Atlas›Domain X · Body, movement, breath & physical›Guide 089
Guide X-089

Primitive-reflex integration programmes (RMT, MNRI; contested)

Kerstin Linde, Harald Blomberg, Moira Dempsey, Svetlana Masgutova1975
A 30 · L 58 · M 1217 interventions in the Trinity explorer4 described for recognition only
Client cardCompare
[source: …] where a claim comes from[uncertain] not confirmed in a primary source[synthesis] the writer's reconstruction

1. Introduction

Version followed: Rhythmic Movement Training International (RMTi, Moira Dempsey) as RMTi publishes it on its own site and course materials (2025–2026), with Masgutova Neurosensorimotor Reflex Integration (MNRI) and the INPP Method (Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology) described at a descriptive level for comparison and referral. Blomberg Rhythmic Movement Training (BRMT), now taught separately from RMTi, is noted but not followed. A spin-off curriculum, Brain and Sensory Foundations (Sonia Story, Move Play Thrive), is cited only where it shows how rhythmic movements are applied.

Status: contested. These are commercial or private programmes built on the idea that infant ("primitive") reflexes that persist beyond infancy contribute to difficulties with movement, learning, attention, emotion and behaviour, and that specific movement programmes can "integrate" them. Both the idea that retained reflexes cause these difficulties and the claim that the programmes treat them are disputed. Independent evidence is limited and of mixed quality (see 2.5). Everything below about mechanisms and benefits is the developers' claim, not established fact. [source: RMTi Moira Dempsey page; INPP home page; ADxS reflex-integration page]

What it is, as developers describe it.

  • RMT / RMTi: Gentle rhythmic movements, many modelled on the stereotyped rocking and rhythmic movements that healthy babies make spontaneously, plus reflex-specific integration activities. RMTi says they support reflex integration and brain and sensory maturation. They can be done actively, or applied passively by an adult who moves the person's body for someone who cannot do them independently. [source: Move Play Thrive page; RMTi course flyer]
  • History, as RMTi gives it: Swedish movement therapist Kerstin Linde devised the movements. Psychiatrist Harald Blomberg used them with children at a 2003 special-needs camp led by Svetlana Masgutova. Dempsey, a teacher, licensed Brain Gym instructor (from 1997) and Touch for Health instructor (from 2002), invited Blomberg to teach in Singapore and helped revise and build the programme. She set up RMTi in Melbourne in 2007 as its organisational arm. Blomberg chose a separate direction and left RMTi in 2012. Since 2016, RMTi has been an independent licensed programme administered by A Future for All in Houston, Texas. [source: RMTi Moira Dempsey page] Courses under the name "Blomberg Rhythmic Movement Training" (BRMT) are advertised separately. [source: Eventbrite BRMT listing] How BRMT courses and credentials now relate to Blomberg: [uncertain: not verified].
  • MNRI: Developed by Svetlana Masgutova, a developmental psychologist. A parenting-magazine account links its origin to her work with children injured in the 1989 Ufa train disaster. MNRI starts with an individual assessment of reflex patterns, then sessions that pair sensory input with motor responses, moving from basic patterns to variants with reassessment. It is also offered as multi-day camps and family conferences. [source: Autism Parenting Magazine (secondary; draws on Masgutova-institute sources)] Courses are run as named multi-day workshops, e.g. "MNRI Dynamic and Postural Reflex Integration" (four days, Hong Kong, June 2025). [source: HKAST event page] MNRI's own published method description and certification rules: [uncertain: not verified].
  • INPP: Founded in 1975 as a private clinical and research organisation. Peter Blythe directed it from 1975 to 2000, then Sally Goddard Blythe from 2000 to 2025. The Chester, UK base is given in the imprint of its 1996 school programme. Its method assesses "neuromotor immaturity" and gives an individual developmental movement programme. A school version (1996, revised in the 2012 Wiley-Blackwell book) has teachers screen pupils and run a daily movement programme over one school year. INPP states that its method "does not diagnose or cure medical conditions". [source: INPP home page; Wiley front matter of Goddard Blythe 2012]

Core idea of change (developers' claim): Repeating developmentally early movement patterns gives the nervous system the experiences it is said to have missed, so retained reflexes are inhibited and later postural, sensory and cognitive skills can mature. RMTi stresses relaxation and calm. MNRI stresses repatterning of reflex patterns. INPP stresses replicating early movement stages in sequence. [source: Move Play Thrive page; Autism Parenting Magazine; INPP home page]

