SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS

Anat Baniel Method NeuroMovement® lessons create fantastic gains for children of all ages, including infants and teenagers. Through a powerful process of experiential learning, children move beyond their current skill level to their next best self and improve their functioning in physical, cognitive, emotional, and social areas.

I work with the child directly, using gentle movement and touch, and I also work with their parents (or other caregivers), coaching them how to use ABM principles, so the powerful learning process that the ABM lessons provide, continues at home.

Anat Baniel Method® NeuroMovement® lessons are particularly successful for children with special needs, such as children with the following diagnoses:

LESSONS FOR CHILDREN.

In a session with your child I will connect to your child through touch, and observe and feel how your child is moving. Meeting your child where they are at, I will gently start guiding your child through my hands, and also verbal instructions in case of an older child, and introduce new variations for moving, waking up your child’s brain to new possibilities for getting into action.

Each lesson offers novel opportunities for discovery and is created on the spot, letting myself be informed by the child’s response to what I’m doing. The appointments are 45 minutes long, and include 30 minutes of working with the child directly, and 15 minutes for consultation and parent coaching. To support parents at home, online coaching sessions are available.

For best outcomes, the in-person lessons are scheduled close together to form an “intensive”, which is a series of lessons given in a short amount of time, e.g. 8 lessons within 4 days. This format allows to connect easily to what was explored in previous lessons and build on it, which speeds up the learning process. The changes will be more obvious and new patterns can be established better. To make it easier for parents to bring their child for an intensives, I make myself available on weekends. Intensive shouldn’t mean stressful. I will make sure there will be adequate breaks between sessions. It will be best to not schedule other therapies in the same week and keep things mellow. To book lessons please email or call.

COACHING FOR PARENTS

Parents often ask me what they can do at home to help their child. I’m always excited about that question, because there is so much you can do, and it will make such a difference for your child! I coach parents in how they can use ABM at home in their daily lives. Parents sometimes expect to get a set of exercises to practice, but that is not at all what we are doing. There are no routines or protocols to follow. The opposite. We are looking to get you and your child out of your habits and explore new things. You can bring ABM into the activities that you are already doing on a daily basis and look to change things up a little. It is less about what you do, but very much about HOW you do what you do. What we are after is to help the brain get new information and form new connections, and get better at learning in general. So the question is how to turn on your child’s (and your) “learning switch” and turn a daily activity into an opportunity for your child (and you) to make new distinctions.

In her book “Kids Beyond Limits” Anat Baniel describes simple tools for parents to use at home. This will be our starting point. The tools are based on neuro-plasticity principles that the brain requires to do it’s job better (making sense out of nonsense, and putting order into the disorder). The focus is on upgrading the learning process itself, which not only results in positive changes in the child, but also in yourself, the facilitator of the process. You will be learning together, both of you, not as teacher and student, but as two students, one more advanced than the other, lending your brain to your child to create a favorable climate and novel opportunities for learning.

Anat’s book is full of concrete examples from working with different children and I’m sure you will be able to relate to some of the stories. One of the tools we use is “SLOW”, looking to find ways to slow yourself and your child down, so both of you have time to take in the experience of what you are doing and how it feels. Slowing down gets the brain’s attention and brings in a lot of new information! Slow gives you a chance to notice subtle details, small changes, new little things, that you would be missing at your normal speed.

Another one of the tools is “VARIATION”. For the child to be able to make sense out of themselves and their environment, offering variations gives an opportunity to compare and discover what works and what doesn’t. Again it’s about getting new information and noticing differences. Improving your and your child’s ability to perceive differences will give both of you more choice and say in what you are doing. It is very empowering.

In my coaching sessions I will help you to translate the ideas from Anat’s book to your very specific situation with your child. Learning to apply the ABM tools, you will feel more connected with your child as a result of it. Expect to see positive changes in your child’s movements, cognition, emotions, and self-agency, and in your own abilities to guide your child and create rich opportunities for her/him to learn and grow. Available in person or by Zoom. To book sessions please email or call.