Strain-counterstrain (Jones)

Domain X · Body, movement, breath & physical · Lawrence H. Jones · 1955

What it is

Items A1 to A6 are the practitioner's procedures. They are described so the psychotherapist can explain them to clients and recognise proper practice; they are not instructions for performing manual work. Items B1 to B7 are the psychotherapist's own interventions.

Format

• Course of treatment (as published)
• Course length. No standard session count appears in the primary teaching sources. One trial used three sessions a week for four weeks as its research protocol, which is not a clinical norm. Recurrent tender points are to be addressed through posture, stress management, exercise, sleep and lifestyle.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Who delivers it, and how they are regulated
• United States. Counterstrain is part of osteopathic manipulative medicine taught to osteopathic physicians (DOs), who are licensed physicians. Jones Institute seminars are open to “health care professionals”. Its site lists certified practitioners with physical-therapy and massage-therapy backgrounds (credential suffix JSCC or JSCCI). A certificate from a technique school is not a licence: the regulator is the board…
• United Kingdom. “Osteopath” is a protected title under section 32 of the Osteopaths Act 1993. Using it, or implying it (e.g. “osteopathic techniques”), without registration with the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) is a criminal offence. UK osteopathic training usually involves a degree with “at least 1,000 hours of clinical training”. Physiotherapists (HCPC), chiropractors (General Chiropractic Council) and…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status (brief). A systematic review with meta-analysis (Wong et al., 2014) examined whether counterstrain reduces tender-point palpation pain compared with control conditions. Trials are small and mixed. For example, one 2025 randomised trial in chronic low back myofascial pain (30…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• clients attributing new symptoms to a healing crisis and delaying care.
• a client agreeing in order to please you; your own enthusiasm for body methods outrunning the evidence.
• the client's consent sounding scripted; the client planning to dissociate through it. Either is a reason to postpone.
• practitioners who discourage medical care, promise to cure psychological problems, or refuse to explain their training.
• self-blame; the client feeling bound to protect a likeable practitioner. Also follow any safeguarding duties of your own.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.