Who delivers it, and the psychotherapist's place. None of the three is a regulated profession. Credentials are programme-issued: RMTi Consultant and Instructor tracks; MNRI programme certificates; INPP Licentiates and National Principals, who hold an annually renewable agreement. Many practitioners are also occupational, physio or speech therapists, regulated through their own profession. RMTi lists "mental health and family therapists" and "trauma specialists" among the people its courses suit, so a psychotherapist may train and deliver RMT under RMTi's licence. For MNRI and INPP, the psychotherapist's usual role is to work alongside the practitioner and the family. [source: RMTi course flyer; RMTi Moira Dempsey page; INPP home page]

2. Framework

2.1 RMTi programme structure (as published)

  • Training route (Melbourne series, 2025):
    • Level 1 & 2 online theory course (about 8 hours, self-paced, six months' access). This is required before the practicum.
    • Level 1 & 2 Practicum (two days). Rhythmic movements and other activities used to integrate reflexes, with basic neurology. Covers primitive reflexes for postural control and defensive reflexes.
    • Face the Fear (two days). Covers the Fear Paralysis Reflex (FPR) and Moro reflex, and links the Moro reflex to reflexes involved in communication. Framed as a foundation for "learning to be safe in the world".
    • Level Three (two days). Links reflex integration to academic skills and to auditory and visual processing.
    • Making Connections (two days). Rhythmic movements for basic neurology and brain maturity.
    • Teaching combines theory, videos, demonstration and supervised practice. An RMTi Intensive (four days) is also advertised. [source: RMTi course flyer] Intensive content: [uncertain: not verified].
  • Costs (Melbourne 2025, AUD): A$600 per two-day course (A$550 early bird); review places A$300; four-course bundle A$2,000. [source: RMTi course flyer]
  • Consultant and Instructor credentials: RMTi has separate Consultant and Instructor training tracks, and lists professionals worldwide in a public directory. Dempsey mentors future instructors. [source: RMTi Moira Dempsey page; RMTi course flyer] Specific requirements (case studies, supervised hours, renewal): [uncertain: not verified].
  • Client-level phases [synthesis from the course structure; RMTi's own client protocol not verified]:
    1. Intake and observation of movement and reflex patterns.
    2. Rhythmic movements, done passively or actively, to establish relaxation and ease.
    3. Reflex-specific integration activities, including defensive and fear-related reflexes (FPR, Moro).
    4. Links to academic, auditory and visual skills.
    5. Review.
  • Session count, frequency and criteria for moving between phases are set by the consultant. Published examples describe brief daily home routines built into family life, e.g. at bedtime. [source: Move Play Thrive page] RMTi's criteria for progressing: [uncertain: not verified]. This guide gives no frequencies or durations as instructions.

2.2 MNRI (descriptive)

  • Individual assessment of which reflex patterns are said to be integrated, unintegrated, re-emerged or never emerged → a plan targeting those patterns → sessions moving from basic patterns to variants → reassessment. [source: Autism Parenting Magazine]
  • Formats: individual sessions, multi-day camps (one account describes a 12-day camp) and family conferences. [source: Autism Parenting Magazine]
  • Training: named multi-day courses, e.g. a four-day Dynamic and Postural Reflex Integration workshop. [source: HKAST event page] Certification levels and fees: [uncertain: not verified].

2.3 INPP (descriptive)

  • Clinical route: neuromotor assessment by a Licentiate → individual developmental movement programme → periodic review. Assessment visits and review intervals: [uncertain: not verified].
  • School route: teacher screening → daily class movement programme over one school year. A one-day course trains teachers and clinicians. The practitioner route is a One-Year Practitioners Course. [source: INPP home page; Goddard Blythe 2012 front matter]

2.4 Where the psychotherapist fits (all three) [synthesis]

  1. Before: decision support for parents, consent and assent planning, and a trauma and touch history.
  2. During: monitoring the child's distress and the family's burden, liaising with the practitioner and the paediatric team, and integrating movement experiences into therapy.
  3. After or at review: honest appraisal of whether goals were met, recognising adverse effects and passing them on, and managing disappointment.

