“The Captain of Team Eric”

We have been coming to MAES therapy since our son Eric was 6 months old. Eric has complex needs after being born prematurely with 1.1 kilos and suffering a brain haemorrhage three days after his birth. He has cerebral palsy, bilateral hydrocephalus, epilepsy and a permanent VP-shunt.

We are very fortunate to have come across MAES therapy in the early days of our journey with Eric. Jean-Pierre, and all the members of MAES therapy team, have been part of our extended family for the last 11+ years. The knowledge, professionalism, care, and attention of the whole team is outstanding.

The team has been beside us throughout: from baby reflux, to crossing eyes, hip operation, and even during epilepsy relapses. As a family, we travel a lot. When abroad (USA, France, Portugal, Brazil, and Israel) we often try other types of therapies, visit other centres, and research new developments for CP – however, we have never found anything better than MAES therapy.

As parents of a child with CP we all dream of a “magic wand” that will change everything, and that our child will start running, talking, and functioning as a typical child. It took us a while to accept that this may not be the case with our son. However, MAES therapy has shown us that it is possible to make huge progress and maximise our son’s potential.

MAES therapy is very different from all the other therapies we have experienced. It is hands-on, it breaks patterns, it organises the brain, it challenges the child. Above all, it gives us hope and has been helping our son (already) achieve much more than many thought possible.

It can be bewildering and overwhelming to be a parent of a child with CP. There are so many therapeutic approaches, medical options and specialist views, that it is unavoidable that some of them conflict. Difficult choices may need to be made, and various specialists need to work in one direction to achieve the best results. We are confident that we made the right choice by appointing MAES as “Captain of Team Eric.”

MAES therapy is responsible for so much of what Eric has achieved so far. With Eric’s complex case, he would not be where he is today if it was not for the dedication of Jean-Pierre and his team. From the bottom of our heart, we can only say “thank you very much for everything you do” for Eric, our family, and all the other children you see all around the world!

Andrea & Harlan - London, June 2025

We are so grateful we found Maes Therapy so soon after our daughter’s CP diagnosis (6 months old) and looking back we’re not sure we could have got through those early days without their expertise, knowledge and support – especially at such an overwhelming time adjusting to our ‘new normal’. MAES therapy progressive approach felt like an instant fit after the first consultation. We were so keen to commit to a physiotherapy based on brain injury research and evidence compared a ‘wait and see’ / generalised tick box approach that NHS physio leans towards. Twice a week for 5 years our daughter had physio sessions with Carey and the bond they created was so special. From the outset, each session was tailored to her individual needs – by understanding her brain injury and the root cause of how that affected her physically and her speech, the physiotherapy was pitched at just the right level for her to build new pathways in the brain which in time increased her quality of movement. She was never rushed to meet milestones and not fixating on that had a huge positive impact on us as a family. As our child’s personality grew and her movements developed, her physiotherapy evolved with her, always changing and adapting to her current and long-term needs. As a parent, the CP journey has been a steep emotional learning curve, but JP and Carey have equipped us with a deep understanding of the complexities of CP and given us the confidence and tools to continue their unique physio techniques at home. We have valued learning so much and we have no doubt that our daughter’s amazing progress to date is down to the foundations put in place by MAES physiotherapy. We can’t thank you enough and highly recommend!

I was trained in M.A.E.S Therapy 9 years ago in South Africa. It has truly changed the course of my professional life as a physiotherapist. The approach encourages continual analysis, child specific assessment and treatment, understanding a child from the child's perspective taking into account not only the physical but the social, emotional, environmental, cognitive and sensory factors too. It is truly a holistic approach. I look forward to continued leaning under the excellent mentorship of Jean-Pierre Maes and his colleagues.

MAES Therapy opened up a whole new world to both my CP child and myself as a parent. By focusing on the root of the problem and addressing my child as an individual with his own uniqueness, we are able to work towards goals that is specifically within reach for my child, prioritising a quality outcome above quantity. I am truly amazed by every session. Thank you so so much to JP and his team.

After nearly two weeks of daily MAES therapy my daughter (spastic quad CP) is so much more relaxed, alert and content. She has regained some lost skills and her arms and hands are open and relaxed. The unique and gentle approach to therapy has brought the joy back to movement and exploration.

I had an opportunity to meet Mr. Maes. He gave his opinion and observations on my son's development. Although we had a Zoom session with my son's therapist after we provided him with some videos, the amount of prediction about what my son would do in some poses gave me goosebumps. He unlocked some things for him and helped him overcome difficulties in his development. My son was born prematurely and had asphyxia and intravascular hemorrhage.

