy is now used in hospitals and other health care settings to help patients to relax and reduce the anxiety that is often associated with being ill. At Sutter Medical Center, we have 2 facility dogs that are trained by Canine companions to specifically work with inpatient children who are ill.

Our first pet therapy visits started in the February 2002. All our SMCS pet handlers are community volunteers, who have successfully completed training and are members of the Delta Society/Pet Partners program.

Some of the hospital departments receiving the benefits of pet therapy visitation are:

• High Risk Maternity
• Oncology
• STCC
• ICU
• Neurology
• Medical Surgical
• Emergency

Other non-acute Sutter facilities that have also received pet therapy visitation are:

• Sutter Oaks Midtown
• Sutter Senior Care
• Sutter Center for Psychiatry

The visits delivered are not only for the benefit of the patients, but the staff as well! The animals act as stress relief for the staff. Nurses stop to chat and pet for a bit, doctors, too. Confined patients can be dealing with pain, fear, worry, loneliness, and even boredom. The animal visitors are a pleasant break in their routine. Interaction is not only between pet and patient, but the handler, as well. Many touching conversations occur during these calm, petting sessions, ranging from what type of dog they owned, to home and family. The dogs don't ask about medical conditions, or come in to poke and prod, they simply show up as an unexpected surprise to brighten an otherwise routine day of uncertainty. Our staff and handlers often notice instant changes in the patient's demeanor and overall mood. Smiles, a sense of calm, and sometimes a little excitement is seen when the dogs enter the room, and start doing tricks, or slip quietly into bed. Studies have shown that hospital patients who interact with visiting animals have lower blood pressure, less anxiety, and shorter recovery times than other patients. The other plus is the mood enhancer for staff members, the rewarding feeling for the handlers, and finally...the fun for the dogs!

Pediatric Facility Dog Program | back to top

Millie and Hazel

Millie and Hazel, two highly skilled working dogs, provide services to children and families hospitalized at the Children's Center, Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento. Hazel and Millie, along with their handlers, are part of the daily services provided by the Child Life program. They support the patients and families in many ways, including:

• delivering healthy doses of unconditional love
• encouraging physical activity, through petting and brushing, taking the dogs for walks, and playing fetch
• providing distraction to help children cope with pain and illness
• making the hospital a more normal environment

Patients, families and staff who encounter Millie and Hazel benefit from the love and compassion that they bring to the Children's Center every day.

About the practitioners

Hazel is a yellow Labrador and golden retriever mix born on July 4, 2001. Millie is a full yellow Labrador born October 30, 2002. Each trained for more than two years with Canine Companions for Independence and mastered more than 50 specialized commands. Millie and Hazel work alongside professionals who assist them in interacting with patients. Hazel is co-handled by Lisa Ryan, R.N. and Tracy Auble, Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS). Millie is handled by Jennifer Johnson, CCLS.

Naturopathic Medical Practitioner | back to top

Dr. Dennis Godby is a board-certified, primary-care naturopathic doctor. Naturopathic medicine is a distinct, comprehensive system of healthcare that promotes health and prevents disease by emphasizing natural therapies. Patient education and lifestyle modification form the foundation of Dr. Godby's naturopathic medical practice, Diabetes Natural Path Center (DNPC) "Healing Medicine for Mind, Body and Spirit." Dr. Godby diagnoses by taking thorough histories, performing physical exams, and ordering laboratory tests. He utilizes the latest advances in medical science and integrates them with time-tested naturopathic principles and practices. Quality time is spent evaluating the physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual aspects of each person and devising a personalized, practical treatment plan. Some of the therapies used are: nutritional therapy, herbal medicines, exercise, health and lifestyle counseling, hydrotherapy, and homeopathy. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call (916) 446-2591.

Rolfing® | back to top

Rolfing® was founded and created by Dr. Ida P. Rolf in the 1940's and gained popularity in the late 1960's on the coattails of the human potential movement. Dr. Rolf observed the inherent plasticity of the body tissues in living human beings and recognized that this plasticity could get people into difficulty and could also be used to restore them to health.

The widely known results of Rolfing® are achieved by hands on manipulation of the myofascial system of the human body. Myofascial stands for muscle and connective tissue. These tissues are closely interrelated and connected providing structure and form to the human body.

The human body gets into difficulty simply by living life itself. The most common causes of "trouble" include: lifestyle necessities or choices such as working at a keyboard, ballet dancing or running marathons; common minor genetic abnormalities such as flat feet, "knock" knees, "bow" legs, leg length discrepancies and spinal curvatures; physical trauma such as automobile accidents, sports injuries, falls etc., and lastly our emotional makeup necessarily manifests in our posture and quality of movement People experience the effects from the various causes as chronic aches and pains, postural misalignment, poor sleep patterns, emotional stress, fatigue and so on.

Mainly the myofascial tissues in the human body react to various injuries, stress, habits etc. by shortening and thickening according to the stresses that are placed on them. Rolfing® Practitioners visually and manually locate the shortenings and thickenings in the tissues and sensitively apply hands on pressure to lengthen and restore the tissues to their optimal consistency and position returning the person to their innate resilience and potential.

Rolfing® Practitioners have a keen eye for balancing and organizing the whole human structure that takes years of practice to refine. It is the Rolfer's ability to work with the whole body as a structural system that gives Rolfing® its reputation for unparalleled relief and improvement in the quality of every aspect of living. For additional information contact: Robert B. Robinson Certified Advanced Rolfing® Practitioner at (916) 447-4329

Sexuality Counseling | back to top

If you have sexual concerns, questions you feel you can't ask anyone or just need to sit with someone who will not judge you for your sexual issues, you need to speak with a specially trained sexuality counselor. If you are recovering from surgery which impacts your sexual function, have sexual dysfunctions due to medication or difficulty in any area of your intimate life, being afraid to address your problems only intensifies them. Making the call to get help moves you closer to taking control back no matter what has occurred in your life to make you feel powerless over your sexual self. There are answers, there is help…you just have to ask for it.

For more information, contact Fran Fisher, RN, PhD at (916) 791-8426.

Spiritual Care | back to top

In keeping with Sutter's philosophy of total care, Spiritual Care Services addresses the spiritual concerns raised during times of illness and meets the spiritual and emotional needs of patients and their families. The multi-faith staff visits with patients and families to support them during crisis , grief or stress and when making difficult medical decisions. During that time, a chaplain may listen, offer prayer , perform anointings or blessings , provide guided meditation or relaxation exercises, read religious materials, and talk about the impact of illness on a patient's life.

Sutter Spiritual Care supports all faith traditions. Under the leadership of Reverend Lisa Nordlander , program chaplains include Reverend Norris Burkes, Laura Keller and Father James Sheets.

Patients and families who would like to a chaplain to visit can speak with their nurse or call extension 38848, (916) 733-8848 from outside the hospital. All chaplains provide regular services from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily, Monday through Friday. On-call emergency services are provided 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

Chapels are available at Sutter General and Sutter Memorial Hospitals for prayer and quiet reflection. Religious reading material is also available. Click here for additional information about Spiritual Care Services.

Yoga | back to top
Yoga is an ancient practice originating in India in the second century B.C. that teaches a way of life emphasizing the principle of mind-body unity: when the mind is calm and focused, the health of the body is optimized, and when the body is strong and supple, then mental and spiritual well-being are optimized. There are a number of different well-known yoga practices; the most widely known is hatha yoga which includes a variety of physical postures, breathing techniques, and meditative practices. Yoga is thought to benefit one's general health, vitality, and peace of mind.