2.5 Evidence and professional positions (for informed consent; brief)

  • A non-commercial German ADHD information site rates the evidence as heterogeneous, with many small or weak studies and effects "often moderate, participant- and outcome-specific". It names McPhillips et al. (Lancet, 2000), a placebo-controlled trial of a reflex-based movement programme in children with reading problems, as one of the few high-quality controlled trials. Caution: the page's author is a reflex therapist, and its reviewers run a reflex-therapy institute. [source: ADxS page] Details of McPhillips 2000: [uncertain: not verified].
  • A study by Grigg et al. (2023) is cited by an RMT-derived programme as showing reflex and reading gains. [source: Move Play Thrive page] Its design and quality: [uncertain: not verified].
  • An independent systematic review on persisting primitive reflexes and children's development, published in Acta Psychologica: [uncertain: not verified].
  • Positions of professional bodies (paediatric, occupational therapy, psychological or dyslexia associations) on RMT, MNRI or INPP specifically: [uncertain: not verified]. Do not tell families that any professional body endorses these programmes.
  • No promises: none of these programmes is an established treatment for ADHD, dyslexia or other learning difficulties, autism, anxiety disorders, cerebral palsy or other developmental conditions. Present outcomes only as what families and practitioners report.

3. Guiding principles

Principles drawn from developer sources are tagged; the others are [synthesis] for the psychotherapist's stance.

  1. Attribute every mechanism and benefit claim. In practice, say "RMTi says…" or "INPP's view is…", never "this will rewire…". [synthesis]
  2. Contested, not disproven or proven. Give parents the evidence status plainly, without ridicule or salesmanship. [synthesis; status per 2.5]
  3. Gentleness and relaxation first (RMTi). Movements should be easy and comfortable, with no forcing. Stop if the child stiffens or protests. [source: Move Play Thrive page, "simple", "no rigid holding"]
  4. Not diagnosis, not medical treatment (INPP). No programme replaces medical assessment or care. Never advise starting or stopping medical, educational or therapy services. [source: INPP home page]
  5. Credential check. INPP says only listed Licentiates and National Principals deliver its programme, and other providers use INPP-derived tests. Families should check the practitioner's listing and their regulated profession, if they have one. [source: INPP home page]
  6. Child assent alongside parental consent. The child's "no" or distress is respected at every session, whatever the programme's schedule. [synthesis]
  7. Touch is consented, explained and stoppable. Before passive movements, tell the child and parent where hands will go and what will happen. Check in during the movement. The child or parent can stop at any moment. Touch is never sexual. Body-psychotherapy codes require informed consent before touch techniques and give the client the right to refuse or end touch at any time. [source: USABP Code VIII; EABP Principle 7]
  8. Stay within competence and code. Mainstream talk-therapy codes (BACP, UKCP, APA) contain no explicit touch provision. All prohibit sexual contact and require working within competence and referring when appropriate. A psychotherapist does not add hands-on RMT to psychotherapy unless they hold RMTi training and their own code and setting allow it. Otherwise refer, and keep roles separate. [source: BACP 2018 paras 13, 33–35; UKCP items 4, 23–24; APA code]
  9. Family burden is a clinical issue. Daily home programmes, travel to camps and course fees cost time, money and emotional energy, and can produce guilt when routines lapse. [synthesis; costs per RMTi course flyer]
  10. One coordinated team. With consent, share observations with the child's paediatrician, OT, physiotherapist, speech therapist and school. [synthesis]
  11. Physical safety screening before any movement work. Seek medical clearance for any child with a neurological, orthopaedic, cardiac or seizure condition, a recent injury, or neck or spinal concerns. [synthesis; no programme-published contraindication list verified]
  12. Watch emotional reactions. RMTi links fear-related reflexes to emotion and safety ("Face the Fear"), and practitioners report effects on anxiety. Treat any emotional reaction as clinical material, not as proof the programme works. [source: RMTi course flyer; Move Play Thrive page; interpretation is synthesis]

4. Intervention inventory

Part A covers the programme components as developers publish them. Deliver them only after the relevant programme training: A1–A4 for an RMTi-trained psychotherapist; A5–A8 are for understanding and referral. Part B covers the psychotherapist's own interventions alongside any of the programmes. The exact movements, hand positions and sequences are taught in programme courses and manuals and are not reproduced here. No frequencies, repetitions or durations here are instructions.

