An introduction to Childosophy
Having spent over two decades working closely with young children, it is super clear to me that emotional and spiritual wellbeing plays a huge role in how children interact with their environment. Moreover, given that an optimal environment is essential for a child’s growth and expansion, it is imperative that we create space for children to feel safe, seen and heard in expressing their innermost selves.
It saddens me to still hear ‘what are you crying for’, ‘stop it’, ‘ you’re ok, there’s nothing to be upset about’ etc...
It’s any wonder that as adults it’s difficult for many of us to get to the heart of what we are truly feeling, as our whole spectrum of feelings have been shut down from such an early age.
When children are only given positive attention for ‘socially acceptable’ emotions, so many of their upsets, traumas and fears get pushed down and repressed. However even though these emotions may not be consciously expressed, they remain in their precious little bodies, only to be made manifest in a variety of distorted ways.
Children these days seem wrought with behavioural issues, anxiety, depression, fears/phobias, obesity, addiction to screens, learning difficulties, ADD/ADHD etc etc...
So how exactly have all these symptoms arisen in a world where we as parents have access to numerous ways and means of healing along with a plethora of health professionals who claim to know the ‘best’ treatment or medication that will eradicate the symptoms being made manifest at such an alarming rate?
However we are seeing more and more just how these quick fix pill treatments are not working. For example, giving medication to calm a child within a classroom setting, to make them more manageable for the teacher, as he or she is supposedly showing signs of ADD. Or that chronic stomach ache that your child seems to endlessly complain about, regardless of how many dietary changes have been made or health treatments they’ve had.
These symptoms, behaviours and physical issues are being made manifest to illustrate to us that there are a vast array of needs in children that are just not being met.
Dr Maxine Therese founded The Childosophy system through her observations and research over 33 years working with children. She completed her Doctoral Research in 2013 - titled ‘ A Philosophy of Childhood: The Foundational Needs and Children’s Wellbeing. The thesis outlines a new needs model of children’s wellbeing based largely on the Chakra theory and integrates energy medicine, kinesiology, epigenetics and intuitive psychology.
Energetic understandings of our human experience are not new, however utilising this awareness and knowledge to assist children specifically, is definitely new.
Right now we are seeing numerous flaws in our ability to serve our children to optimise their greatest potentials and live with a total sense of wellbeing. It’s time to transcend old ways of doing things and to look for a fresh new approach that in how we view these precious beings that look to us for guidance and leadership.
Dr Therese sees that our children are the motivating force behind this transformation in consciousness and are driving us as adults to initiate new ‘ways’ of living and being in the world. Her research shows, what is clearly being illustrated all around us, that the approaches used to manage children’s behaviour based upon pharmaceutical intervention, for example, does not assist children to learn how to self-regulate and manage their own centre point of balance and draw upon their own capacities and capabilities. She puts forward that it’s important that we consider new approaches to assist our children to be empowered and well.
Models of child development are still largely focused on the physical and cognitive needs of the child. However we really need a model that integrates the multidimensional aspects of children’s lives - mind, body and spirit.
Dr Therese’s research has shown that the chakra system helps to interpret the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs of the whole child at each and every stage of development.
The core philosophy of the Childosophy system is the idea that the child is a soul and that they are born connected to the the vital source of wellbeing and fully integrated in mind, body and spirit. But as they grow or even within the womb and during the birth process, experiences take them away from this connection to source, which can temporarily inhibit their full flourishing and affect their wellbeing in a multitude of ways.
When children feel they have to hide or deny aspects of themselves, it causes an imbalance in their body and energy system, resulting in health problems and behavioural issues that are most common in childhood today. This system places a very strong emphasis on children’s needs. It offers a way of interpreting the multidimensional perspective that identifies the unmet needs that lay beneath the surface of children’s symptoms and concerns.
The denial or repression of emotion, which leads to fragmentation of the whole self - body, mind and spirit, have been found to be the cause of many childhood issues.
The role of the Childosophy practitioner is to create space where children feel deeply honoured, seen and heard, then using the simple ten step Childosophy method to assist children to access information at a subconscious level and bring forth memories, emotions and other experiences that are very significant to each individual child. The information received when using the system is specific to the individual, so it’s very powerful, as it is reflective of the core issue or original time of encoding of a particular behaviour that maybe presenting as a stress, worry or illness.
When the child is aware of the ‘meaning’ of the message of their concern - it will no longer remain and children ‘magically’ overcome many things that were a challenge for them or for their parents. ‘There is no mystery though in the transformation of unconscious to conscious, it is simply a matter of bringing forth the unknown and making it known’. (Dr M Therese)
The practitioner seeks to be totally present and ‘being in question’, which is allowing your interactions to be co-creative rather than based upon what we alone believe should be occurring. It is this state of relating that allows for listening rather than telling. From this space, creative solutions arise spontaneously.
Any emotion, response or behaviour that arises for our children is purposeful and meaningful. As each one contains a message that is specific for the child’s growth and wellbeing.
As parents, caregivers, teachers or any adult surrounding children become more aware of our own inner selves, the more aware we will be of our children’s inner lives.
As adults we have often lost touch with many aspects of self. As we are now coming to know that 90% of our subconscious patterns are created in early childhood and illuminating and transcending these patterns consciously as an adult allows for tremendous movement forward in many areas of our lives. But more importantly we will no,longer be unconsciously projecting our issues onto those closest to us, including our children, and instead allowing space to create and fulfill our highest potentials or souls calling this lifetime.
This healing system allows adults to creatively transform any concerns, stress, reoccurring patterns or unwanted behaviours that they may have carried over rom childhood.
Many of my clients initially express frustration with a particular behaviour in their children, only to gently come to a realisation that it was indeed just a projection of their own unmet need as a young child, made manifest unconsciously through their open and sensitive offspring.