September 11 Mothers and Infants
The Project for Mothers, Infants, and Young Children of September 11, 2001 was a ten-year treatment and research project focused on providing care to the families of women who were pregnant and widowed in the 9/11 disaster, or of women who were widowed with an infant born in the previous year. The highly trained group of therapists involved in the project—Beatrice Beebe, Phyllis Cohen, Anni Bergman, Sally Moskowitz, K. Mark Sossin, Rita Reiswig, Suzi Tortora, and Donna Demetri Friedman— offered diverse treatment specialization including adult, child, mother-infant, and family therapy, as well as in nonverbal communication.
Several journal articles and a book: Mothers, Infants And Young Children Of September 11, 2001: A Primary Prevention Project edited by Beatrice Beebe, Ph.D., Phyllis Cohen, Ph.D., Mark Sossin, Ph.D., and Sara Markese, Ph.D. resulted from the project.
The team approach to the treatment of a traumatized mother and child: Lydia and Ryan
Book Section
Bergman, A.; Sossin, K. M.; Tortora, S.; Lydia (Ryan's mother); Cohen, P.; Beebe, B.
In Beebe, B.; Cohen, P.; Sossin, K. M.; Markese, S. (Eds.) Mothers, Infants and Young Children of September 11, 2001: A Primary Prevention Project (2012)
The therapist group: A transformational process
Book Section
Beebe, B.; Cohen, P.; Bergman, A.; Moskowitz, S.; Sossin, K. M.; Reiswig, R.; Tortora, S.; Friedman, D. D.
In Beebe, B.; Cohen, P.; Sossin, K. M.; Markese, S. (Eds.) Mothers, Infants and Young Children of September 11, 2001: A Primary Prevention Project (2012)
Beyond the face and words: How the body speaks
Book Section
Tortora, S.
In Beebe, B.; Cohen, P.; Sossin, K. M.; Markese, S. (Eds.) Mothers, Infants and Young Children of September 11, 2001: A Primary Prevention Project (2012)
Lullaby Dance Project
Dr. Tortora conceived of The Lullaby Dance Project while conducting international trainings of the Ways of Seeing program. The Ways of Seeing program provides a variety of curriculums to support infants, children and their families from wellness to educational and private therapeutic services using music, dance, movement, and play activities. The Ways of Seeing philosophy is based on the principles of infant mental health, early childhood development and education, dance movement psychotherapy, authentic movement practice and Laban nonverbal movement analysis.
In these trainings Dr. Tortora teaches how to use dance, movement, music, songs and play to help a parent bond to their baby or young child. These dances songs both strengthen the growing attachment relationship and help the parent learn how to read their child's nonverbal cues.
In the process, Dr. Tortora’s students began to teach her their favorite lullabies and playful dancing songs and games that are classic and contemporary from their own culture and country as well as the personal dances, songs and games they have created with their children uniquely within their own families. And as she began to learn a wonderful variety of dances and songs from different cultures, she thought that they may be used to calm and help their children to fall asleep as well as playful dance games to engage them. It became a lovely exchange. Leading to the Lullaby Dance Project for which she is now starting to collect these songs, dances and playful games through videotape.
The goal in collecting these dances, songs and games is to create a body of work that documents the important role of nonverbal communication/nonverbal cues, dance, movement, song, and playful games in the developing parent -child relationship. Ultimately, Dr. Tortora hopes to be able to use this video footage to create a cross-cultural library for study, research and publication.
Please use the accompanying form to share videos of your Dancing Dialogues using lullaby circles of connection.