Making Peace with the Process: A deeper dive into the process of collaborative functional habilitation for IBCLCs and Manual Therapists (chiropractors and osteopaths).

November 30 & December 1, 2023

Bryna Hayden, IBCLC

Jennifer Tow, BFA, MA, IBCLC, LMT, CSOM

Sharon Vallone, DC, FICCP

(2  days in person in Glastonbury, CT, USA--both November 30 & December 1 are FULL DAYS)

Communicate, collaborate, co-treat. A simple, but effective means of advancing care in infant feeding.

"Amazing, such great material and have applied it to my personal practice since coming home. Would love to do more courses like this." 2022 Attendee

Gaining the skills that allow us to assess and intervene in support of functional feeding can provide a strong foundation for resolving complex cases of oral dysfunction, yet many breastfeeding/chestfeeding dyads continue to struggle, especially after tongue-tie release, and in spite of lactation support and bodywork care. The ability to bring both advanced IBCLC and bodyworker skillsets together in one holistic process represents the next level of care in the field of lactation. 

Communicate, collaborate, co-treat. This is the underlying theme that weaves its way through this 2 -day intensive, advanced course. 

While many others may speak of the benefit of this approach, Dr. Vallone and Jennifer  have effectively collaborated with hundreds of dyads over a period of 25 years. They have spent many hundreds of hours together, learning how best to support the families they serve by gaining the skills to communicate, problem-solve and guide the dyad towards functional competency as a team.  In 2015, they began teaching "The Other Breastfeeding Dyad: the IBCLC and Bodyworker" in an effort to establish a strong foundation for this collaborative care. That early course, along with the IBCLCMasterClass have inspired the development of this course, as more and more IBCLCs and bodyworkers join forces to provide the most effective care possible.  

Similary, while co-teaching the IBCLC MasterClass with Jennifer and Dr Vallone in numerous cities across the US since 2017, Bryna Hayden has displayed the extraordinary ability to weave their deep knowledge of infant reflexes, movement, postural and oral function together with Dr Vallone's bodywork skills in demonstrating the benefit of collaborative work to the understanding and resolution of complex infant feeding challenges. 

It is this team approach that has been the foundation of the MasterClass, a team approach that recognizes the importance of functionally competent feeding in the development of a healthy infant and a confident parent. The focus on competency over compensation becomes the guiding principle in a functional habilitation process that remains aware and respectful of the needs of the dyad.  

While lactation support and intervention, in concert with skilled bodywork, are essential to the process, we have found that progress can be both gauged and fine-tuned through the lens of infant reflexes and functionality of latch, both which serve as assessment and intervention tools. 

This course relies on hands-on, clinical skills-building through a program that centers a team approach in establishing a consistent and congruent message that serves to build confidence among all members of the team, including professionals and family members, as the dyad is guided towards a competent and sustainable breastfeeding or chestfeeding relationship.

Communicate, collaborate, co-treat. A simple, but effective means of advancing care in infant feeding.

IBCLCs and Manual Therapists are welcome to register individually, however we encourage you to consider registering together for an immersive educational experience.  Besides it's less expensive to register the team together!

Space is limited to ensure active participation.

PRE-REQUISITE:

BOTH IBCLCs and manual therapists must have taken the MasterClass as a pre-requisite. This advanced course is an investment that presumes a common knowledge base among attendees, therefore the course is only available to those IBCLCs & manual therapists who have taken the IBCLCMasterClass, either the IBCLC or Manual Therapy tracks. 

Comments from 2022 course attendees:

From IBCLCS:

"Jennifer helped so much for me to understand how to work with bodyworkers. I loved how Jennifer really talked and showed how to not just offer a referral service, but how to effectively co-treat with bodyworkers, even when not in the same space."

"Excellent as always. Jennifer's small groups were so excellent. Her teaching skills are excellent."

"Sharon's anatomy and body knowledge is unbelievable.  For me in this course Sharon helped by giving more concrete examples of how to communicate with other providers and showed us how to co-treat families."

From Chiropractors:

"Amazing, such great material and have applied it to my personal practice since coming home. Would love to do more courses like this. "

"Lots of great tips and little knowledge tidbits picked up all weekend! I constantly jump back to a moment when she (Dr Vallone) emphasized energetically asking a baby for permission to enter their space and start touching their body. Simple but such a great mindset to start an initial evaluation."

"One of the best in person chiropractic courses I have done, most applicable to how I work at my home practice and gained so much knowledge and insight from her. "

"It was informative and as a manual therapist, I learned a lot about how IBCLCs work and what they look for in TOTs babies."

OBJECTIVES

Understand the importance of reflexes in infant posture, stability, latching, feeding, mental and physical health, and development. Use this knowledge of reflexes to assess initial feeding challenges & evaluate progress toward identified lactation and feeding goals.

Identify aberrant infant movements indicating physiological restriction or dysfunction that impedes functional breast/chestfeeding.

