The Power of Beliefs: What Babies Are Teaching Us
by Wendy Anne McCarty, PhD, RN

ABSTRACT: This paper explores the development of beliefs during the prenatal and perinatal period and how babies portray their beliefs. Four vignettes from therapeutic work with babies illustrate the powerful impact beliefs already have in shaping their lives. Basic principles to help babies shift potentially constrictive beliefs to more life enhancing ones are included. This paper is intended as a theoretical and clinical exploration leading to new thought, research and clinical direction. This paper calls for a paradigm for infant development and communication with babies based on the premise that consciousness is the organizing principle of human experience. The importance of both practitioner and parent’s beliefs is discussed.
McCarty, W. A. (2002). The power of beliefs: What babies are teaching us. Journal of Prenatal & Perinatal Psychology & Health, 16, 341-360.
You may purchase the full article from the author at www.wondrousbeginnings; The article is also included as appendix in the author’s book, Welcoming Consciousness: Supporting Babies’ Wholeness from the Beginning of Life–An Integrated Model of Early Development (2012), available at online bookstores.