APPROACH
Approach
Zephyr's work is rooted in the integrated, somatic
approach developed by Ray Castellino. Zephyr works with
people of all ages to heal patterns interfering with
living a full life in the present moment.
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Zephyr loves to work with parents to deepen their sense of
their own inner resources to be with and meet the needs
of their child. Zephyr has a gift for facilitating small groups of
adults in deep, transformative work. Over more than a
decade, Zephyr has cultivated a deep sensitivity
for neonates and infants.
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Birth Story is the First Story
Your child’s essence has just transitioned from a purely energetic
existence into the physical world. This is the process of embodiment.
This recent experience is foremost in your baby’s awareness. Like adults,
babies want to share their story. Zephyr will support you to recognize
your baby’s storytelling and provide accurate reflection, which
supports your baby to integrate their experience.
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Have you ever had an intense experience that you need to tell?
Have you noticed that you keep finding someone new to
whom to tell your story until you find someone who understands?
Do you know that feeling of being able to finally settle in
yourself in relation to what happened to you because you know
that someone else really gets it? It is this same affirmation
that your baby needs and seeks. Zephyr will support you to provide
affirmations of your baby’s experience.
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When a neonate or infant does not receive respect for their
sentience, accurate reflection of their story, and affirmation
of their reality, they are unable to process their experience. This
creates tension that can interfere with the baby’s ability to connect
with self and others. You may observe that your baby does not
find it easy to connect with you, to settle, soothe, breastfeed,
or bottle feed. Your baby may not sleep well or may cry for long
periods or in an intense manner. All of these can be indications
of unprocessed birth story—that is, of any part of their experience
from preconception, conception, gestation, birth,
and the period following birth.
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The Parent’s Dilemma
It is rare for any of us to have received acknowledgement
of and respect for our sentience as a prenate, neonate,
and infant. The neglect of our consciousness by our caregivers
at an early age can cause us to lose connection with our
own depth. When we see our own children, we may be unable
to perceive those aspects that were denied in ourselves. Zephyr
will support you to honor your young self, so that you may
connect with your child in the present moment. This is the
challenge of the parent, to give what you were not given.
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The conception, pregnancy, and birth of a child, or
contemplation thereof, is likely to call to the surface events
and emotions from the birth story of the parent. Even when
there is no conscious memory of events, the body retains an
implicit memory that often displays itself. Creating space to work
through the legacy of the parent’s birth story can promote
greater presence and connection with the child now
being conceived, embodied, and born.
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Neonatal Intensive Care Unit​
​​​While your baby may need intensive medical care,
this does not alter the fundamental need of your
baby to be seen and heard, and to be in resonant
connection with you, their parent. Your baby’s
emotional, somatic, and energetic needs
are not separate from their health.
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The basic indicators tracked in the neonatal intensive care
unit (NICU) are heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation
level, blood pressure, and digestive processes. These measures
are determined by physiological processes controlled by your
baby’s autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS is that part
of the nervous system that functions without conscious direction.
We do not “tell” our body to beat the next heart beat
or take the next breath, but these things happen
due to regulation by the ANS.
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Neonates and infants rely upon coregulation with their
caregivers to teach their ANS how to regulate. That is, a fright
may inspire a rapid heart rate and, through coregulation, the
neonate may feel safe and recover to a normal heart rate.
Whereas, without coregulation, the neonate may not perceive
safety, may not possess the capacity to calm themself, or
may take much longer to do so. Coregulation is a key element
in bonding and attachment between caregiver and baby. When
the baby resides in the NICU, opportunities for coregulation
may be constrained. Zephyr will support you to name this reality
for your baby, optimize the quality of the limited time you
do have together, and deepen in connection with
your child regardless of their health condition.
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The forced isolation of the NICU is sufficient to cause
the dysregulation of your baby’s ANS. Their heart rate
may spike or drop. Their respiratory rate may rise.
Their oxygen saturation level may drop. If these
events are sustained or repeated with high frequency,
they may trigger medical interventions by NICU personnel.
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There are many instances in which ANS dysregulation
can be ameliorated through coregulation with the baby’s
caregivers. Zephyr will support you to strengthen the resonance
among caregivers to deepen your baby's sense of safety.
You will also learn how to communicate with your child so
they can understand the necessity of your temporary departure.
This can support them to regulate better in your absence.
You may also authorize the holding of your child by others
in your absence. Some NICUs have cuddlers whose
sole purpose is to comfort NICU babies.
For further discussion of coregulation and examples
from Zephyr's experience of coregulation as a cuddler holding
babies in the NICU, see Chapter 1 of their forthcoming book,
Trauma Integration in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
The last vignette, Reed, explores responding to
the emergent condition of a decreasing oxygen saturation
level through the medical intervention of bubble continuous
positive airway pressure (BCPAP) versus coregulation.​
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Kilometer Thirteen supports families in their homes after the baby
has departed the NICU. There can be many residual
feelings from the birth story, including experiences at the
hospital, that may interfere with bonding and attachment,
feeding, sleeping, and ability to soothe.
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Elaboration of Kilometer Thirteen's NICU support
services and care objectives can be found here.
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Adults Who Were Once Babies
The same principles and support mechanisms that serve
neonates and infants in the NICU also support the healing
of adults. Individuals seeking support to move through a stuck place
in their life may benefit from participation in a womb surround
process workshop (womb surround). This is a highly efficient and
effective mechanism for healing old patterns that are interfering
with present life. The womb surround format was created
by Ray Castellino to provide individual adults with the
support of a social nervous system. More information
about womb surrounds can be found here.
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Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy
Quite similar to coregulation between caregiver and baby, the
biodynamic craniosacral therapist and client come into
a resonance that supports access to higher orders of the body's
capacity to reorganize for health. Biodynamic craniosacral therapy
is an excellent modality for supporting trauma release as well as
embryonic development and fetal health. More information
about biodynamic craniosacral therapy can be found here.