Benjamin Shield, Ph.D.

Certified Advanced Rolfing

I am proud to be a Certified Advanced Rolfer. I have been in love with this work since 1971 and have had an active Rolfing practice since 1982. During this time, I have continued to develop my knowledge and clinical expertise as a Rolfer.

Rolfing, also known as The Rolf System of Structural Integration, is a unique system of aligning the body with a focus on treating the soft tissue. Soft tissue includes the body’s muscles, fascia, tendons, and ligaments. Treatment is performed manually and in the least intrusive manner possible. Rolfing aligns the body by organizing the soft tissue. As the soft tissue is brought into alignment, there is a positive influence of the skeletal system brought into balance. Rolfing has been utilized successfully for chronic pain, improvement of posture, enhanced athletic performance, and achieving a greater sense of ease, comfort, and movement.

I am proud of the reputation Rolfing has in the fields of structural manipulation and personal growth. I have been a privileged witness of Rolfing being the basis of many bodywork systems that followed and the way that Rolfing has served to elevate the entire field of bodywork. I have deep respect for my Rolfing colleagues, both current and past, and of their accomplishments within Rolfing and in the world.

As with anything of deep significance, it has been important to me to take the best of what Rolfing has to offer, and like others practitioners, make it my own. I am not a traditional Rolfer in the sense of strictly incorporating the 10-session series. My passion and focus has been more clinically oriented to treat the specific conditions that the client brings into the session. I seek out the most effective ways to get clients out of pain and support the work throughout the structure to keep them out of pain.

I am a ‘minimalist’ in that my goal is to treat with the fewest sessions possible. Each client comes in with unique structure and conditions and each session is individualized by building on was has been achieved in the prior sessions.

From the time I was 19 years old, I had the experience of being Rolfed. I was so inspired by my own results that I chose to become a Rolfer and dedicate myself to this transformational experience. Rolfing changed and continues to change my life. It has been my joy to share this work with others.