The focus of BE for children is to help children of all abilities achieve optimal function. BodyEcology for Children integrates counseling, movement and breath work, play, relaxation, music- and art-based therapy where appropriate, and looks to support interrelationships in the whole family. The subtlety and intuition of this work, and its focus on layers of integration, is very helpful when working with young children, whose body systems are very fine and still sensitive to being overworked.
With babies, Zsuzsi looks for signals from the child’s body around their developmental processes. Early intervention helps alleviate tension patterns, clear blockages around birth trauma, and help signal to the child’s body how to integrate learning and optimize change.
For very young children and babies, and older children with disabilities, the parent/carer is an integral part of the process, with specific guidance and simple exercises devised to practice at home. My practice of "babywhispering" is usually to do with helping the mother/carer sense the tension patterns in a baby's body [sometimes a result of the birthing process] and help the carer alleviate them. The emphasis is also high on creating a field of supportive mirroring to optimize learning for the child. Particularly where language is a barrier, or a child is still very young, we can work with so many other instructions and cues. Over time, BodyEcology can strengthen our intuitive relationships to parenting, largely by providing more accurate and practical frameworks on which to pin our perceptions.
Carers are also given support on physiological [including dietary] and emotional levels to help sustain them in their roles.
It was amazing how quickly you settled Calum when he was hysterical. You seemed to find the pain and tension in him and take it away, leaving him calm and peaceful. You also gave me the confidence that I could help him too. You helped me connect with and trust in a knowledge I have in myself that I didn't know was there and which I would never have found on my own. You added to this by guiding me to new ways of caring for my baby, way beyond anything I could get from parenting books. You also helped me enormously with breastfeeding, giving me tools to relax and help my body give Calum what he needs.
Catherine Buchanan, astrophysicist, Melbourne; mother of Calum, aged 5 months.
"You gave me very practical advice. The way you worked with mother and child respected my role in Ariana’s development and you helped me understand what was going on, in a very satisfying physical and metaphysical way…
Your work also affirmed what I seemed to know on an instinctual level about Ariana’s needs, but would never have had the words or means to put into constructive action. I felt confident to proceed and you enabled me to accept and progress my own thoughts and feelings about disability. Ariana does not often open up to people, but she always felt comfortable coming to see you. And I loved our sessions as these got us on track and focused my energies."
Kirsten Byrne, a teacher specialising in special ed; mother of Ariana [helped between the ages of 2-5]. [Ariana has developmental delay in the areas of vision, balance, and intellectual processing]
"Thankyou for working with my daughter Merryn in your own special way. [More]
I really valued the way you respected her initial reluctance and worked discretely and from a distance. Your insights, visualizations and specific advice really supported her and had a visible effect.
Kirsten Byrne, mother of Merryn [now 8]