The Power of Movement Therapy
Movement is…
From a baby’s earliest experiences, movement is a critical organizing force. Registering touch and motion sensations while being carried or rocked, the infant learns about safety and comfort as well as gravity, speed, and time. Coordinating the movements involved in sucking, swallowing and breathing, a newborn learns one of her earliest and most complicated motor skills and gains a sense of mastery as a result. From rolling over to learning to ride a bike, a child’s nervous system is growing and forming in relation to this skill development. Movement allows the child’s world to expand, her ever-increasing skills exposing her to a whole variety of social, emotional and cognitive learning opportunities. It is this growth in motor capacity that in turn creates more opportunity for learning and growing. In essence, movement, in addition to you, is your child’s first teacher!
Developmental Movement is...
A developmental approach looks at a child’s growth as a series of stages, each with particular defining tasks. Mastery of these tasks leads to a sense of wellbeing and underlies success with later tasks. Your baby’s immediate task might be learning to roll over, sit up, or crawl. Achieving each of these movements opens up the world in different ways. Rolling over allows for increased mobility through space. Sitting up brings with it a change in spatial perspective as well as increased self-awareness. Crawling leads to a growing sense of autonomy, and an ability to make choices and act on desires. How well your child is supported in these tasks impacts not only his immediate development but also future learning. Given that each stage underlies and reinforces successive stages, Developmental Movement Therapy identifies and addresses weak or incomplete stage development, thereby supporting a child’s full capacity for physical, social and emotional growth.
Developmental Movement Therapy is…..
This therapeutic approach helps to facilitate a child’s experience and organization of touch and movement. Patterns of movement and postural organization develop from a child’s earliest experiences. These patterns can be seen in qualities of attention and alertness, information processing, and movement through space. They influence a child’s capacity for self-regulation, communication, and dynamic relationship. Because these actions are not only expressions of earlier patterns but also possible vehicles for change, therapy uses touch, movement and play – all with close attunement to what the child is experiencing– to build a more balanced foundation for learning and growth.