Scope of practice

Catherine Burns, RSMT, CD(DONA) SpBAP, SpBCPE, CLC, CST, IDME, has received and maintains the following education, training & credentials:

Registered Somatic Movement Therapist (RSMT), via International Somatic Movement Therapists and Educators Association (ISMETA). September 2004
Spinning Babies® Aware Bodywork Practitioner. (SpBAP) Oct 2017
Spinning Babies® Certified Parent Educator, (SpBCPE). Oct 2018
Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC), Academy of Lactation Policy & Practice. May 2012
Registered Dynamic Body Balancing practitioner in Craniosacral Therapy and Myofascial Unwinding (CST) . Carol Phillips. Nov 2003
Certificate in Hakomi Professional Skills for Bodyworkers. Hakomi School of Somatic Psychotherapy. Dec 1997
Certified as Infant Developmental Movement Educator (IDME), School for Body Mind Centering®. Jan 2004

Overview of Scopes of Practices

I serve women and young children, with childbearing women and babies in the center of my practice. My offerings and scopes of practice are inter-related services which strongly constellate around prenatal, birth, postpartum, breastfeeding and child development, along with a broader scope to serve any individual as a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist.

My broadest scope of practice is as an RSMT, which comes from the perspective of body-mind integration through movement awareness, including internal movement such as breath and external movements, such as yoga and breastfeeding. I approach all my services and the people whom I serve from this somatic view, respecting each individual’s experience. As an RSMT, I provide education and therapy. Specifically I provide hands-on bodywork, guided somatic experience and movement facilitation, as well as education and counsel. I offer services from this somatic view, respecting each individual’s experience.

The Scope of Practice for each certification and credential is defined below, to the extent that the training body which awarded credentials has created a scope of practice. For those programs that have not developed a scope of practice, a summary of each program’s training goals & approved applications is described.

Scope of Practice

Registered Somatic Movement Therapist [1]

The purpose of somatic movement education and therapy is to enhance human function and body-mind integration through movement awareness. Our profession, as represented by ISMETA, encompasses distinct disciplines each with its own educational or therapeutic emphasis, principles, methods, and techniques.

The practice of somatic movement education and therapy includes:

Postural and movement evaluation
Experiential anatomy and imagery
Movement patterning and re-patterning
Communication and guidance through touch and verbal cues

Each method helps students and clients in some way to:

Focus on the body both as an objective physical process and as a subjective process of lived consciousness
Refine perceptual, kinesthetic, proprioceptive, and enteroceptive sensitivity that supports homeostasis, co-regulation, and neuro-plasticity
Recognize habitual patterns of perceptual, postural and movement interaction with the environment
Improve movement coordination that supports structural, functional and expressive integration
Experience an embodied sense of vitality and create both meaning for and enjoyment of life

Somatic movement education and therapy is applied to both pedestrian and specialized activities for people in all stages of health and development. The work can be communicated either on an individual basis or with groups.

Therapies which the RSMT encompasses include craniosacral therapy, myofascial therapy and developmental movement therapy.

Certificate specializations in bodywork & somatic therapy

Registered Dynamic Body Balancing practitioner in Craniosacral Therapy and Myofascial Unwinding (CST). Training to provide childbearing women and infants with bodywork and movement facilitation. [2]
Spinning Babies® Aware Practitioner. Training to provide childbearing women with myofascial therapy bodywork support, alignment assessment and movement facilitation.[3]
Certificate in Hakomi Professional Skills for Bodyworkers. Trainng to provide emotional processing support during bodywork, with clear guidelines on referral for psychotherapeutic support. [4]

Scope of Practice

Certified Lactation Counselor® [6]

The Certified Lactation Counselor® (CLC®) certification identifies a professional in lactation counseling who has demonstrated the necessary skills, knowledge, and abilities to provide breastfeeding counseling and management support to families who are thinking about breastfeeding or who have questions or problems during the course of breastfeeding/lactation.

CLCs are individuals who have successfully completed a minimum of 45 hours of training based upon the footprint of the World Health Organization/UNICEF Breastfeeding Counseling Training Course; have passed a criterion-referenced examination administered by the Academy of Lactation Policy and Practice (ALPP); and have demonstrated the clinical competencies and skills required to provide safe, evidence-based counseling for pregnant, lactating, and breastfeeding women, including the:

Ability to recognize one’s own and others’ attitudes, values, and expectations about infant feeding and healthy lifestyles.
Ability to apply the concept of an individualized approach to counseling and management of breastfeeding, from preconception through weaning.
Ability to use appropriate, effective, and client-centered communication skills.
Ability to identify opportunities to offer information/education within the counseling encounter to women, the whole family constellation, and the community.
Ability to assess physical and psychosocial aspects of the breastfeeding dyad.
Ability to utilize reliable tools to assess affective/ineffective breastfeeding and milk transfer.
Ability to incorporate evidence based approaches to practice and make appropriate referrals operating on the continuum of the health care team.
Knowledge of programs, policies and legislation on state, national, and international levels that promote, protect and support breastfeeding.

