The Grinberg method is a complimentary medicine that has been proven an effective tool in helping those who suffer from a range of physical and psychological problems. Some of the most experienced practitioners of the Grinberg method are concentrated in Europe and Israel, with some in the US.
The Grinberg method is the brainchild of an Israeli reflexologist, Avi Grinberg, who developed his innovative technique in the 1980s. Grinberg worked as a nurse and paramedic, and his experience of the plight of sick people and especially those suffering from chronic health problems inspired him to search out and develop various complementary and alternative therapies. These included Feldenkrais, that teaches an awareness through movement, acupressure, deep tissue massage, and martial arts. The Grinberg method is the amalgam of these influences and continues to develop and incorporate new practices and philosophies.
This method is particularly interested in a patient’s feet. Because we stand on them all day, they are thought to reveal, to a qualified Grinberg practitioner, the "narrative" of our lives and manifest our medical and psychological histories. The feet are used to map the maladies of the rest of the body and provide a key to the sites of pain or trouble. For example, thick skin on the balls of the feet is supposed to reflect a thickness or heaviness in the chest.
Though patients have benefited from the holistic approach provided by the Grinberg method, serious physical and mental illness are beyond its remit. However, patients in recovery undergo the Grinberg method after the primary medical practices have gotten them back on their feet. Its holistic approach and emphasis on patients understanding their own bodies has found an audience among those who's primary ailments have been treated by primary medicine, but who feel they require something over and above these run-of-the-mill treatments.
Practitioners of the Grinberg method also suggest that the treatment is effective in the treatment of a range of psychological and stress-related problems. For example, sufferers of anything from writer’s block and relationship problems to a lack of concentration have sought and found help from the Grinberg method. For all its seeming effectiveness in helping a range of maladies, both physical and psychological, the Grinberg method always places the emphasis on the patient, in the understanding that it is the patient that knows his or her body best.