Dance/Movement Therapy for Infants and Young Children with Medical Illness

Suzi Tortora, Ed.D, BC-DMT, LCAT, a board-certified dance/movement therapist and specialist in the field of infant mental health and development, has a private dance/movement psychotherapy practice in New York City and Cold Spring, New York. She is the International Medical Creative Arts Spokesperson for the Andréa Rizzo Foundation and senior dance/movement therapist at Integrative Medicine Service Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, NYC. Miri Keren, M.D., a child and adolescent psychiatrist, is the Clinical Assistant Professor Emeritus at Tel Aviv University, a clinical and research consultant at the Early Childhood Outpatient clinic of Ziv Bar Ilan University, Beit Izi Shapira Center for disabled infants and toddlers, and at the Failure to Thrive unit of the Schneider Hospital for Sick Children. She is the former president of the World Association for Infant Mental Health and Chair of the World Psychiatric Association Perinatal Section.

1. The Role of the Baby's Body, Nonverbal-Movement Experience, and Communication in Building the Caregiver-Baby Relationship 2. The Clinical Implications of Embodiment and Memory During Infancy 3. Principles of Pediatric Medical Dance/Movement Therapy 4. Affect and Self-Regulation in Social and Emotional Development 5. Babies Remember Pain 6. The Hospital and Severe Illness-Linked Experiences: Their Impact on the Infant’s Socio-Emotional Development 7. Long-Term Effects of Chronic Life-Threatening Pediatric Illness on Later Adjustment and Their Clinical Implications 8. DC 0-5: A Multi-Axial Tool for an Integrated Formulation of Symptoms of Somatic and Psychic Distress in the First 5 Years of Life 9. Nonverbal Assessment of Somatic and Psychic Distress 10. From Lullabies to Dance-Play: The Role of Rhythm, Rocking, Song, and Dance to Soothe and Engage Infants and Young Children With Medical Illness 11. Multisensory Dance/Movement Psychotherapy Pain Management Approach 12. Summary of Key Points