Working Constitutionally with Children

“What is wanted is not that you should all day long be constantly on the watch—not that at all, but rather that you should acquire a sense for characteristic happenings.  If one has already learned how to watch quite a number of children and knows how to make the right use at every turn of one's perception, it is, under certain circumstances, quite possible to carry out a thorough investigation of a single child in five or ten minutes.  It does not depend at all on the length of time one devotes to the matter, but wholly on the degree to which one is able to unite oneself inwardly with the act of perception.”

Rudolf Steiner, Lecture 10 from Education for Special Needs: the Curative Education Course

This webinar course, taught by Dr. Adam Blanning, works through foundational anthroposophic insights into child growth and development through the lens of the constitutional polarities, as presented by Rudolf Steiner. Topics such as developmental delay, depression, anxiety, ADD/ADHD, aggressive behaviors, tics, seizures, bedwetting, and autism will be explored. In-depth methods for clinical observation and constitutional prescribing are practiced through a series of four case write-ups, two per year, using pediatric patients from your own practice.

Prerequisite Training: Attendance of at least two years of IPMT meetings (or equivalent training).  It is strongly recommended that participants have also completed a year of clinical mentoring. Participants are expected to have a working understanding of the 4-fold and 3-fold approaches in anthroposophic medicine coming into the course. Preparatory reading will largely come from the book Understanding Deeper Developmental Needs, with additional case descriptions and other resources emailed before each session.

The course is limited to licensed prescribers (MD, DO, PA, NP, and ND graduates of approved four-year schools). 

Important! In order to do the required case reports you will need to be actively working with children in your clinical practice and/or able to observe children in a classroom setting. There will be a case write-up required in January and May of each year.

This course is part of the pathway to certification in Anthroposophic Medicine for licensed prescribers (MD/DO/ND/NP/PA), and is worth up to 40 contact hour credits (20 credits per year).

The next two-year course is being planned to begin in Autumn 2022. If interested, please write to us at  paamdrscourse@anthroposophy.org