Touch, Perception, and Clinical Experience in Osteopathic Care:
Perspectives from Neuroscience, Medical
Anthropology and Indigenous Epistemologies
Post-Conference Workshop (eintägig, auf Englisch)
München: 15. Juni 2025
This one-day course combines theoretical foundations, practical applications, and structured professional
discussions. It is designed for practitioners who wish to rely on evidence-informed theoretical frameworks to
describe, interpret, and articulate their clinical perceptions within a person-centered osteopathic practice. The
course is also accessible to practitioners who may be less familiar with such perceptual dimensions, particularly in
cranial osteopathy.
Dozent: Rafael Zegarra-Parodi
Rafael Zegarra-Parodi is an osteopath of French and Peruvian background, practicing in Paris since 1999. He is a member of the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) in the UK and has been involved in osteopathic education and research for over 20 years. He is the author of 35 indexed scientific publications, and has an h-index of 11.
He was a full-time researcher at the A.T. Still Research Institute (Kirksville, USA) from 2012 to 2014 and has been affiliated with the institute since then. He also served as an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine (IJOM) from 2014 to 2024.
He currently teaches osteopaths in Europe and the United States, with the aim of strengthening the coherence between clinical practice and current research findings. His recent work focuses on an updated understanding of the osteopathic principle of unity—“Body-Mind-Spirit”—a Native American cultural heritage officially reintroduced by the American osteopathic profession in 2002. Drawing on the tools of medical anthropology, he offers practical guidelines for better understanding and integrating this principle into contemporary, rigorous, and personcentered practice.
Married to a Swiss citizen, he embraces an international and intercultural vision of health, while remaining rooted in the specificities of osteopathy. He is also a co-founder of the BMS Formation, a Qualiopi-certified continuing education organization founded in 2019 to support recent graduates and teachers in developing evidence-based practice models that are compatible with osteopathic principles and suited to the current demands of the healthcare system.
Inhalt
The course introduces concepts from medical anthropology to explore the diversity of body representations in health and illness, using Indigenous epistemologies as illustrative examples of non-materialist representations. These perspectives are examined in relation to Native American influences documented in the early history of osteopathy and their resonance with the contemporary Body–Mind–Spirit osteopathic tenet. The objectives are to support a clearer understanding and articulation of clinically reported phenomena and lived
experiences described by both patients and practitioners, improve communication with patients and other health professionals, and promote an ethically grounded use of perceptual and experiential dimensions in contemporary osteopathic practice.
Target audience: Licensed osteopaths
Duration: 8 hours – 1 full day
Schedule: 9:00 am–1:00 pm / 2:00 pm–6:00 pm
Format: In-person
Teaching methods: Theoretical input, guided practical sessions, analysis of clinical situations, professional peer-to-peer supervision
Assessment: MCQ + supervised self-assessment
Validation: Certificate of workshop completion
Zu erwartende Lernergebnisse
At the end of the workshop, each participant will be able to:
- - Critically describe clinical perceptions reported by patients and observed by practitioners
- - Situate bodily perceptions in light of contemporary neurosciences
- - Understand the contribution of medical anthropology and Indigenous epistemologies to the history and practice
of osteopathy - - Strengthen the therapeutic alliance by integrating practitioner perceptions with the patient’s lived experience
- - Communicate more effectively with other healthcare professionals about osteopaths’ specific professional
competencies
Session 1 – 9:00 am to 11:00 am
Theoretical and scientific foundations: touch, perception, and explanatory frameworks
Theoretical frameworks
- - Introduction to evidence-informed osteopathic practice (Evidence-Informed Practice)
- - History of osteopathy: sociocultural contexts of its origins in the USA
- - Key concepts in medical anthropology: diversity of representations of the body, health, and disease
- - Indigenous epistemologies: non-materialist approaches to the body and resonances with the contemporary Body–Mind–Spirit osteopathic tenet
