Client Testimonials

I found out about Rolfing four years ago while searching for a way to help with back pain caused by scoliosis and sitting at a desk all day. I decided to try it out based on all of the positive things I read online and I have not been disappointed. I didn’t notice any drastic results right away but after several sessions my normal began to shift from discomfort and pain in my back to not noticing it at all. My scoliosis also became less noticeable and a family member that I had not seen in a while commented that I looked taller. I have continued to do sessions every month or two to keep everything where it’s supposed to be and to take care of new issues that come up, whiplash being one of them. Allison is an intelligent, caring person who is dedicated to her work. She has taken the time to learn about me and give me advice on how to prevent issues from coming back. She is also trained in other practices such as yoga and craniosacral therapy which she has used to enhance her work on me. I highly recommend Allison to anyone who is considering trying out Rolfing.

I first came to Allison for help recovering from a leg injury. I had torn my calf muscle on an easy run. I was beginning to believe that my injury, slow recovery and multitude of deep aches and pains were just symptoms of getting older and that I should resign myself to lowering my expectations about how healthy feels at forty years old. After seeing Allison for a little over six months, my tune has seriously changed. I have experienced profound changes in the way I feel, look and move. My body has never felt more like home than it does today. A strong, stable, relaxed, grounded and flexible home. Allison possesses an amazing amount of wisdom about the structure, alignment and kinesiology of the human body. I will be forever grateful that our paths have crossed.

What first brought me to Allison was a right hip issue. While teaching a group exercise class, I could no longer demonstrate lunges because it was so painful. A friend recommended I see Allison and explained what Rolfing was to me. I had NEVER heard of it before, and even had to ask my friend how to spell it. At this point, I had been teaching exercise classes for 20 years, and had 3 C-section deliveries within the last 5 years. All these factors, plus daily life stress, led up to my hip issue. I asked around to see if anyone else I knew had heard of Rolfing. The ones who had responded with “Man – that is excruciating, but totally worth it!” As much as my hip hurt, I really wasn’t interested in MORE pain to fix the problem. I called Allison after checking out her website, explained my issue, and asked her to please be up-front about the level of pain. If it was as bad as everyone else said it was, then I would find a different solution. Allison said on a scale of 1-10, most clients would say the intensity is never more than a 4. Okay, I thought, I can handle a 4, so I set an appointment. I have told the story of my first appointment with Allison MANY times – it is something I will never forget. I had not told my husband about the appointment, afraid he would not be supportive. I was also still skeptical, but figured I had nothing to lose. Allison did an initial assessment, asking lots of questions, then watched me walk back & forth. When she had me lie down on the massage table, she started messing with my right foot. It felt as if one of my kids was gently poking me to get my attention. In my head I thought, “Oh great! This is it? My husband is going to kill me if he finds out I spent money to get my foot poked. What does my foot have to do with my hip? Not sure why other people said it was excruciating – it doesn’t feel like she’s doing anything.” Then Allison broke my internal conversation and asked me to walk again. The moment I stood up from that table, my right foot went flat against the ground, my hip shot back in place, and I could stand up without any pain. It felt like a miracle, and I was completely sold on Rolfing and Allison’s expertise. I know others have not had as dramatic of an experience, but anyone I have ever referred to Allison has had a positive experience working through their own muscle & alignment issues WITHOUT experiencing excruciating pain - including my husband ☺ WHAT KEEPS ME COMING BACK: A painful issue got me in the door, but Allison's ability to help me create muscle symmetry is what keeps me as a client. Having Allison's help to keep my alignment intact allows me to live an active lifestyle without ''working through pain." Whether it is teaching classes, going on hikes with the family, playing tennis, or enjoying the occasional run, I want to enjoy ALL these activities and more without complaining about back / hip / knee / foot / shoulder, or any other kind of pain for as long as I can. Allison is a remarkable in many ways. She is an excellent listener, and is incredibly thoughtful & gentle in her recommendations. I always feel "lifted up" after leaving a session with her, never beaten down by what I haven't done right. I'm constantly amazed at her passion for further education in her field, and feel I always benefit from the latest research and techniques in regards to Rolfing. I am very proud to have been one of Allison's clients for the past 5 years, and would whole-heartedly recommend her services to anyone looking to bring balance to their bodies.