Part A: Programme components

A1. RMT passive rhythmic movements (adult moves the person)

  • Purpose / when: RMTi and derived programmes present passive rhythmic movement, mainly gentle rocking patterns, as a way to induce relaxation and support reflex integration in people who cannot do the movements themselves (young children, people with motor disability), or as a calm start. [source: Move Play Thrive page; RMTi course flyer] Benefit claims are the developers'.
  • Steps (qualitative; the course teaches technique):
    1. Screen first (see B4).
    2. Explain to the child and parent what will happen, where hands will be placed, and how to stop.
    3. Get the parent's consent and the child's assent. Agree a stop signal.
    4. Settle the person lying in a comfortable position, as taught.
    5. Apply the taught rocking pattern gently, with "no rigid holding". [source: Move Play Thrive page]
    6. Keep the rhythm easy. Watch breathing, face and muscle tone.
    7. Stop at once on protest, stiffening or distress.
    8. Afterwards, ask briefly how it felt and note any reactions.
    9. Coach the parent in the home version only as the programme trains it.
  • Example language (illustrative): "I'm going to put my hands on your hips and rock you gently, like a slow boat. If you want me to stop, say 'stop' or tap the floor, and I'll stop straight away." Later: "How is that? Keep going, or stop?"
  • Watch for:
    • Relaxation shows as softer breathing, looser limbs and a calmer face.
    • Resistance shows as bracing, holding the breath, giggling that turns into agitation, or the child pulling away. Stop and use B2/B3.
    • Any sign of discomfort to a joint, the neck or the back means stopping and seeking medical clearance.
    • Developer-described "working": the movement becomes smoother and more rhythmic, and the child relaxes into it. [synthesis from Move Play Thrive "relaxing" framing] This is not evidence of change in learning or attention.

A2. RMT active rhythmic movements (person moves themselves)

  • Purpose / when: For people who can do the movements themselves. RMTi includes them alongside passive work. [source: Move Play Thrive page; RMTi course flyer]
  • Steps (qualitative):
    1. Demonstrate the taught movement.
    2. Invite the person to try it slowly and comfortably.
    3. Observe rhythm, symmetry and ease without correcting harshly.
    4. Offer the passive version (A1) if the active one is too hard.
    5. Let the person stop whenever they want.
    6. Record what was easy and what was effortful.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Let's see what your body finds easy today. It doesn't have to look like mine. Small and smooth is perfect."
  • Watch for: frustration or shame at clumsiness (reframe, or reduce to an easier version); performance anxiety; pain (stop); fatigue. Dempsey herself reported finding the movements hard to do at first. Normalising difficulty is consistent with RMTi's account. [source: RMTi Moira Dempsey page]

A3. RMT reflex-specific integration activities (postural, defensive and fear-related reflexes)

  • Purpose / when: Activities taught for specific reflexes. Level 1 & 2 covers postural-control and defensive reflexes. Face the Fear covers the Fear Paralysis Reflex and Moro reflex and their links to communication and to feeling "safe in the world". Level Three links reflexes to reading, writing and auditory and visual processing. [source: RMTi course flyer] RMTi's individual pages cover the Moro, FPR, TLR (tonic labyrinthine), STNR (symmetrical tonic neck), ATNR (asymmetrical tonic neck) and spinal Galant reflexes. [source: RMTi Moira Dempsey page, site navigation] Their content: [uncertain: not verified].
  • Steps (qualitative):
    1. Observe as trained.
    2. Choose activities from the course for the reflex in focus.
    3. Begin with rhythmic movements (A1/A2) so the person is relaxed.
    4. Introduce the activity gently.
    5. Stop if the person becomes distressed.
    6. Review over time.
    • For fear-related reflex work with anxious or traumatised children, the psychotherapist adds the trauma-informed safeguards in B3. [synthesis]
  • Example language (illustrative): "This next one can feel a bit wobbly or surprising. We'll go slowly, and you're the boss of the stop button."
  • Watch for:
    • Startle, tearfulness, dissociation (glazed look, going quiet, "floppy" compliance), sudden anger. Pause, ground the child (B3) and tell the parent.
    • Practitioners may interpret these as "release". Do not push through them. [synthesis]
    • Re-evaluate the plan if distress recurs.

