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April 2014

Patricia Holman helps Isaiah turn on his learning switch

How Do I Decide the Best Therapy For My Child?

By ABM Movement Lessons, Developmental Learning, Feldenkrais Method

Adults & the parents of children that choose the Feldenkrais Method or the Anat Baniel Method for Children, choose the principle that connecting with what is rather than correcting what’s wrong, is the first step in novel learning and overcoming limitation .Combined with the other brain-based learning tools,  there’s more potency in any action that  that comes from discovering for oneself how to shift from pain and limitation to possibility; creatively & dynamically problem solving; using the incredible and elegant power of the human brain to learn something new.

The current widely held therapeutic model is basically this: Exercise, or force the child into the milestone that isn’t currently there, practice it a lot,  add in tears, pain, resistance, willpower, & coercion, and it will be hard-wired.  Functional outcomes will be hard-won in the short term and the potential for neurotic, compulsive behavior that develops from force, coercion and ‘not-being-met’ will pattern ineffective and dysfunctional patterns.

I operate from an entirely different working hypothesis.   When the brain can become a better learner, then function will follow.  Improved thinking, coupled with present moment awareness is the first step to more organized function.  I help children overcome limitation using the Nine essentials to prime the nervous system.  When I set the table using the Nine Essentials,  then other developmental steps can emerge.  Not only do these milestones have a better chance of emerging organically, but they emerge with  with less effort, more joy, more natural curiosity, more power & potency to last a lifetime.

The best therapy is the one that honors self-empowerment, & the current abilities of the child rather than the limitation.  It honors self-paced learning rather than standardized milestones.  It honors & recognizes that the best learning comes when your child is being “met”.