About Us
Caro O'Neill
Caro O'Neill (CST-D, MSc, MCSS) has been a practicing CranioSacral Therapist for over 25 years. She completed the core curriculum with the Upledger Institute in 2004 and continued to train in paediatrics which continues to be a significant part of her clinic work.
Alongside her practice she supports students with their ongoing learning as a study group leader and mentor and is currently apprenticing to be an instructor for the Upledger Institute.
Caro attained an MSc in Gestalt Psychotherapy with The Metanoia Institute, London in 2022 which she integrates with her Craniosacral and Somatoemotional release work.
Caro was born and raised in rural Devon where she returned to live and work in 2002 with her family. She is a lover of coastal walking, sea swimming and the natural world and has a strong belief in the power of human connection and our innate ability to heal.
Caroline Barrow
Caroline has been running the Upledger Institute in the UK, which organises all the Upledger CranioSacral Therapy classes in this country, since 2010. Prior to that, and now alongside, she runs the College of Body Science, teaching anatomy, physiology and pathology for complementary therapists. Much of this in now online with live check-in sessions, which she has found is an amazing way to support students’ learning.
She is currently the Chair of the Cranio Sacral Society, the practitioner organisation for Upledger Institute qualified CranioSacral Therapists. Being a director for Upledger Community Programmes completes the triad of teaching CST, supporting practitioners and then getting it out into the world further and especially to those that might otherwise not be able to benefit.
She gained a first-class degree in Psychology and Computer Science from Exeter University and later a Biochemical Science degree from King’s College London. She keeps threatening a PhD but can’t quite figure out how to fit it in!
She lives in Brighton with her two teenage boys and can usually be found by the side of their football pitches on a Sunday... An unanticipated experience of parenthood!
Richard Frost
Since July 2024 Richard has been living and working in Bengaluru, India in his role as Business Director with SCOOT Wheelchairs.
Richard has more than 30 years’ experience in the Assistive Technology (AT) sector, primarily in wheelchair and seating services. Richard is one of the founders of the UK based charity Motivation. Over 27 years Richard was CEO of Motivation and worked extensively on the design, manufacture and distribution of wheelchairs and seating products to more than 120 countries worldwide.
Since leaving Motivation in 2017, Richard has been working as an independent consultant both in the AT sector and in the strategic management and growth of charities and social enterprises through the Lloyds Bank Foundation.
As a consultant Richard has supported innovators and entrepreneurial start-ups from many countries to develop and build new approaches to products, services and training to create social impact. Richard currently has 3 board positions with social impact organisations.
Richard personally experienced the benefits and impact of Cranio-Sacral Therapy in 1996 and claims, ‘it changed his life overnight’, and has been involved with Upledger Programmes CIC since its inception.
Andy Coates
Andy is a qualified chartered accountant who has worked in the not for profit sector for the last thirty years at a range of organisations, mainly focussed on the environmental sector. He is currently head of finance at Greenpeace UK, a role he has held for twelve years, and prior to that was chief operating officer of a small London based charity that made television programmes about environmental and development issues.
He has been a trustee and director of a number of small charities and not for profit organisations in recent years, which has enabled him to share his financial knowledge and experience more widely.
He is married to a cranio sacral practitioner and they live in north London with their teenage son and dog.
Our Mission
To continue to build on the well established work of the Dr John E Upledger Foundation in the USA. The 5 day intensive therapy model was born from the realisation that veterans coming home from Vietnam was severely under supported and traumatised. Since 1988 100's of programmes have been run focusing on autistic spectrum disorder, brain and spinal cord injures, learning disabilities, post traumatic stress disorder, post concussion disorder and Alzheimers. Our mission is to continue this work by:
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Providing Upledger CranioSacral treatment for those who need it via intensive therapy programmes or one to one treatment sessions.
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Building on the bank of research to help evidence the efficacy or CST by running pilot studies and collating data from IPs. This in turn helps build confidence in this therapy as an effective modality for certain conditions.
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By running intensive Programmes for therapists we are providing ongoing support and treatment for our therapist community, improving their skills set which makes them more qualified and confident practitioners. These programmes are paid for by the therapists which helps provide funding for other free programmes.
Our Vision
We would like to make CST available to those who do not have access to funds for private health care. This can be done by fund raising, collaborating with other charities, running paid programmes that charge for services. Those funds are then used to finance treatment for others. We encourage the "pay it forward" model that emerged from one of our first programmes. Participants were so inspired by their experience on an intensive therapy programme that they crowd funded and fund raised for other groups to attend the following years. This creates ongoing success for past participants who feel empowered and want to do something to give back to their community and offers the opportunity for others to attend therapy.
We believe in the innate wisdom of the human body to heal itself, given the right set of circumstances. Our vision is to help people tap into that 'super power' and help them take back control of their health. Good physical and emotional health is such an important factor in the overall wellbeing and quality of life that it should be a societal priority. We see a need for change within the healthcare system and know there is great benefit in handing power over health back to the individual. We are also aware that more research is needed to know more about who would benefit most from CST. Good quality clinical research is at the forefront of our mission.
Ultimately our vision is for people to know that CST is a health care approach worth their trust and consideration.