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| Master trainer of instructors Maria Mathias, an early pioneer in the field of Infant Touch and Massage, continues daily to pioneer innovations in the application of touch and massage for families. She attended the first infant massage instructor training in the US (facilitated by Vimala McClure and Audrey Downes in 1980) and has been facilitating family-centered touch and massage for 30 years. In the 80s, she was a pioneer in facilitating the first infant massage classes in hospitals, then facilitated the first infant massage fathering classes. Later in that decade, she facilitated instructor trainings that introduced infant touch and massage in Australia and in Italy. Since 2005 she has been facilitating annual trainings in Taiwan and Seoul, South Korea. |
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Maria began training infant massage instructors in 1984, training nearly seven thousand instructors over the course of her thirty career in infant touch and massage. Since 1992 Maria has been an “Infant Massage Specialist” at the University of New Mexico Hospital Health Sciences Center, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology. She has worked in the special care nurseries with families of infants who are critically ill, and biologically and environmentally at-risk. She also attends a special baby follow-up clinic providing infant touch and massage instruction followed by home visitation services. Currently she also carries an infant touch and massage caseload as a developmental specialist, contracting with early intervention agencies to teach infant touch and massage to families in Albuquerque, NM.
For nearly three decades Maria has been immersed in bringing infant touch and massage to thousands of families, which has provided her with the many experiences and insights to pioneer her therapeutic innovation of Individualized Touch and Massage, an approach that is distinguishing infant touch and massage as a dynamic and effective early intervention tool for promoting attachment and development.
Click
to see Maria's CV
Wayne Mathias, MS has been
a certified infant massage instructor since
1986. During that time, while managing the
administrative affairs of The International
Institute of Infant Massage, he created experiential
inputs and assisted at instructor trainings
and continuing education offerings, becoming
a trainer of instructors in 2005. Wayne has
facilitated infant massage classes for fathers
and their babies at the Father and Family
Center in Albuquerque, as well as piloting
an infant massage program for incarcerated
young men and their babies. His many contributions
have included years of consulting with instructors,
as well as creating infant massage materials
and writing articles to increase public awareness
of touch and massage.
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| Our
Faculty |
The faculty
of the International Institute of Infant Massage is
comprised of accomplished professionals in Infant
Touch and Massage and related fields of family-centered
intervention.
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Ginny
Laadt, Ph.D. OTR/L, Occupational Therapist
Dr. Laadt recently has relocated to Denver,
Colorado from Albuquerque, New Mexico where
she was founding director of the Developmental
Care Program within the University of New Mexico
Health Sciences Center Department of Pediatrics,
Neonatology Division and Assistant Professor
of Pediatrics. Her clinical, educational, and
research activities center around newborns and
infants who are considered to be "at-risk",
and their families, with special focus on program
development, individualized infant neurobehavioral
assessment, preventive interventions and promoting
infant-family well-being. Her Ph.D. in Biobehavioral
Ecology Anthropology provides Dr. Laadt with
unique insights regarding family/infant relationships.
She is primary author of the NICU SORT (System
of Risk Triage) process that guides staff and
services allocation to address longitudinal
neurobehavioral and family issues in the NICU,
home, and community and has participated in state
and national committees, including the American
Occupational Therapy Association NICU Task Force
for national occupational therapy standards
in neonatology. |
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Barbara
Woodward MPH, OTR/L Occupational Therapist
Barbara has worked with infants and toddlers
with or at risk for having special needs and
their families for the past 20 years. Her primary
focus has been in the promotion of health and
developmental outcomes with infants who are
medically fragile or born preterm. Her Masters
in Public Health, with an emphasis in Maternal
and Child Health has helped Barbara to shape
and develop programs that emphasize preventive
intervention measures that help families to
develop competence in caring for and promoting
developmental progress in their infants. She
currently works for The Children’s Hospital
of Denver and has developed an NICU transition
program, assisting families from all Level III
nurseries in Denver to make the transition from
hospital to home. |
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Braulio
Montalvo, MA
For more than 35 years, Braulio has been a pioneer
in enhancing understanding of families with
multiple problems through educating the professionals
who serve them. He is a cultural and psychosocial
consultant for the Developmental Care Program
at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences
Center, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology.
The recipient of the 1994 Lifetime Achievement
Award from the American Family Therapy Association
for his contributions to theory and practice,
Montalvo is co-author of (Families of the Slums:
An Exploration of their Structure) and (Treatment
and Difficult Divorce: Therapy for Children
and Families). He did his pre-doctoral work in
Developmental Psychology and holds an MA in
Developmental Psychology from Columbia University
Teachers College and a BA in Psychology from
the University of Puerto Rico. |
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Arlinda
Michael RN, BSN
Arlinda Michael has been a trainer assistant
for the International Institute of Infant Massage
since 2002, assisting with hospital sponsored
trainings for nurses and other interdisciplinary
team members. She is the owner of Baby Joy Services
since 2000, which is a private nursing practice
supporting successful breastfeeding and the
promotion of healthy touch in families through
the use of infant massage. She was a staff nurse
at Women's Health, St. David's Medical Center,
Austin, TX, 1993 to 2004. She was also a member
of Parent Education Team with experience teaching
in infant massage, childbirth, breastfeeding,
and baby care. Arlinda is currently a staff
nurse at Meriter Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. |
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Kim
Willard, PT
Kim Willard has been a practicing physical therapist
for the past 20 years. She has worked in a variety
of pediatric rehabilitation hospitals, early
intervention programs, and neonatal intensive
care units. She currently works part time for
the Developmental Care Department of the University
of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, providing
consultative services for families with children
birth through three who are biologically at-risk.
She is a mom of three young boys. |
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Jean
Anne Zollars, MA, PT
Jean Anne Zollars received her BS
in physical therapy from Ithaca College in 1982,
and Master of Arts from San Francisco State
University in Rehabilitation Technology in 1992.
She has worked as a physical therapist in the
United States as well as Malaysia, Nicaragua,
El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala and Russia. Her
work with children who have neurological problems
led to her interest in craniosacral therapy,
myofascial release, and visceral manipulation.
Currently, she in private practice in Albuquerque,
NM treating adults, children, and infants utilizing
various forms of manual therapies. |
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Maggie
Wille, OT Healing Touch Practioner, Health&
Wellness/Holistic Therapies Counselor
Maggie has been an assistant trainer with the
International Institute of Infant Massage since
2001. She is currently on Staff at Abbott-Northwestern
Hospital as a Parent Educator, teaching a variety
of classes including Infant Massage, and providing
Newborn Education support for New Parents within
the first three days of life. Maggie works closely
with families during pregnancy and through the
early childhood years. As the owner of Morning
Star Touch O' Health, Inc., which promotes Health
& Wellness by partnering with families and
providing a variety of supportive education,
Maggie has made Infant and Child massage the
foundation of her practice. |
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ANNETTE
KOHN-LAU, N.D.
Annette Kohn-Lau has been an infant massage
instructor for 12 years, specializing in working
with families who have infants and children
with special needs. Since 1979, Annette has
served as a pediatric Speech and Language Pathologist
at Lutheran General Hospital, where she teaches
infant massage and participates on a neonatal
follow-up team. Currently pursuing a degree
in Naturopathy, she is a Reiki Master-Teacher
and Transformational Reiki Master in private
practice in Northbrook, Illinois. |
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