Professional supervision
- - Guided peer exchanges on representations of touch and perception in daily practice
- - Critical analysis of benefits, limitations, and clinical risks
Self-assessment
- - Identification of mobilized competencies (perception, reasoning, professional posture)
- - Presentation of self-questionnaires designed to describe patients’ lived experiences and practitioners’
observations (qualitative research approach)
Session 2 – 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
Neurosciences, perception, and therapeutic alliance
Theoretical frameworks
- - Neuroscientific bases of bodily awareness: interoception, proprioception, exteroception
- - Neuroscience of perception applied to therapeutic touch
- - Role of contextual and relational factors in the clinical experience
Practical applications
- - Observation and analysis of clinical situations focused on interoceptive manual techniques
Professional supervision
- - Sharing of clinical experiences: (1) influence of the therapeutic attitude on perceptions during interoceptive
manual approaches (2) influence of temporary meditative states on perceptions during interoceptive manual
approaches - -Linking theory, practice, and professional experience
Session 3 – 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Touch, manual techniques, and perceptual experiences
Theoretical frameworks
- - Critical reflection on historical models of practice in cranial osteopathy
Practical implementation
- - Practical session: interoceptive touch with modulation of the therapeutic attitude: (1) modulation of the
therapeutic attitude with induction of a temporary meditative state and assessment of its influence on perceptions
during interoceptive manual approaches from a Western perspective (2) modulation of the therapeutic attitude with
induction of a temporary meditative state and assessment of its influence on perceptions during interoceptive
manual approaches from a Native American Indigenous perspective - - Completion of self-questionnaires to describe practitioners’ and patients’ lived experiences
Self-assessment
- - Identification of mobilized competencies (perception, reasoning, professional posture)
- - Completion of self-questionnaires to describe patients’ lived experiences and practitioners’ observations (qualitative research)
Session 4 – 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Clinical applications of the workshop content
Theoretical frameworks
- - Synthesis: integrating perceptions, neurosciences, and sociocultural/experiential frameworks into contemporary
osteopathic practice - - Critical and ethical use of experiential dimensions and neurosciences (Western monophasic use versus
Indigenous polyphasic use)
Professional supervision
- - Presentation of clinical cases or issues brought by participants
- -Collective clinical case analysis combining practitioner experience, contemporary neuroscientific knowledge, and careful consideration of patient experience and cultural context
Workshop validation
- - End-of-workshop MCQ
- - Certificate of workshop completion issued to each participant
Veranstaltungsort
Unser Post-Conference Workshop findet im ehemaligen Kloster St. Anton, in der Kapuzinerstraße 38, mitten in München statt. Heute beherbergt das ehemalige Kloster das Institut für publizistische Ausbildung, ifp. Ruhig nahe der Isar gelegen, finden sich hier zahlreiche Lokale in unmittelbarer Nähe.
Teilnehmende können auf Wunsch im ehemaligen Kloster in einem der 24 Gästezimmer, alle mit Dusche/WC und WLAN ausgestattet, auch übernachten.
Teilnahmegebühren
Unser Frühbucher-Rabatt gilt bis 31. März 2026.
Bitte beachte die Möglichkeit, den Post-Conference Workshop zusammen mit unserem
RIO-Kongress "Spiritualität und Gesundheit" zu buchen und von den Ermäßigungen zu profitieren!
- Post-Conference-Workshop 245 EUR
(Frühbucher bis 31. März)
- Post-Conference-Workshop 275 EUR
regulär
- Kongress + P.-C.-Workshop 640 EUR
(Frühbucher bis 31. März)
- Kongress + P.-C.-Workshop 720 EUR
regulär
Bitte beachte:
Der Workshop findet auf Englisch statt und wird nicht übersetzt.
Falls du Interesse an einer Übernachtung im ehemaligen Kloster St. Anton (ifp Institut für publizistische
Ausbildung e. V.) von Sonntag auf Montag hast, dann setze dich bitte mit uns in Verbindung.
Auch falls du weitere Fragen zum Post-Conference Workshop hast, kontaktiere uns bitte unter: info@rio-osteopathie.de
Anmeldung
Deine Anmeldung erfolgt über unseren Ticketing-Partner Streavent:
www.spiritualitaet-und-gesundheit.streavent.de
Pücklerstrasse 39 • 10997 Berlin
Tel. +498421-934546 • E-Mail info@rio-osteopathie.de