Visceral Manipulation

Bruce Schonfeld and Jean-Pierre Barral, 2000

“Always, we must listen to the body…”

– Jean-Pierre Barral, DO

Visceral Manipulation is a form of manual therapy that addresses the anatomical and energetic relationships of the body’s organs. It is organ-specific fascial mobilization. Just like the more familiar joints of the body, our organs are designed to move against neighboring tissues; they slide and glide and have normal range of motion. When a range of motion becomes compromised; whether on account of illness, injury, surgery or trauma; the body gets stuck and is forced to move around the restriction. In time, this creates a domino-like effect as the rest of the body compensates and shortens while trying to protect the underlying fixation.

Like a big snag in a sweater, the strain incrementally spreads outward across the very fabric of the body. Visceral restrictions are often the unexamined root of physical compensations and adaptations, as their musculoskeletal attachments and influences are structurally significant.

Bruce Schonfeld and Jean-Pierre Barral, 2022
Definitions for visceral manipulation, neural manipulation, and new manual articular approach