Comprehensive Manual Therapy
Advanced manual therapy to restore, revitalize and realign
Comprehensive Manual Therapy is rooted in osteopathic understanding and honors the body as an interconnected, intelligent whole. Through gentle, precise touch—including craniosacral techniques—your practitioner listens to the body’s stories of strain and stillness, inviting greater flow, balance, and ease. Many people notice not only physical relief, but also a quiet settling that reaches through the whole system.
Theoretical Approach –
Form & Function
There is a long-standing principle that links the physiological function of our body with the integrity of its physical form. The way the structures of our bodies relate can either promote or limit the health and function of our systems and, ultimately, our experience of ourselves as whole living beings.
Our bodies express a constant interplay between structure and function. The organization of our bones, fascia, muscles, organs, and liquids directly shapes how our internal systems perform. The nervous, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, lymphatic, and subtle energetic networks all depend on the integrity of this relationship. When these systems are in harmony, the body’s natural intelligence can express itself freely, supporting resilience and well-being.
The purpose of Comprehensive Manual Therapy is to gently clear the structural obstacles that limit healthy movement, optimal physiological function, reduce pain and overall ease in the body. By supporting your body’s natural alignment, your system can return to the balance it’s designed for. When the structures and systems within us function in harmony, we experience greater vitality, resilience to stress, and a deeper sense of wellbeing. This creates the nourishing energy and health we need to fully engage with our lives and move toward creating the life we genuinely desire.
Treatment Philosophy
Your health history and reasons for seeking treatment guide your practitioner in using Comprehensive Manual Therapy techniques, which prioritize restoring the relationship of form and physiology, structure to function—especially the dialogue between the musculoskeletal system, viscera and organs, the fluids, and the nervous system.
Sessions are performed with you fully clothed in comfortable attire (for example, soft pants or shorts and a T-shirt). Using manual palpation— “listening” through the hands—your practitioner assesses the vitality, mobility, and qualities of your body’s structures, including subtle craniosacral movements, creating a “dialogue with the tissues” that shapes the session.
Professional Scope
All sessions are offered by Colorado Licensed Massage Therapists practicing under their Massage Therapy licensure with the State of Colorado. Their manual techniques are informed by advanced manual osteopathic training and diplomas from the Canadian College of Osteopathy. These services are complementary to—and not a substitute for—the medical care you receive from your physicians and other licensed healthcare providers.
David Schwartz
D.O.M.P. (CAN), LMT, Comprehensive Manual Therapist and Co-Founder of Boulder Bodyworks
David Schwartz has been practicing manual therapy since 1993, with over three decades of hands-on experience helping people recover from injury and improve their overall well-being. His early career focused on clients recovering from motor-vehicle accidents and athletic injuries, which naturally led him toward more advanced and holistic forms of bodywork.
Over the years, David has immersed himself in a wide range of advanced manual therapies. He has trained in Neuromuscular Therapy (St. John Method), Myofascial Release, Craniosacral Therapy, and Visceral Manipulation. From 1997 to 1999, he mentored with a Certified Advanced Rolfer, refining his understanding of structure, alignment, and the body’s adaptive patterns.
Seeking a deeper, more comprehensive framework, David attended the Canadian College of Osteopathy in Toronto from 2000 to 2007. After completing his thesis in 2010, he was awarded his Diploma in Osteopathic Manual Practice (D.O.M.P.), a program that includes extensive training in craniosacral therapy, visceral manipulation, muscle energy techniques, and myofascial work, as well as a rigorous study of anatomy, physiology, and the body’s natural capacity to heal.
At Boulder Bodyworks, David offers Comprehensive Manual Therapy, integrating these approaches to support structural alignment, enhance physiological function, and help clients regain a sense of balance and ease. Sessions are tailored to the individual—whether someone is recovering from an injury, navigating chronic tension, or seeking to maintain overall wellness.
David practices in Colorado as a Licensed Massage Therapist, providing manual therapy under his massage therapy license with the State of Colorado. His manual techniques are informed by his advanced manual osteopathic training in Canada. He is not a physician or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine and does not diagnose or prescribe; instead, his work is focused, quiet, and attentive, aimed at supporting the body’s intrinsic self-correcting mechanisms so clients can move through life with less pain and greater vitality.
Elizabeth McClain
D.O.M.P., Comprehensive Manual Therapist
Elizabeth offers manual therapy sessions that utilize techniques from the Canadian College of Osteopathy, Hendrickson Method®, Manual Therapy, Chi Gung practices and Soul Answer Healing®. In November 2015, she received her Diploma of Osteopathic Manual Practice (DOMP) and Diploma in the Science of Osteopathy (DScO) from the Canadian College of Osteopathy (Toronto).
Sessions are designed around each individual’s needs and may focus on restoring the function of the musculoskeletal system, rebalancing the central nervous system, normalizing joint mobility, restoring the function of the cranio-sacral system, or utilizing the deep emotional work of Soul Answer Healing and Feeding Your Demons©.
Elizabeth has been a massage therapist since 1994 and an employee of BoulderBodyworks since 2006. She is continually amazed at the interweaving of the human body, mind, emotion and spirit; and she is honored to witness the journey of Life.
Elizabeth is a licensed Massage Therapist and a graduate of the Canadian College of Osteopathy. She is not a physsician, D.O., or a licensed medical provider.
“I am the kind of person who pushes my body to its limits. Granted my limits are not Olympian. However, I know how to work too hard, play too hard, and inevitably hurt myself. I used to think pain was a normal part of living. I have had multiple surgeries and now live with a patchwork of scar tissue. Before I began working with David Schwartz, I had learned not to have high expectations of changing my body. Through his work, David has helped me live a fuller and healthier life.”
– Kitty Edwards