Jardins de Naissance

What is "Haptonomy"?

Haptonomy is the "Science" of the affectivity.

Franz Veldman initiated this "Science". This therapist wanted to raise medical professionnal awareness of "emotionnal touch". Hamptonomy is an empirical, phenomenological and experiential science, aims at the subtle human experience in the area of emotions, feelings and affectivity.

It is the story of an encounter, of being together. During the pregnancy, the aim is to sharpen and confirm the encounter between the father, the mother and the child. This emotionnal confirmation is essential for the complete development of the individual from the time of conception.

This confirmation of self-goodness helps to build an emotional security and a self-confidence to address life's challenges.

This emotional security can't be taght; it develops in oneself, at its own pace, over time and from experience.

The haptotherapist promises a quality of presence and discernement.

He/She embraces an emotional relationship that leads to calm, secure and confirm the person who has been approched in this way.



What is Pre and Post natal Haptonomic Accompaniment ?

An application of the science of haptonomy, “Accompaniment” is a process of developing positive affectivity from the feelings of parenthood. Accompaniment develops the affective relationship between the mother, the father and the child as early as the first months of pregnancy. The parents discover how to nestle in the “bosom” of the mother, the “affective nest” formed by the womb, the perineum, the thoracic diaphragm and the abdominal muscles that work as a whole. The tonus of all these muscles is very sensitive to the emotional state of the mother: the child feels the slightest changes and reacts to them. The mother can thus offer calm and safety, even in tough moments, for both herself and the child.

This accompaniment reinforces the father and the mother in becoming parents and brings emotional safety to the developing child. It enhances the welcoming of the newborn at birth and after birth. The child acquires very early a basic security that encourages autonomy, communication and confidence.

The parents discover that they can support each other and support the child in his or her physical, psychological and emotional development, by giving him his own place, long before birth. They invite the child to take the initiative in the meeting. The child, even in prenatal life, communicates, not only with the mother and father, but also with the people who surround them. The process of accompaniment lays the foundation for an open, social life in which mutual respect is highly valued and everyone, regardless of age, finds their place.

Concerning the birth, haptonomic accompaniment is not a preparation for a physically smoother delivery, as is taught in many prenatal classes. The aim here is to promote “togetherness” with the child to be born. The affective and reassuring relationship between the father, the mother and the child brings a specific, “positive affective” muscle tone that accompanies the new-born during delivery.

The accompaniment of the affective relationship between the child and the parents doesn’t stop at the moment of birth. A prenatal accompaniment should continue postnatally until the child can walk. If this accompaniment were to stop, it would create a deprivation for the child, which could lead to difficulties in relationships. A well accompanied child during the prenatal period has expectations; a separation from the affective relationship he or she experienced in the womb would be very difficult.

You can provide safety to the child, and thus a feeling of autonomy, even if, right after birth, they discover dependency. In fact, feeling unsafe creates dependency. If a baby is carried and treated like a packet, he will behave like a packet. During the last prenatal session, dolls are used to raise awareness of carrying a child in a haptonomic way. Haptonomy emphasizes carrying a child vertically. The feeling of verticality, experienced through secure carrying, provides the child with basic emotional security needed throughout life.

During postnatal haptonomy, an additional session is offered to the mother to help her a find a feeling of security in her base and to reestablish her sense of “being a woman.”