Suzi Tortora
Suzi Tortora, EdD, ADTR, CMA, LCAT, LMHC, Private Practice, NY, Dance Therapist, New York
BIO: Dr. Tortora has over 25 years experience working as a dance/movement psychotherapist with infants, young children and their families. Dr. Tortora provides training programs nationally and internationally including at the Zero to Three National Training Institute and the World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH), and has been featured on NPR radio; Good Morning America, ABC-TV; Eyewitness News WABC-TV; Woman’s Day Magazine and the New Yorker magazine. She is on the faculty of the postgraduate Institute for Infants, Children & Families of the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, the graduate dance therapy Faculty of Pratt Institute, and The New School. Dr. Tortora recently published a book titled The Dancing Dialogue: Using the communicative power of movement with young children.
PRESENTATION TITLE AND DESCRIPTION:
How Young Children Communicate Distress Nonverbally: a Developmental Perspective
This presentation will discuss the nonverbal signs and signals the young child uses to communicate distress. The important role qualitative aspects of nonverbal expression and the nonverbal exchange will be highlighted. A nonverbal nomenclature that can be used across disciplines to support the assessment and treatment of the mental health needs of young children affected by medical illness will be discussed. This method supports both the child and family to manage the multiple stress factors of medical illness in the young child.
At the completion of this presentation, the participant will understand:
- Understand the nonverbal signs and signals a young child uses to communicate stress.
- Understand the role nonverbal communication plays in the assessment and treatment of stress and trauma in the young child.
- Learn how to read the qualitative elements of the nonverbal exchange to support the mental health of families and young children with medical illness.