Class 3
Tracking Perinatal Signals
Cranial and Facial Signals, Body Signals

When trust has been developed with the parents, and when a therapist is skilled and sensitive enough to be working in the field of permission, then baby body language is persistent and clear. The festival of crying, facial expressions, arching, pedaling with the legs, and conducting with the arms are vigorous forms of communication that will fill the room. This class teaches how to understand and prioritize the signals coming from the baby in relation to its perinatal signals.

When a baby trusts the relational field it will invariably begin to "talk" about its birth. If we can be present with empathy, and if we accurately understand what the baby is saying, there is actually little work left to do:  the baby, in its innate wisdom, guides what needs to be undertaken, not the therapist. The baby usually needs help with certain movements or certain contact it can't yet achieve alone. Our job, following the signal of permission, is to facilitate and assist the baby to do what it innately is compelled to do. Translating this body language for the parents allows the parents to see their baby at a deeper more accurate level.

This gift of the baby seemingly doing its own work is exactly what we want to happen. OUR PARTICIPATION MUST NOT BE INTERVENTION . . . ONLY SUPPORT. But the healing dance that can happen is not possible until the baby knows and feels secure that you understand what it is saying, and have the sensitivity, capacity, and empathy to "meet" and facilitate its process. The purpose of this class is to convey these skills.