Counterstrain was first developed as “Strain-Counterstrain” by Dr. Lawrence Jones, DO in the 1950s, rather by accident. He had a patient who did not respond to HVLA techniques (commonly used in chiropractic practices) for low back pain. This patient could not find a comfortable position to sleep in. Dr. Jones helped find a comfortable position for his patient to sleep in during a visit, and let him remain there for a few minutes while he tended to another patient. When Dr. Jones returned, his patient’s pain was gone.

Since that time, Counterstrain has been further developed by a small handful of Dr. Jones’ certified instructors and recent practitioners. Most notably for Dr. Matt’s practice are Brian Tuckey, PT, who developed the Fascial Counterstrain form of the technique, and Tim Hodges, LMT.

Counterstrain is important to me (Dr. Matt) personally because I believe in the healing power of informed hands-on therapies and direct human touch.

Counterstrain is important to my practice because manual medicine has always been a key aspect of Ayurvedic medicine. The traditional Ayurvedic manual technique is called marma chikitsa, which I also use in my practice. Marma chikitsa, however, is not widely practiced in the modern day, and thorough education on marma chikitsa is hard to come by.

Counterstrain is very similar to marma chikitsa in a lot of important ways, and because of this it blends well with both marma chikitsa and the other aspects of my practice.

The usefulnes and scope of Counterstrain is widespread. I care for conditions from chronic knee and joint injuries to scar tissue (from injury or surgery), migraine headaches, whiplash, constipation, concussions, pain from Ehlers-Danlos and other connective tissue disorders, and many conditions. In one case, a patient was able to avoid surgery for appendicitis after treatment with antibiotics. We used Counterstrain to clear the remaining inflammation in that area. There’s a lot that we can do with Counterstrain!

Foundational Courses: Foundations of Fascial Counterstrain (F1), Neural Upper Quadrant (N1), Myochains and Spinal Ligs (MS1), Periosteal Dysfunction (MS2), Lymphatic Venous Combined (2014), Arterial Dysfunction (AR), Cartilage / SF dysfunction (MS3), Neural Lower Quadrant (N2), Epidural Ligament Supplemental (N1 SUP), Visceral (VS), Adipose, Tendon-lymphatic Chains

Counterstrain Mastery Programs: CS Virtual Convention 2020, Counterstrain Convention 2019, CS Virtual Convention 2021, CS Convention 2023, CSA Module 1 Intro: Counterstrain and the Cranial Scan, CSA Module 3: Counterstrain for the Lymphatic/Venous System