Basic and practical seminar: CCDS - Cranio-cervical dysfunction syndrome / FaceFormer therapy

This two-day seminar introduces the neuroscientific foundations of FaceFormer training therapy. The starting point is the craniocervical functional model (CCFM) according to Berndsen/Berndsen. This model describes the functional architecture of the head, neck, and trunk region and shows how basic life functions such as breathing, swallowing, and head orientation are integrated into a common control axis of the organism.

From this perspective, conventional functional interpretations are expanded. Participants gain clearly structured access to key control levels that shape growth, morphology, postural development, orofacial structures, autonomic regulation, metabolic processes, and physical and cognitive performance. Functional disorders in this system are understood as the starting point of complex causal chains that extend across many medical specialties.
Participants learn to observe and diagnose typical abnormalities in the craniocervical region in a differentiated manner and to classify them within the overall picture of body function, development, and symptoms. A clearly structured diagnostic scheme supports the systematic evaluation of clinical findings and facilitates the derivation of consistent therapeutic steps.

Building on this, the FaceFormer training therapy is presented. The FaceFormer, a patented and certified medical device, serves as a central instrument for specifically reorganizing disrupted coordination patterns in the areas of breathing, swallowing, and head orientation, and for establishing stable reference patterns.
The first day of the seminar is dedicated to the theoretical foundations, an introduction to CCFM, functional analysis, and diagnostics. The second day focuses on the practical application: structured exercise programs with the FaceFormer, indication-specific application, variations for different patient groups, as well as case demonstrations and joint evaluation.

The aim is to clearly understand the significance of these key functional controls for health, development, performance, and therapeutic success, and to integrate this understanding into one's own clinical practice. Participants acquire the professional qualifications to use FaceFormer training therapy safely, effectively, and with long-term long-term efficacy in both practice and clinical settings. Practical exercises and case studies from various disciplines reinforce the content.

No special prior knowledge of FaceFormer training therapy is required.

Speakers: Dr. Klaus and Sabine Berndsen (ISST-Unna)

Dr. Klaus-Jürgen Berndsen studied physics, education, patholinguistics, neuroscience, and rehabilitation sciences in Cologne, Bonn, and Dortmund. After graduating in 1982, he worked in neurological rehabilitation centers for people with complex disabilities before being appointed lecturer at the University of Dortmund in 1985. His doctoral dissertation on the neurocognitive foundations of action control and communication was published as a book entitled "Media Action and Communication Learning."

International research stays took him to the USA and South America, among other places. There he worked with Prof. Dr. Daniel Garliner in the field of myofunctional therapy and with Dr. Rodolfo Castillo Morales in Córdoba. Since 1989 he has headed the ISST in Unna, founded the international rehabilitation center "Bernstein-Zentrum" in 1995, and served there as Managing Director and Scientific Director.

Together with Sabine Berndsen, he developed the FaceFormer training therapy in 1999. It is based on neuroscientific findings regarding key control functions of fundamental life processes that significantly influence health, disease progression, physical and mental performance, and long-term functional maintenance. The FaceFormer device used in this therapy was patented as a training device and certified as a medical product.

Dr. Berndsen is active internationally as a speaker, regularly publishes in books and scientific journals, and conveys his medical content to a broad audience via the YouTube channel "Health needs reason" .