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Give Local Tucson: ITK helps children and families in the hospital

Posted at 8:29 AM, Dec 27, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-27 13:05:52-05

TUCSON, Ariz. — If you meet 6-month-old Corbin, you can tell he's a happy baby.

But his mother Michelle Jaffee says just after he was born she went through the most terrifying moments of her life.

"He had persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, which ended up putting him in critical condition," Jaffee said. "And he was in very bad shape so he was transferred over to the Diamond Children's Medical Center."

It was during this stressful time at the hospital that Michelle was introduced to Integrative Touch for Kids or ITK. Founder Shay Beider tells me they work directly with all family members to improve their hospital stay. That may include a father with anxiety or a frightened child.

"So we could do things like mediation, breathing instruction," Beider said. "We have hands on healers that do different forms of body work like massage or craniosacral therapy or acupressure ."

ITK serves around 3,500 people every year. Beiders says that includes families at the hospital and outside centers. Michelle could not be more grateful for the help.

"Integrative Touch helped me by giving me a chance to relax take a break from all of the intense stress that we we were under," Jaffee said. "[I kind of got to] regroup myself and be able to be a better parent and be more available in a calm way for my husband and my family."

Corbin is now healthy. Michelle says he is on track and is learning how to sit up and roll over.

Here's more on how you can learn more about ITK.