Posts

Therapeutic Play with Babies and Children: Transforming Difficult Prenatal and Birth Experiences Together

In 1990, I opened my psychotherapy practice to families with young children who were having difficulties in their lives. Even though their symptoms and behaviors covered a wide range, they all had something in common – something had not gone well during their prenatal, birth, or newborn experience, and the child and family had never really gotten over it. I began specializing in therapeutic child center family play therapy as a way to work with those very early experiences.

The children taught me a great deal over the years. If we slowed down and allowed the child to lead us in the play, they would reveal their accurate memories and reactions to what had happened while they were in the womb or as a newborn. And with intentional play, we could elegantly help them heal and the whole family experienced more closeness and positive feelings together.  Read more

Bridging The Mental Divide in Early Development Education, Training, and Care Programs

As professionals working and researching within both the prenatal and infancy domains of human development and psychology, it became clear to us that a mental divide still exists in our culture and professional practice that separates the prenatal world from that of infancy. Professionals are trained to work within one domain or the other; agencies and services are funded for one or the other. Until now there has not been a logical reason to do otherwise.  However, we see a shift on the horizon. Read more