A4. RMT home programme coaching (parents and carers)

  • Purpose / when: RMT-based work is typically continued at home by parents, often as a short calm routine, for example at bedtime. [source: Move Play Thrive page]
  • Steps:
    1. Teach the parent only what the programme trains.
    2. Check the parent's handling and the child's comfort in session.
    3. Agree how the child signals stop.
    4. Fit the routine to family life, not the other way round.
    5. Set up a simple log of reactions, not "scores".
    6. Review at each contact.
    7. Tell the parent they may pause at any time. [synthesis]
  • Example language (illustrative): "If a night goes wrong or you skip a week, nothing is ruined. Tell me what got in the way and we'll adjust."
  • Watch for: parent guilt or over-zeal; the routine becoming a battle; a sibling feeling left out; the child dreading bedtime. Simplify, pause, or bring it into B7.

A5. MNRI assessment and reflex-pattern sessions (descriptive, for referral)

  • Purpose / when: The developer's aim is to restore function in sensorimotor patterns judged dysfunctional, delayed or pathological. [source: Autism Parenting Magazine]
  • Steps (as described):
    1. Individual assessment of reflex patterns.
    2. A plan targeting patterns judged unintegrated, re-emerged or never emerged.
    3. Sessions pairing sensory input with motor responses, from basic patterns to variants.
    4. Reassessment.
    • How much hands-on work is involved, and the techniques used: [uncertain: not verified].
  • Psychotherapist's language with the parent (illustrative): "Ask the MNRI practitioner what they will physically do, whether it involves touch or pressure, what your child may feel, and how they handle a child who says no."
  • Watch for: distress during hands-on work; claims that MNRI will resolve autism or other diagnoses (these are claims only; see 2.5); pressure to keep booking more intensive formats.

A6. MNRI camps and family conferences (descriptive)

  • Purpose / when: Multi-day intensive formats (one account describes a 12-day camp) that families attend together. [source: Autism Parenting Magazine] Typical structure and cost: [uncertain: not verified].
  • Psychotherapist's steps [synthesis]:
    1. Before: discuss travel, cost, the child's tolerance for intensity, and siblings.
    2. Agree with the parent their own stop criteria for the child.
    3. Afterwards: debrief the parent and child separately (B6/B7).
  • Example language (illustrative): "What would tell you, during the camp, that this is too much for her right now?"
  • Watch for: exhaustion, regression in sleep or behaviour, the parent's hope rising and then crashing, financial strain.

A7. INPP individual assessment and developmental movement programme (descriptive)

  • Purpose / when: INPP says its approach addresses neuromotor immaturity linked to motor, reading-related visual, handwriting and behavioural difficulties. It lists autism, anxiety, speech and language, auditory processing, attention, learning and behaviour, and historically adult agoraphobia and panic. These are INPP's claims. [source: INPP home page]
  • Steps (as described):
    1. Assessment by an INPP Licentiate or National Principal.
    2. An individual programme of developmental movements.
    3. Periodic review.
    • Exact content, review intervals and fees: [uncertain: not verified].
  • Psychotherapist's language (illustrative): "INPP itself says it doesn't diagnose or cure medical conditions. So let's keep his paediatric and school support in place and see this, if you choose it, as an addition."
  • Watch for: practitioners using INPP-derived tests without INPP accreditation [source: INPP home page]; adult clients with panic using the programme in place of evidence-based anxiety treatment (discuss; do not forbid).

A8. INPP school intervention programme (descriptive)

  • Purpose / when: Teachers screen pupils for neuromotor immaturity, then run a daily whole-class physical movement programme over a school year. It was adapted from the clinical method in 1996 and published in revised form in 2012. [source: INPP home page; Goddard Blythe 2012 front matter]
  • Steps: Teacher training (one-day course), then class screening, then the daily programme, then re-screening. [source: INPP home page]
  • Psychotherapist's language (illustrative): "The school is running a movement programme for the whole class. You can ask how they screen, what they tell parents, and whether any child can opt out."
  • Watch for: children singled out after screening; screening results treated as a diagnosis; parental consent for screening not sought (school policy question) [synthesis].

