Welcome to Speaking 4 Baby

&

 Claire Winstone

Professional History

Beginning with an honors degree in psychology from the University of Hull, England; I continued my counseling career by working as a student counselor at the University of Oxford before emigrating to Canada; working with Native families in Manitoba, studying the reparenting model with schizophrenics in California; and obtaining a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology at the University of British Columbia.  I was registered as a Clinical Counselor in the Province of B.C. when I began private practice in the early '90s and continued to explore reparenting/Corrective Parenting and family-of-origin therapy with the Corrective Parenting community in the Seattle area. I was drawn to pre- and perinatal psychology by the conviction that answers to many, if not all, of infant, childhood and adult problems lie in the earliest stages of development. I am a member of the Association for Pre- and Perinatal Psychology and Health, and have had the privilege, for the past eight years, of studying with leaders in this field, including world-renowned pioneering psychologist, Dr. William Emerson, in the origins and treatment of prenatal and birth traumas and shock. Using my training in group therapy, reparenting, psychodrama, EMDR, gestalt, regression work and energy work, I utilized the container of the therapeutic relationship to assist people to resolve life issues that stem from early experiences and decisions, tracing as far back as conception (naturally, clients were not required to have conscious memories of prenatal experiences, though sometimes they do).

Since so many babies are experiencing births involving inductions, anesthesias, analgesics, and instrument or cesarean deliveries, all of which have the potential to be stressful or traumatic for babies, and to have lasting effects on affect regulation, attunement, attachment, self-concept, behavior, and life choices, I  also assist a small number of parents in working with their newborns.

As Vancouver’s original Corrective Parenting psychotherapist and an advanced trainee with world-renowned pioneering psychologist Dr. William Emerson, I provided experiential psychotherapy for adults and infants who had experienced foundational prenatal or birth stresses, traumas or shock or other early family experiences that had negatively impacted the individual’s beliefs, functioning, and relationships.

 In 2001 I moved to Southern California and became a Ph.D. student in prenatal and perinatal psychology at the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute.  This is the first doctoral program in North America to offer a specialization in this field and the faculty includes many of the pioneers and leading-edge researchers, writers and clinicians in pre- and perinatal psychology and related fields.  Southern California is a spectacular hotbed of amazing and very relevant research and programming for young families and S.B.G.I. works hard to ensure its students' exposure to such work and training.  

Through the non-profit agency for which I work, Children's Bureau, I continue to conduct workshops, seminars and information sessions for professionals and the public concerning the meaning, prevention and treatment of prenatal and birth traumas.

Well, naturally, to change the world!

Seriously, my training, experience, and research have shown me that the answers to many of society’s problems lie in our earliest moments of life—in our cells, in our tissues, in the fluids in our bodies, in our musculature—lie in the experience we have in the moment of conception, perhaps even before, and certainly afterward, through pregnancy and birth and the early months of infancy. I have come to believe that, while childhood experiences have potent effects upon us, the templates for life are forged far earlier, in the histories our parents bring to their relationship, in the style and quality of that relationship, in the circumstances that surround them, supportive or otherwise, and in their physical, emotional and spiritual health as they create and nurture new life. These are the building blocks of humans, at a time when love and constancy are nutrients as essential as the four food groups.

How do we change the world?

Working with adults to resolve the original experiences and beliefs that stand in the way of their happiness and optimal functioning, which benefits not only them, and those they engage with, but also any children they raise.

Working with prospective parents (pre-conception) which allows them to clear obstacles in their personal histories and relationship to conceiving consciously and birthing a healthy, wanted and wholeheartedly welcomed child.

Working with pregnant and new parents to assist them in communicating and bonding with their prenate/baby.

Working with infants who have experienced difficulties in utero and/or at birth, which minimizes or prevents any of a number of short- and long-term impacts of those difficulties, and facilitates a depth of bonding, empathy and compassion that pays a huge bonus in the form of exceptional children who grow to become exceptional adults.

Working with infants or adults who have experienced early shock (e.g. prenatally or during birth), which not only prevents life-long emotional consequences, but also avoids long-term physiological compromise, as the adrenals and the sympathetic and parasympathetic arousal systems are assisted to function normally.

Educating parents and family members to understand the needs and communications of babies, to support them in expressing their emotions and releasing stress and trauma, and to seek expert help if the need arises.

Educating the professionals involved with pregnancy and birth with clinical and research data so that they support and advocate for the needs of fetuses, birthing babies and newborns.

Supporting and advocating for enactment of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative both on the national and local level.

For further information about pre- and perinatal psychology, follow this link:

www.birthpsychology.com

For further information about training in the treatment of prenatal and birth trauma, click on

www.emersonbirthrx.com

For further information about the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute, click on

www.sbgi.edu

For further information about Children's Bureau, click on

www.all4kids.org or to schedule a workshop/seminar contact:

fjordan@all4kids.org

or by email: claire@speaking4baby.com

© Claire Winstone: updated April 2002. All Rights Reserved.