Recognize and understand the concept of ease as both a tool for assessment and a common language for communication between providers addressing dysfunction in lactation and infant feeding.

Recognize the difference between compensatory and competent breast and chestfeeding.

Explore touch as a conversation between provider and patient; one that requires permission and respect to faciliate both self and co-regulation.

Appreciate the relevance of the team approach to the establishment of functional breast and chestfeeding.

Gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the role of other members of the collaborative team, as well as review templates for communication between providers.

Develop an appropriate collaborative timeline for a functional release of oral restrictions that guides the breastfeeding dyad from compensation to competency.

INVESTMENT:

Individual: EARLY BIRD FEE: $735 (EXTENDED THROUGH 10/8/23)

Regular Pricing: $855 (from 10/9/23).

EARLY BIRD TEAM DISCOUNT: IBCLC & Manual Therapist Register together: $1330 (through 10/8/23)

TEAM Regular Pricing: $1550 (from 10/9/23).  For those who have yet to take the MasterClass a discount of 10% will apply when you register along with this course. Contact holisticIBCLC@gmail.com for the discount code.

No refunds after 9/30/23 (WE RECOMMEND PURCHASING NON-REFUNDABLE AIRLINE TICKETS AFTER THIS DATE)

CONTINUING EDUCATION

13.0 CERPS

CERPs Allocated by IBLCE, IBLCE Approval Number CLT114-33

FACULTY:

Bryna Hayden, IBCLC (they/them).

Bryna is a lactation consultant, mentor, educator, and birth doula in the Pacific Northwestern United States. They are active in their community as an advocate for mutual aid, reproductive justice, and reduction in barriers to care. They serve clients in both private practice and pediatric practice settings. They are also a current board member for the United States Lactation Consultant Association (USLCA).

Over their 17 years in the perinatal field, Bryna has had the privilege of many families’ trust to manage complex care situations. These complex cases led Bryna to seek additional training and continuing education in the areas of oral function and infant feeding, Rhythmic Movement Training (RMTi), primitive reflexes and brain development in infants, cultural humility, trauma-informed care, harm-reduction approaches to clinical care, health literacy, motivational interviewing, Perinatal Mental Health, and other counseling strategies for client-facing care.

Inclusivity on every level is very important to Bryna. Their vision is to offer information and tools to help care providers to build a network of comprehensive, concordant, and individualized support systems for all.

Jennifer Tow, BFA, MA, IBCLC, LMT, CSOM.

Jennifer has practiced holistic lactation and guided parents in raising their children holistically for over 30 years. A fascination with the physiology of wellness has led her on a decades-long journey exploring the influences on infant health that come to define long-term human well-being. She has a special interest in the areas of epigenetics and the microbiome, gut-brain health, oral functional competency and airway development, exploring the profoundly far-reaching implications of this work for breastfeeding dyads.

While residing between the USA & France from 2010-12, Jennifer established an international client base and now sees most of her clients on-line, specializing in collaborating with her clients in resolving complex breastfeeding issues. With a Master's degree in Holistic Health Coaching, her reputation for guiding parents through these issues stems from her ability to integrate holistic modalities and an expanded skill-set, such as myofunctional therapy and bodywork techniques, into her practice.

She is a writer and lecturer, offering workshops internationally and via webinar on lactation & epigenetics, gut health & healing, tongue-tie & airway development and holistic lactation practices. She offers a year-long advanced course in Integrative and Holistic Lactation. She is a founding member of IATP (the International Affiliation of Tongue-tie Professionals) and founder of the Holistic Lactation Institute.

Jennifer is the mother of three children born at home in 1988, 92 & 98 and a granddaughter born at home in 2009. She has come to deeply embrace the wisdom and humility gained from gestating, birthing, nursing and parenting these three amazing human beings. 

Sharon Vallone, DC, FICCP (Fellow in Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics).

Sharon’s clinical practice is in a multidiscipline environment and brings 25+ years of pediatric experience with a primary interest in pregnancy, birth trauma, breastfeeding and problems with infant /toddler neurodevelopment. She finds her role frequently to be a member of a support team for infants and children providing assessment, treatment and healthcare advocacy, as well as individualized treatment for children with functional challenges. She is the editor of the Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics and teaches internationally in the International Chiropractor’s Association’s postgraduate program in pediatric chiropractic.

TRAVEL

Bradley Airport (BDL).

For international travel, Boston or New York (JFK or Laguardia) may be more cost effective, but you will need to rent a car from there.

Couse Location and Hotel Accommodations:

Homewood Suites by Hilton Hartford South-Glastonbury

65 Glastonbury Boulevard Glastonbury, Connecticut 06033 USA

All rooms have kitchens.

Booking Info to come.

Whole Foods, as well as many restaurants and grocery stores are within 10 minutes ny car/Uber (some are within walking distance).