We have been with MAES therapy for the past 2 years after first attending one of their courses with my eldest son, I have found the MAES approach to physio unique and impactful. They have always put his long term needs over short term gains, so while I obsessed about him walking they prioritised making sure that when the time came he walked right. Therapists have always taken the time to explain to me the science behind what they're doing and why so I can incorporate it into our home life which I appreciated. I would definitely recommend MAES to anyone looking for physio for their child(ren).

After my son appeared to have some developmental delay, we embarked upon an investigations process which led to the discovery that he had abnormal brain development, primarily in the cerebellum, which was caused by a genetic disorder. As with most parents who experience something like this, I was utterly lost and despairing. I was told by the neurologist that physiotherapy may help, and so after some Google searching I came across MAES Therapy.

We had not tried traditional physiotherapy so I don't really have much to compare it to, but what I can say is that since my son started MAES therapy with Tara and Jean-Pierre 4 months ago his progress has been astonishing. They have a holistic approach which does not exclusively focus on movement, but also his cognitive and communication skills. My son went from being very rigid in the torso and unable to do much by way of movement other than rolling and sitting (when placed in a sitting position), to sitting up from lying down, pulling to stand, reaching and very nearly crawling within 3/4 months. He is so much more ambitious with his movement because he has confidence and awareness in his body. His cognitive and play skills have improved enormously, and we now have a few words. I will be eternally grateful for Tara and JP's support, and cannot recommend them more highly.

Professionally, I am a doctor. I have heard about MAES Therapy as I am a mother of a disabled daughter with ataxic CP and her physiotherapist has completed the course. I have decided to attend a 4-weeks MAES course to get to know the MAES approach and help my daughter and my pediatric patients.

The course gives a completely new perspective on children with CP. MAES approach allows to adjust the therapy to a specific patient through a careful analysis of their movement and behavior. It does not focus only on the patient's body and muscle tone - it treats the patient as a whole, helping them to function better, developing new strategies for movement, behavior and other spheres of life. In each treated child it sees primarily an adult who they will become in a few years and who must be given the opportunity to live as independently as possible.

My daughter has been participating in MAES therapy for a year. This year I was also invited to the ART course with her as a demo child. I notice a lot of positive changes in her. Her repertoire of movements has increased, and she has developed cognitively. During the ART course, Jean-Pierre gave me a lot of helpful tips and just after a few days her behavior has improved considerably.

I highly recommend this course to every pediatric therapist. It is really worth attending it as it opens up completely new horizons for therapy. Also, as a physician and as a parent, I recommend the MAES approach to all children with CP. I am grateful that my daughter has got the chance to be treated this way.

As a mum to a 3 1/2 year old with quadriplegic cerebral palsy and as a Physiotherapist professionally it was really important to me to find the right physiotherapists to support my daughter's overall development. My daughter, Orla, was born full term but she failed her newborn hearing screen and from there further investigations indicated she had been affected by congenital Cytomegalovirus when she was in the womb, which had also damaged her brain. It became clear she had cerebral palsy when she did not meet the typical developmental milestones in the first few months. I explored many different types of therapy available when my daughter was first diagnosed not knowing what approach was best. Then following recommendations from other parents as well as colleagues it became clear, very quickly, that the MAES team were the best in the field of neurodevelopmental paediatric physiotherapy. Jean-Pierre is well known world-wide for his high level of expertise and understanding in this field and his handling skills are second to none.

Our daughter, Orla, has been attending weekly sessions, since she was 6-months old, with Joanna at the MAES centre in Mill Hill, North London. Jean-Pierre regularly joins our sessions to advise on further strategies for progression. Orla is very excited each week when we arrive at the centre as she knows it's a place where she has fun, at the same time being handled in a way which allows her to move in ways she cannot do independently. This is often in contrast to the more traditional NHS approaches where she gets frustrated by being placed in a piece of equipment or when practising static holds such as 4-point kneeling. I am convinced Orla's progress to date has been due to the MAES therapy sessions and their principles we continually implement at home. She is a cognitively alert little girl with much improved movement quality, she has no muscle shortening/tightness anywhere, which has continued to surprise her NHS professionals and no need for medications, which are often used to help similar children with pain and muscle spasms. Orla is now able to sit crossed legged but at the same time move her body to reach for toys and play so it is a functional sitting rather than one that is static and hard for her to maintain.

