How Developmental Touch therapy can heal your relationship with your child

Developmental touch therapy or Developmental Play was created and successfully used by Viola Brody since the 1960’s to treat a wide variety of childhood issues with the primary focus on repairing interrupted attachment with a parent in the early years of development. The therapy is founded on touch and simulates mother-infant bonding interactions to heal childhood wounds. Attachment to a primary caregiver (usually mother) forms the basis of all interactions we have in our life and our ability to connect with others. The quality of this attachment affects our fundamental sense of trust, safety, power, importance and communication in the world. Since touch is the core vehicle in this mode of therapy it has been stringently researched and monitored by ethical boards so as to avoid inappropriate contact between therapist and child. This form of therapy has been successful in addressing Autism, childhood psychosis, ADHD and sexual abuse or neglect. It is an essential tool in working with adopted and abandoned children. Even children with mild adjustment difficulties have benefited from this approach. Developmental Play is particularly useful when parent-child bonding has been interrupted in the initial stages of development. This can happen for many reasons like the infant being hospitalized, mother having postnatal depression, mother being physically unavailable, loss of a parent, life circumstances that dilute the relationship between mother and child (financial stress, marital conflict, moving home, loss of a family member). The process either equips the caregiver to perform the therapy with the therapist present or the therapist forms the relationship with the child in the caregiver’s presence, depending on the circumstances. Developmental touch therapy is also taught as a group process. Studies done by Viola Brody have found that children display a marked improvement in their intellectual and social development after developmental play.