ALPP develops and administers the CLC examination to assess the knowledge and skills that underlie competent practice in lactation counseling. The development, administration, and scoring of the CLC exam, after participants have met the skills competency requirements, promotes competency in lactation management, skills, and knowledge and thereby fulfills the mission of ALPP.

The purpose of the CLC certification is to protect the public by identifying individuals who are competent in lactation management skills and knowledge.

Many individuals who hold the CLC credential have other licenses and education, including nurses, peer counselors, doulas, dietitians, nutritionists, home visitors, physicians, midwives, occupational and speech therapy, mental health counselors, etc. Because of the diverse background and training of CLCs, this listing does not encompass activities that many CLCs may conduct under the umbrella of other licensure, training, or knowledge.

Knowledge and Competency of the CLC

CLCs have demonstrated the knowledge and skill to:

Construct and maintain conditions that predispose mothers and babies to an uncomplicated breastfeeding experience through counseling, education, clinical management, and support.
Monitor and evaluate behavioral, cultural, and social conditions predisposing mothers and babies to an uncomplicated breastfeeding experience.
Assess for, monitor, and evaluate physical conditions that predispose mothers and babies to a complex breastfeeding experience.
Monitor and evaluate behavioral, cultural, and social conditions that predispose mothers and babies to complex breastfeeding experiences.
Provide needed evidence-based information regarding breastfeeding and medications, tobacco use, alcohol, and illicit drugs.
Identify and advocate for aspects of breastfeeding management programs that facilitate optimal health outcomes.
Assess breastfeeding using a multi-faceted approach.
Use counseling skills and techniques that are supportive to breastfeeding mothers and babies, practicing in a clinically competent manner.
Develop and advocate for public health strategies that serve to protect breastfeeding.
Coordinate care consistent with standards of professional ethics and behavior.

Thus, CLCs have demonstrated readiness to:

Promote breastfeeding as the optimal method of infant feeding and care.
Counsel and educate pregnant women and mothers regarding breastfeeding.
Provide care supportive of the whole family constellation when providing counseling.
Conduct comprehensive assessment of mother and child related to breastfeeding and human lactation.
Develop an evidence based care plan specific to the needs identified through assessment and counseling and implement it to help mothers meet their personal breastfeeding goals.
Work collaboratively within the health care team.
Assess the needs of women and babies who are at risk of, or currently experiencing, lactation difficulties, providing follow up care, and triaging referral to other care providers as needed.
Adhere to the ALPP Code of Ethics and the professional standard within this code.

Scope of Practice

Spinning Babies® Certified Parent Educator [10]

Spinning Babies has trained and licensed parent educators to teach the Spinning Babies curriculum in classes, with couples or with a single parent & support person. A Spinning Babies Certified Parent Educator (SpBCPE) educates parents in physiologic principles of birth and specific movement sequences to support pregnancy and birth.

Spinning Babies Parent Class shows parents what to do for more comfort in pregnancy and for an easier birth. Parents learn practical and specific preparation to align mother’s pelvis. This enables baby to be in the best position to travel through the pelvis. The class offers solutions when labor seems long, painful, or has a stall. When Spinning Babies is practiced daily in pregnancy, mothers and babies are more likely to have an birth.

Scope of Practice

Infant Developmental Movement Educator [7]

An Infant Developmental Movement Educator (IDME) evaluates and facilitates normal development in infants using an embracing, child-centered approach. The goal of an Infant Developmental Movement Educator is to help set a foundation that supports pathways of ease, strength, agility and adaptability and to help avoid restrictive patterns of movement that inhibit the development of the full potential of the child.

The approach of infant developmental education is gentle, non-intrusive, and playful rather than demanding. It is direct and highly specific to the individual child. It does not force or impose, but focuses, engages, interacts, entices and seeks to engage the child’s inherent curiosity and interest. It always looks at the whole child and fully embraces each child and their parents and family. It includes and educates the family in the interactive process.

An Infant Developmental Movement Educator:

Observes how normal movement develops in infancy
Identifies and analyzes normal movement patterns
Facilitates normal movement development in a child
Facilitates basic perception in relation to movement
Works with infants developing within the normal range
Educates parents about ways to facilitate normal movement development in their child
Identifies and analyzes basic movement difficulties and to facilitate normal movement development
Recognizes indications for referral to an appropriate therapist

Sources of Scope of Practice and program descriptions

[1] Registered Somatic Movement Therapist (RSMT), Scope of practice from the International Somatic Movement and Therapists Association, www.ISMETA.org

[2] Dynamic Body Balancing – Craniosacral & Myofascial Unwinding, from www.DynamicBodyBalancing.com

[3] Spinning Babies® Aware Practitioner, from www.SpinningBabies.com

[3] Spinning Babies® Certified Parent Educator, from SpinningBabies.com

[4] Hakomi Professional Skills for Bodyworkers, Certificate from Hakomi Institute. www.HakomiInstitute.com

[6] Certified Lactation Counselor®, Scope of Practice, from The Academy of Lactation Policy and Practice. www.alpp.org

[7] Infant Developmental Movement Educator, Scope of Practice from www.SMBC.com