I have been going to Allison since early 2011. At that time, I was 55 years old and it seems when you get older your body does not respond as it did twenty years earlier. Being in the amusement business from my early 20s moving pool tables, pinballs, etc. I had plenty of time to abuse my body as well as gain additional  weight due my metabolism slowing down over the years. In my early 40’s, I started to go to a chiropractor for my back aches as well as have an occasional massage, which only provided me temporary relief. In my late 40s, I partially tore both meniscuses simultaneously when I sat back on my legs cleaning a floor. I went to an orthopedic doc who wanted to use the knife. I decided otherwise and just dealt with the pain. A few years later I tried Synvisc to lubricate my knee joints. That provided temporary relief for a few years but the pain never completely went away. I exercised less because of my knees and got to weigh more than I had ever before. About a year before I went to Allison, I decided that to help my knees I would lose weight through diet and exercise. In the mean time the wheels continued to fall off. I hurt my shoulder picking up a 100lb 14 year old dog who at the time was having trouble getting up.I could not move my arm above my shoulder ("frozen shoulder"). I went back to the doc who wanted (you guessed it)  to use the knife, so I went to the chiropractor who helped unstick my shoulder but could not restore my full range of motion. By this time my wife said " Why don't you go to a Rolfer?" Not knowing much about Rolfing, I read up on it and figured I had nothing to lose. I booked an appointment with Allison after doing a search on the internet. It was one of the best choices of my life. I started out seeing Allison about twice a month. She has helped me with my problem areas- shoulders, back, knees, posture, carpal tunnel and more (losing 25 lbs and casual exercise has not hurt either).Through her gentle but firm touch she she has awakened parts of me that I never knew existed and helped blood flow back into the tissue she would break up through her whole body approach.This has allowed me to get my full range of motion back in  my shoulders. Allison helped my posture that has helped my back ( I have not been to a chiropractor since Rolfing). My right knee no longer has any pain and my left one probably would not either, if our new dogs had not clipped me from behind, but it is still far better than it was when I started with Allison, plus I have no scar tissue or rehab from surgery. My carpal tunnel is gone thanks to Rolfing and some simple exercises she recommended. Besides Rolfing, what makes Allison special is that she continues to educate herself about the human mind and body and takes that knowledge and applies it in her practice. I still and will continue to see Allison about once a month for maintenance as I am not getting any younger although I feel a lot younger due to seeing Aliison. One thing to remember, although you may experience some immediate relief from Rolfing in one session, it will probably take several sessions and in my case what took 55 years of abuse to develop, I could see dramatic change in the way my body felt and continues to feel within a year. Thanks Allison! By the way I continue to move amusements devices. I just hope I will still be able to get an appointment after this testimonial, as she is already popular.

Good health was something I had in abundance. Then I had abdominal surgery and within a year’s time I could hardly walk or sit due to shooting pain down my left leg. I had gone to a physician, chiropractor, physical therapist, and massage therapist as well as undergoing tests and getting orthotics to no avail. The massage therapist I saw had been a professional dancer and suggested I try Rolfing as it had been very beneficial to her during her dancing career. She did some research and recommended I try Allison and I am so glad I did! While it has been a long road with many discoveries, including the fact that I needed to learn how to walk, balance and breathe correctly, I am back to my active self with a few limitations and modifications. Unfortunately, one does not undo 50+ years of doing things incorrectly overnight. Allison has been wonderfully compassionate, caring and creative throughout the process. She is highly professional and is invested in using all her skills to help discover and resolve my physical issues.

I began seeing Allison Benner in 2009. As a mother, a hairdresser, and a yoga teacher, I thought that I had a pretty strong grasp on how to live in my body, especially since I'd had it for a few decades. Allison's practice had moved in next door, so out of curiosity, I decided to give it a try. If you had asked me about my health, I would have said it was good. I had no real problems, maybe tight-ish shoulders from wielding a blow drier for a number of years, but nothing out of the ordinary.

I didn't really know what Rolfing was and I thought maybe an aggressive form of massage, so I was surprised when Allison asked me to walk around the room as she observed my gait. It's been a few years, so the details are foggy, but in the hour and a half we spent together, my experience of my body changed forever.

This might sound funny, but I didn't know that I had been suffering from low grade chronic pain for as long as I could remember. I just assumed how I felt was normal. Mistakenly, after years of teaching yoga, I thought that tucking my pelvis and lifting my ribcage was the ideal posture to hold on and off the mat. This had created a tightness between my shoulder blades that was impacting every other part of my body.

In that first session, Allison taught me how to walk with greater ease and gave me tips and stretching techniques to work with between visits. She re-acquainted me with my natural posture and after my second session, I had no more pain in my body. By spending the time to introduce me to my natural state of balance, she gave me an example of what's possible, and all the tools I needed to continue the work at home.

I have been gratefully seeing Allison for five years now. She is my consistent go to when my body needs support. Every time I leave I feel that I have a wider range of motion in all of my muscles and joints, and simply put, more room in my body. I see her every couple of months or so, and am consistently impressed with her dedication to ongoing education & her devotion to learning new techniques.

Allison is a master in her field, and I love that she has something new to share with me every time I see her.