William Garner Sutherland
William Garner Sutherland was born in the United States in 1873 and died in 1954. He was an osteopath and an early student of Andrew Taylor Still (founder of osteopathy). Sutherland is the pioneer of osteopathy in the cranial field. He had a keen interest in anatomy. Whilst observing a disarticulated skull a thought struck him 'like the gills of a fish' for respiratory movement. He proposed that the bevelled shape of the cranial sutures indicated a function in motion. It took him many years to prove his idea to himself and undertook many experiments on himself. His wife Ada helped him with anatomical drawings and found him unwell at times due to his experiments compressing his own skull.
He eventually shared his ideas with the profession, publishing the 'The Cranial Bowl' in 1939. In 1953 he established the Sutherland Cranial Teaching Foundation
His work has spread throughout the world with the help of the Sutherland Cranial Teaching Foundation who run courses in Europe, USA Australia.
"No force that can safely be brought to bear upon the living human body from the outside is as powerful for the correction of strains of the skeletal machinery as the forces and powers within the patient's own mechanism."
Last updated: February 16, 2010