Part B: The psychotherapist's interventions [synthesis unless tagged]

B1. Decision-support conversation with parents (hope, evidence, cost)

  • Purpose / when: When a family asks about, or has already started, a reflex-integration programme for their child's learning, attention, anxiety or autism-related difficulties.
  • Steps:
    1. Ask what they have heard and hope for.
    2. Name the hope respectfully.
    3. Give the evidence status plainly: contested, limited independent evidence, mostly reports from developers and families (2.5).
    4. Separate what the programme claims from what is known.
    5. Ask about costs. RMTi 2025 courses cost about A$600 per two-day course for adults who train; practitioner session fees vary. [source: RMTi course flyer]
    6. Ask about time and travel.
    7. Confirm that existing medical, educational and therapy support continues. Never advise stopping or starting medical care.
    8. If they proceed, agree concrete, observable goals and a review point.
    9. Record the discussion.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Lots of families find these programmes through other parents, and I understand why. The honest picture is that the developers report good results, but independent research is limited and mixed. It isn't an established treatment for ADHD or dyslexia. If you decide to try it, let's agree what we'd want to see by a certain point, and keep his other support going."
  • Watch for:
    • Desperation or guilt ("I missed something when he was a baby"). Address it directly: the programmes' own story of "missed" infant movements can load parents with blame.
    • Conflict between the parents.
    • A practitioner who promises cures.

B2. Consent, assent and the touch agreement

  • Purpose / when: Before any session involving passive movement or other hands-on work, whether delivered by you (if trained and permitted) or by a practitioner the family sees.
  • Steps:
    1. Get informed written consent from the parent or carer. Cover what will be done, the touch involved, the evidence status, costs and the right to stop. Written consent is "highly recommended" in the USABP code. [source: USABP Code VIII.2]
    2. Seek the child's own assent in age-appropriate words, using pictures or a demonstration on a doll or on the parent.
    3. Agree a stop signal.
    4. Check consent again during the session and periodically across the programme, since initial consent may not reveal later difficulties. [source: USABP Code VIII.3–4]
    5. Keep a parent present, or use a chaperone, for any hands-on work with a child.
    6. Never touch the genital area, chest or buttocks. Touch is never sexual. [source: USABP Code VIII]
    7. Follow your service's safeguarding policy.
  • Example language (illustrative): To the child: "Your mum says yes, and I need your yes too. You can change your mind any time, even in the middle." To the parent: "Please stop me if anything looks uncomfortable for him."
  • Watch for: compliance without assent (a child who "lets" it happen while frozen); a parent overriding the child's no; disclosures of abuse during or after body work. Follow safeguarding procedures at once.

B3. Trauma-informed preparation and adaptation for touch and fear-related reflex work

  • Purpose / when: For children or adults with trauma, medical trauma, sensory sensitivity, or prior restraint or holding experiences, before passive movements (A1), fear-related reflex activities (A3), or MNRI hands-on work.
  • Steps:
    1. Take a touch and trauma history from the parent, and from the child as appropriate.
    2. Identify triggers: lying face down, being held, being touched on the feet or head, or adults standing behind them.
    3. Brief the practitioner, with consent.
    4. Offer choice: active instead of passive, the parent applying the movement instead of a stranger, sitting instead of lying, eyes open.
    5. Start with the lowest-intensity option.
    6. Build in grounding: name five things you can see, feet on the floor, the parent's hand if wanted.
    7. Stop and stabilise on signs of overwhelm.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Some children like being rocked and some don't. You get to choose how we do this, and we can always do it standing up instead."
  • Watch for: freezing, dissociation, hyper-giggling, panic, flashbacks, bedwetting or nightmares after sessions. Pause the programme and review with the parent and practitioner.

B4. Physical-safety screening and medical-clearance liaison

  • Purpose / when: Before starting any movement programme. No programme-published contraindication list has been verified, so screening is general good practice.
  • Steps:
    1. Ask about seizure disorders, neck or spinal conditions or instability, hypermobility, orthopaedic problems or recent surgery, shunts or other implanted devices, cardiac or respiratory conditions, recent injury, pain, and pregnancy in adult clients.
    2. Where any are present, ask the family to obtain clearance from the treating doctor or physiotherapist before passive or rhythmic movement work.
    3. Agree that pain, dizziness, nausea or a change in seizure pattern means stopping and contacting the treating clinician.
    4. Document this.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Because these movements involve rocking and moving the head and spine, I'd like her paediatrician to say it's fine for her, given her seizures."
  • Watch for: practitioners who dismiss medical concerns; families keeping the programme from the medical team.

