Taking the Initiative

Amelia’s mom had trouble getting her out the door in the morning. Her clothing was too tight, too loose, scratched her back with uncomfortable tags. She hated the feel of a toothbrush in her mouth and she resisted anyone brushing her hair. Even going to the bathroom felt scary, smelly and gross.

From an early age, Amelia’s path was never a smooth one, her mom recalled. She struggled as an infant to self-sooth, and when she woke at night, she could not easily fall back to sleep. She’d work herself up in tantrums, failing to calm easily. If her family went out to eat, Amelia would recoil and curl into the corner of the booth, overstimulated and exhausted from the loud noises around her.

Seeking OT resources online for Amelia’s sensory challenges, her mom learned about primitive reflexes. She noticed a mom’s group referencing Thrive. Unlike larger therapy groups, she said, the idea that Elizabeth both owned and led the practice was more than appealing. Curious, she decided to first sign up for a Thrive workshop, where the concepts behind RMTi came into focus.

Amelia entered her evaluation at Thrive with hesitation and resistance. She didn’t want to go. Like brushing her teeth, she was scared, nervous and refused to make eye contact. When Elizabeth allowed her choice in her session, she froze. Did she want the lights on? Did she like working on the rug? Amelia wasn’t sure what to trust.

For Elizabeth, it was clear that her indecision and anxiety stemmed from immature reflexes, most prominently her defensive reflexes. Amelia’s Fear Paralysis and Moro made sensations heightened and she ran from uncertain environments and touch with fear. Early sessions focused on movements that helped her find greater safety with tactile, vestibular, proprioceptive and auditory sensory stimuli. Since an immature Moro prevents the emergence of the Landau reflex, Amelia had been hesitant to explore her world away from mom. With work toward integrating Moro and Landau, her metaphoric confidence in decision making, especially on her own, started to increase.

Amelia’s first few sessions, at age 10, helped create a sense of calm that her mother hadn’t seen before. Social situations that gave her anxiety seemed manageable. Her mom saw that she was able to enter school, and new environments, with more confidence. She was making decisions on her own, even requesting cooking classes on her own this summer. The changes have been empowering and encouraging for everyone.

“Any sort of social situation used to give her such anxiety,” Amelia’s mother recalls. “Now, she’s better able to navigate those situations on her own.”