MAES therapy is forward thinking, it is different from many other physiotherapy approaches. It makes you think differently about your child's development and how to work on their brain's capacity for change. Understanding that a typically developing child's brain naturally learns complex/nuance movements which is key to learning to sit, crawling and walking and all positions in-between. In Orla's case she has an atypical brain following the damage done by the Cytomegalovirus, which has not allowed her to naturally develop these complex/nuance movements needed to reach these typical milestones. MAES therapy allows her brain to have these opportunities to learn the complex/nuance movements through specific handling of her body, in many varied positions. Initially I thought this was just passive handling of Orla's body (i.e. I was doing the movements to her) but with guidance and practise from Joanna and Jean-Pierre it was soon clear we were far from passively moving Orla. She was continuously learning an awareness of her body and an increasing repertoire of movements in all positions. Just practising sitting or standing statically (as it is so often done in typical NHS settings) when a child does not have all the in-between complex/nuance movements means they will not have much ability to function in these positions, they will be having to work really hard just to maintain their body in these positions. Maes therapy has allowed Orla to improve her movement quality and more importantly work towards more independence.

We have since moved over 90minutes drive away from the MAES centre but we still attend once a week as I firmly believe this is the right approach for our daughter and we will continue indefinitely. Thank you Joanna and Jean-Pierre for your ongoing support!

I had the opportunity to join online during Part 1, MAES Course South Africa 2021.
It was so great to be back. I wish I could have attended more. MAES has been phenomenal for me and for my therapy. And I keep thinking of Jean-Pierre when I treat patients and think what he would say and do. MAES has been so ingrained in my brain, it is impossible to not think differently. And I love it!

Ik heb, na lang twijfelen, de Foundation course van MAES Therapy gedaan afgelopen zomer 😊 Ik ben zo blij dat ik het uiteindelijk gedaan heb! Wat een inspirerende cursus die echt een nieuwe kijk geeft op kinderen met CP en gelijkaardige neuromotorische aandoeningen. Dit was de nieuwe wind die ik nodig had om terug gemotiveerd aan de slag te kunnen gaan 😉 Het is veel nieuwe informatie maar het is allemaal heel logisch en leidt tot heel veel ‘aha’-momenten. Het leuke aan deze cursus is ook dat het niet alleen focust op het motorische maar ook dieper ingaat op het gedrag van een kind en hoe dit in relatie staat tot het motorische. Verder gaat het ook dieper in op spel en speelgoed, hoe je dit gebruikt bij deze kinderen en wat voor soort speelgoed het beste effect want ja, spel/speelgoed is belangrijk maar enkel als je het op de juiste manier gebruikt 😉 nog zo’n ‘aha’-moment. Kortom, een super interessante, holistische cursus die je helpt een kind beter te kunnen analyseren en dus ook beter behandelen! Een aanrader voor elke kiné die opzoek is naar iets vernieuwend dat wat afwijkt van het traditionele 🤩

My daughter was born via elective C-section at 38+2 weeks after a normal pregnancy. She started showing signs of stiffness early on and missed multiple milestones. At 7 months she had an MRI scan which identified significant leukodystrophy. To date, we still have no diagnosis.

We started MAES therapy just before Emma’s 4th birthday, a little over a year ago. Since starting therapy, Emma is more flexible, more aware of her own body, more fluid in her movements and seems to be much more cognitively aware. She has started talking, albeit not always understandable, and can now not only sit cross legged, she can get herself into a cross-legged position. We notice subtle differences with her each and every day. She seems to understand that MAES therapy is helping her as she is always keen to go to her appointments. That could also be because J-P and his amazing team manage to make hard work fun!

MAES therapy is different to anything you will experience in the NHS or elsewhere. It requires you to think differently about how best to help your child. I think it has made an enormous difference to our daughters development and plan to continue with therapy indefinitely.

In addition to providing MAES therapy, the team have also been incredibly supportive in other areas of Emma’s care. I ensure J-P and team are copied on Emma’s medical reports as they always have incredibly useful insights. J-P even spoke to my daughter’s NHS physio when he disagreed with a consultants diagnosis and encouraged us to seek a second opinion. The second opinion and that of other healthcare providers aligned with J-P’s thinking. They don’t just provide therapy - they actually care. They care about what happens to my child before and after she comes to therapy. I think at times the therapy is doing me as much good as it is doing Emma as I now feel I have someone to go to to discuss my concerns and fears.

