Description of Aware Beginnings

Please enjoy the presentation from Jeane Rhodes, Aware Beginnings: Body Memory and Birth Language. Two phases of research into birth memory are presented here: 1) interviews with 2½ - 3½-year-old children regarding their prenatal life and experience of birth, and 2) the results of dissertation research using body language to identify echoes in the body of prenatal and birth experiences.

The initial study upon which this paper is based was undertaken in 1990, at the suggestion of Thomas Verny, the founder of APPPAH, as part of a graduate course in pre- and perinatal psychology. This led to the second study five years later, which was originally planned as a follow-up, broader, and more in-depth interview project. As this was Jeane's dissertation, my committee had to approve the design and felt that the verbal reports of young children would not be academically respected, so a re-design using body language was implemented. The second study took place in Denver, Colorado, from 1995-1997.

Introducing Jeane Rhodes, PhD

Jeane Rhodes, PhD is a licensed professional counselor in the State of Colorado. She earned her PhD in Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology from The Union Institute in 1997, with dissertation research in body language and birth memory.     

Jeane worked in the foster care system for ten years in various capacities, including as a therapist for children in foster care and as executive director of a foster placement agency. Her novel, The Birth of Hope, is based on her experiences in the foster care system. The book also incorporates pre and perinatal psychology principals in this moving story of teen pregnancy in foster care.

She joined APPPAH in 1989 and was active as a contributor to the journal and congress presenter. She became associate editor of JOPPPAH in 2002 and editor-in-chief in 2009. After a one-year break in 2013 from active involvement in APPPAH, she returned as administrative hub for APPPAH and Managing Editor of the Journal in January, 2014. After training a replacement for administrative duties, she returned to her post as editor-in-chief of JOPPPAH in January, 2016.