B5. Monitoring adverse effects and passing them on

  • Purpose / when: Throughout. Adverse effects described as "release" or a "healing crisis" can be normalised by enthusiasts.
  • Steps:
    1. At each contact, briefly ask about sleep, mood, behaviour, pain, anxiety and the child's attitude to sessions.
    2. Distinguish expected mild tiredness from distress or deterioration.
    3. Raise concerns with the parent first, then, with consent, with the practitioner and the paediatric team.
    4. Follow safeguarding procedures for any concern about harm.
    5. Document this.
  • Example language (illustrative): "You mentioned he's been waking with nightmares since the sessions started. I'd like us to pause and talk with the practitioner before carrying on."
  • Watch for: deterioration explained away as progress; family isolation from mainstream services.

B6. Coordination with the practitioner, paediatric team and school

  • Purpose / when: When the child is in a programme alongside other care.
  • Steps:
    1. Get written consent to share information.
    2. Find out the practitioner's credential (RMTi Consultant listing, MNRI certificate, INPP Licentiate listing) and any regulated profession they hold. [source: INPP home page; RMTi Moira Dempsey page]
    3. Agree who does what.
    4. Share observations relevant to the child's emotional state.
    5. Keep the paediatrician informed.
    6. Avoid duplicating or contradicting messages to the family.
    • The EABP code asks therapists to consider carefully the implications when a client receives similar services from another professional, and to discuss this with the client to minimise confusion. [source: EABP Ethics Guidelines 6.b]
  • Example language (illustrative): "I'm working with Amy on her worries. Could we agree how you'll let me know if sessions upset her, and what you tell her parents about progress?"
  • Watch for: splitting ("the reflex lady understands him; school doesn't"); practitioners advising against other treatment.

B7. Integrating movement experiences into psychotherapy

  • Purpose / when: With children, or adults doing RMT for themselves, who notice bodily or emotional reactions during the programme. RMT-derived sources link rhythmic movements to anxiety and trauma recovery, which is a developer claim. [source: Move Play Thrive page]
  • Steps:
    1. Invite a description of what the movement felt like in the body.
    2. Explore associated feelings, images or memories without interpretation forced on them.
    3. Link calm states to the client's own self-regulation tools.
    4. Treat strong reactions as material for therapy, not as evidence about reflexes.
    5. For anxiety, trauma or other disorders, keep evidence-based psychotherapy as the core treatment.
  • Example language (illustrative): "When you did the rocking at home, what did you notice in your body? ... And what does 'safe and floppy' remind you of?"
  • Watch for: the client attributing all difficulties to "retained reflexes" and losing a sense of agency; body shame; perfectionism about doing the movements "right"; compulsive exercise patterns in adolescents.

B8. Supporting family burden (time, cost, guilt)

  • Purpose / when: During intensive home programmes or after camps.
  • Steps:
    1. Map the weekly load.
    2. Ask what has been dropped (siblings, rest, the couple relationship, play).
    3. Normalise skipping sessions.
    4. Help the parent set their own limits on money and time.
    5. Address guilt and blame.
    6. Offer parent sessions if needed.
  • Example language (illustrative): "You're doing a lot. If the routine is costing family peace, that matters as much as the routine."
  • Watch for: debt, marital strain, sibling resentment, parent burnout, the child sensing they are a "project".

B9. Review and ending conversation

  • Purpose / when: At the agreed review point, or when the family considers stopping.
  • Steps:
    1. Compare observable goals with what has changed, including other explanations: maturation, other therapies, school changes.
    2. Ask the child's view.
    3. Support whatever informed choice the family makes: continue, pause or stop.
    4. Help them process disappointment or sunk cost.
    5. Make sure mainstream supports remain in place.
  • Example language (illustrative): "We hoped his reading would be easier by now. Some things have changed, and some haven't. What do you make of it, and what does he want?"
  • Watch for: pressure to add more courses or levels; parents blaming themselves for "not doing enough"; relief that needs permission.

5. Handling problems

The developer sources described above do not set out problem-handling guidance. Everything in this section is [synthesis] unless tagged.