I can’t recommend JP and the team highly enough and can’t thank them enough for all they have done for my daughter.G

The online MAES Therapy 1-Week Advanced Course was more than I expected! It was an amazing week, with time to re-visit the principles of MAES Therapy, time to watch videos, analyse, comment, answer questions…. with lots of learnings, and go deeper in the analyse of children’s movements from different perspectives

Do not be afraid of taking an online MAES course!! It is so very well organized, with lots of content, easy to follow, well explained… We went so much deeper into the video treatment analyses, which gives the chance to learn in a very M.A.E.S way: without hands on pressure !

Thanks to the organization and participants for being brave and making this possible, because in the current times, is a very good idea to move forward.

Patricia Kaiser López, Physiotherapist

M.A.E.S. Trained Therapist

Spain

I have completed the 4 week MAES Therapy course and Advanced course, I recently joined the 2020 online ART (Advanced MAES Course). This was a fantastic course of like minded MAES Trained therapists who prioritised their learning for the benefit of their clients. The online forum enabled discussion, review of treatment sessions, both face to face and online and an update of the MAES Therapy approach. Highly recommend the ART course to Advance, Refresh and Troubleshoot your application of MAES Therapy.

When I was attending Foundation M. A. E. S. Course, the key point of my learning process was Course Leader Jean-Pierre’s guidance whilst I was treating the child.

I had no doubts that by attending the recent online Advanced MAES  A.R.T. Course  "Advance-Refresh-Troubleshoot"  I would gain a deeper understanding and a better analysis of the problems of children with CP, but I was concerned that without the possibility for that kind of interaction, my treatment will not improve. Crazy me!

Since the course, I have been re-watching videos of my treatment sessions and it’s not just that I can understand the child better, I can clearly see my own strengths and weaknesses; I can see how to improve my handling;  I have ideas how to develop the play and how to structure my treatment better and I have the confidence that I will implement all of these into my practice for all the children I treat.

Have I mentioned the opportunity to observe JP’s thinking process and reasoning? Priceless!

Ana Milošević
M.A.E.S. Trained, Neurodevelopmental Physiotherapist
Serbia

I recently completed the first MAES Therapy 1-Week Advanced Course online.

If someone wants to deepen their knowledge of MAES Therapy, this course is essential! A huge amount of knowledge transferred to participants in a phenomenal way. Although this is an online course, it is not a theoretical course. Thanks to in-depth video analysis and appropriate questions from the Course Leader Jean-Pierre, the participants are guided to develop a solution to the problem themselves, which significantly increases the retention of the information obtained. If anyone was afraid that it would be 8 hours a day spent in front of the screen, let me reassure you - the course is so interesting that time passes unnoticed. Additionally, thanks to the fact that the course takes place online, we have the opportunity to meet MAES Trained Therapists from all over the world and their different therapeutic horizons.

This M.A.E.S. Advanced course took me to a whole new level of understanding. After completing the 4-week Foundation Course two years ago, a world of completely new therapeutic possibilities opened up to me.

Now, after the MAES Advanced A.R.T. Course "Advance-Refresh-Troubleshoot", all the gaps in understanding my patients' behaviour were filled with so much more information. I gained a much broader perspective, deeper understanding and many therapeutic ideas

Jakub Faber
M.A.E.S. Trained
Neurodevelopmental Physiotherapist
Poland

During a prolonged and traumatic birth, our daughter suffered oxygen deprivation to her brain due to medical negligence. She was born without a heartbeat, had to be resuscitated, and underwent 72 hours of brain cooling at a children's hospital. Her MRI showed a minimal amount of injury to her basal ganglia, and we were assured by top neonatologists that she would have no lasting effects from her birth injury. Unfortunately, this turned out not to be the case at all, and she was diagnosed with dystonic cerebral palsy affecting all four limbs when she was 1 year old.

I was feeling rather hopeless about this situation, as she will be 3 years old soon, is nonverbal, and has no motor skills except for rolling. However, one day I stumbled upon an online post from another mother whose child has dystonic CP, and in it she stated that MAES therapy was the only therapy that had really helped her son. I had never heard of MAES therapy before, but after a little investigation, I soon discovered that there was a MAES therapy clinic in London. This presented a slight problem, as we are located in the United States, it's 2020, and there is no international travel allowed during the pandemic. But, after a consultation with Jean-Pierre, he agreed to try virtual MAES therapy sessions with us.

