A bodywork area in need of some critical thinking: "NSA"

by Elaine
(Santa Cruz, CA)

I'm not an MT, just a massage client. Recently I had the misfortune to come across a massage therapist who was promoting something called "Network Spinal Analysis" (or "NSA"), apparently the latest buzzword in chiropractic. It also now has added to it something called SRI, or "somato-respiro-integration."

As I sat waiting for the MT in the so-called "entrainment room," the chiropractor of the office was literally waving her arms over her clients in an exaggerated pantomime, often not even touching them. (There were many clients all in one room, all face-down on tables; this is supposedly, I read later, because the "energy" of one helps cure the others. But it was obvious to me that it was an easy way to maximize profits). It was supposedly "energy healing" and the room had a sign on the door proclaiming, "You are entering a "sacred space."

The practice was in an upscale area of town, the chiropractor was a chic and well-dressed woman, and the clients looked upscale (and, to me, dumb for being duped by this).

I googled NSA later and was appalled to find only one article in the press that even dared to hint at trying to expose it as snake oil. It was from 2002. Since then, there's been nothing, as this area has apparently taken hold due to the successful marketing efforts of its founder, Donald Epstein.

Below are (a) Epstein's official website (he is now well-known throughout the chiropractic community and apparently regarded as a genius-cum-guru), and (b) the 2002 story (from the East Bay Express, a well-regarded source of in-depth journalism in the SF Bay Area), respectively.

This is an area that is in sore need of some critical thinking by everyone - clients and practitioners - IMO. It is apparently being swallowed whole by the public at large.

www.donaldepstein.com


www.eastbayexpress.com/eastbay/wellness-war/Content?oid=1067051

The MT I went to was insisting that I needed these NSA sessions and that I needed to go at least twice a week in the beginning.

If you google this you'll find several reviews on Amazon of the book by the founder, stating that there's a cultlike atmosphere surrounding it and that the chiros put pressure on people to have treatment several times a week; that they cause pain in the clients' bodies, which they then attribute variously to "the healing process" or the client's "resistance"; etc.

I realize that from my description it sounds like some sort of far-out cult that most people needn't concern themselves with. But what is shocking to me is that it apparently had become THE "in" modality in chiropractic today - taught in schools, lots of testimonials from reputable sources (although if you read the fine print you'll see there's no real proof that it works), virtually no exposing of it anywhere as bs, etc.

This to me is scary, and I saw this blog topic as a way to try to bring it to the public's eye.

Elaine (massage client)