  • Child refuses or becomes distressed during movements. Stop. Assent overrides the schedule.
    • Offer a choice: active instead of passive, the parent instead of the practitioner, a different position, or no movement today.
    • Explore the refusal in play or talk.
    • If it recurs, review the plan with the parent and practitioner (B3, B5).
    • Illustrative: "Your body said no today. That's useful information, and we listen to it."
  • Freezing, dissociation or panic during fear-related reflex work (A3).
    • Stop the movement, orient the child to the room, and use the parent's presence and grounding.
    • Do not reinterpret it as "release" to justify continuing.
    • Debrief the parent, and pause until a trauma-informed plan is in place.
  • Parent non-adherence to the home programme.
    • Explore the barriers (time, the child's resistance, the parent's doubts, other children) without blame.
    • Simplify, or agree that the programme does not fit this family now. Non-adherence often signals overload, not lack of commitment.
  • Over-adherence or escalation.
    • Signs: the parent adds programmes, extra levels, camps or more frequent sessions, or turns daily life into therapy.
    • Reflect the cost to the child's play and family life, revisit the agreed goals (B1), and set limits together.
  • Rupture after you share the evidence status.
    • The parent may feel judged or that you are taking away hope. Repair by acknowledging their care and your shared aim.
    • Restate that the decision is theirs, and that your concern is the child's wellbeing and keeping other support in place.
    • Illustrative: "I may have sounded dismissive. I'm not. I want us both to see clearly what is helping him."
  • A practitioner promises a cure, or advises dropping medication, therapy or school support.
    • Do not argue with the practitioner through the family. Tell the parent plainly that you would not advise changing medical care without the prescribing doctor.
    • INPP itself says its method is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment. [source: INPP home page]
    • With consent, contact the paediatric team. Consider whether a safeguarding or professional-conduct concern exists.
  • The family asks you to do the movements in therapy.
    • Only if you hold RMTi training, your profession's code and your setting allow combined hands-on and talk work, and consent and chaperoning are in place (principle 8).
    • Otherwise refer, and keep the roles separate. Mainstream codes require practice within competence. [source: UKCP items 23–24; BACP 2018 para 13]
  • An adolescent is embarrassed by "baby movements".
    • Respect it. Offer active, private or adapted versions, or none.
    • Explore what the embarrassment says about their self-image and identity.
  • Strong emotion or memories surface for an adult doing RMT themselves.
    • Bring it into psychotherapy (B7).
    • If trauma symptoms escalate, prioritise stabilisation and evidence-based trauma treatment.
  • No observable change at review.
    • Use B9 to stop without blame or sunk-cost pressure.
    • Check whether assessment for other explanations (vision, hearing, speech and language, learning, attention, medical) has been done through mainstream services.
  • School screening labels a child as "immature" (A8).
    • Help the parent ask the school how results are used and shared.
    • Make sure the child is not singled out. Screening is not a diagnosis. [source: INPP home page, "does not diagnose"]
  • Parents disagree about the programme.
    • Hold a joint session focused on the child's needs and the family's resources. Avoid becoming the tie-breaker on the evidence question.
  • Safeguarding concern.
    • Examples: a disclosure during body work; inappropriate touch by any practitioner; a child forced through distress; neglect of medical needs in favour of the programme.
    • Follow your local safeguarding procedure at once, and document it.
  • Credential doubts.
    • Check the provider's listing with the programme (RMTi professional directory; INPP Licentiate list) and their regulated profession, if any.
    • INPP warns that other providers use INPP-derived assessments. [source: INPP home page]

Sources

Web sources

Books and papers

  • Goddard Blythe, S. (2012). Assessing Neuromotor Readiness for Learning: The INPP Developmental Screening Test and School Intervention Programme. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. (A revised and extended version of Goddard Blythe, 1996, The INPP Test Battery and Developmental Exercise Programme for use in Schools, INPP Ltd, Chester.)
  • McPhillips, M., et al. (2000), The Lancet: placebo-controlled trial of a reflex-based movement programme in children with reading difficulties, as reported by ADxS. [uncertain: not verified]
  • Grigg, et al. (2023): rhythmic movements, reflexes and reading, as cited by Move Play Thrive. [uncertain: not verified]
  • Systematic review: "Persisting primitive reflexes and motor and cognitive development in children", Acta Psychologica. [uncertain: not verified]
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