We've been participating in virtual one-on-one MAES therapy sessions with Jean-Pierre since September using Zoom, and I can honestly say it's the first time I've felt hopeful about my daughter's future in quite some time. We’ve had no issues with connectivity, and it feels like Jean-Pierre is in our living room rather than thousands of miles away.

MAES therapy is much more than traditional PT/OT/Speech therapies—it's a set of principles, strategies, and exercises that we have been able to incorporate into daily life with our daughter. Jean-Pierre has explained how we need to focus on helping our daughter to reduce her learned, compensatory, and atypical movement patterns and development and to replace them with new and more functional movements and development. He has also taught us about the importance of expanding our daughter's cognitive skill-set and how to help her engage in play at a level that is age-appropriate. In addition, he has given us practical, tangible ways to manage emotional and behavioral issues related to her birth injury. Importantly, explains complex concepts in a very accessible and easy-to-understand way.

Over these past several weeks, we have seen an improvement in our daughter’s behavior and in her ability to play, as well as a reduction in some of her atypical movements. We plan to continue MAES therapy for as long as we can, and are very excited about its potential to enhance our daughter’s quality of life for years to come.c

Maes therapy has worked really well for our son Tom, who is hemiplegic. He is encouraged to understand the movements and be mentally present throughout the therapy session. This means he can talk about it after and think about his movements, taking account of what he has learnt. We worked remotely with Anais during lockdown and I found it very useful to have a better understanding of the therapy and how Tom’s body will resist some movements but through careful therapy Tom can learn new movements that enable him to move more easily.

Jestem mamą córki niepełnosprawnej z mózgowym porażenie dziecięcym jesteśmy mega zadowoleni oraz widać super efekty która córka zrobiła w trzy tygodnie fachowe podejście do dzieci. Córka uwielbia tam chodzić. terapi MAES Therapy jest wspaniała polecam polecam. I będziemy kontynuować w Poznaniu nadal.

The M.A.E.S. Therapy Course exceeded my expectations and was by far the best learning experience I ever had. The course is an aMAESing opportunity to broaden and deepen your knowledge and understanding of Cerebral Palsy to the smallest details. It made me understand how I can treat on a higher level by focusing on how the child’s brain is coordinating the body, instead of focusing solely on the child’s physical and secondary symptoms. The approach has taught me to observe and analyse from a different perspective and to look at CP in a holistic way. The course provides a brilliant framework and is multifaceted as it includes live demonstrations, workshops, analyzing videos, having group discussions and theoretical lessons. I really enjoyed the course and gained so much. I highly recommend M.A.E.S. Therapy to every therapist who wants to go deeper into the treatment of Cerebral Palsy.
Anaïs Dumon, Neurodevelopmental Physiotherapist, Antwerp, Belgium

I have just completed the MAES therapy course and I have learned so much! It was absolutely brilliant. The course completely exceeded my expectations and has given me a whole new load of therapy tools to use in my practise. I honestly can't recommend the approach enough. Thank you MAES team!

Recently Evie volunteered on a MAES training course held by Jean-Pierre in Johannesburg, and after attending a parents training presentation given by Jean-Pierre, I now understand why Evie made such significant improvements following her physiotherapist completing a MAES course. From being completely immobile, with regular MAES therapy, Evie started moving all her limbs, and she is now demonstrating a lot more head control. She loves movement, and with MAES she is gaining the awareness and the self-confidence to move. Even though Evie is unable to talk, Jean-Pierre is able to communicate with Evie, and discern her ability, and her potential. Watching their engagement left me teary eyed, and full of hope. “Evie has cognitive ability far greater than what we see. Do not limit her. If you do everything for her, she will not learn to move.” This advice has changed how I parent Evie; from picking her up, to playing with her, to getting her ready for bath time, and even feeding her. I talk to her knowing that she understands far more than what I ever imagined. Thank you Jean-Pierre for not only giving Evie more confidence to move, but for helping me to let go of trying to do everything for her. I can see Evie continuing MAES for a very long time, and with the most genuine an appreciative heart, my hope is that many children like Evie get the incredible opportunity to work with Jean-Pierre who truly sees and understands them.

When I was told my son had a brain injury I felt frightened and lost. The nhs offered limited physio with lots of repetitive, generic exercises. The MAES team offer regular personalised movement therapy which has allowed my son to discover and become creative and confident with his movement. Catia and JP have taken time to understand him: his areas for development; what motivates him. They have also been a huge support for me and I am no longer afraid - I am excited!