The Depth of Her Touch: A Biography of Svetlana Masgutova, PhD, Creator of the MNRI(R) Reflex Integration Program

A true story about the power of the human spirit . . . and one remarkable woman who has changed the lives of tens of thousands of special needs individuals and trauma survivors around the world.

On June 5, 1989, a New York Times page one story reported a railway catastrophe in the Soviet Union that killed five hundred passengers and severely injured seven hundred children and adults. Svetlana Masgutova, a newly minted dean of a Moscow District university psychology department, immediately answered the country’s call for voluntary first responders. After four grueling months of working with traumatized children, Dr. Masgutova discovered that reflex integration techniques developed in real-time helped move the children beyond survival and into presence and safety. This tragic event inspired the formation of the MNRI(R) / Masgutova Method(R) of reflex integration, which is now accessible in forty countries. This profound method based on movement-oriented therapy and proprioceptive touch has helped about three hundred thousand patients realize the possibility of achieving their highest potential.

The Depth of Her Touch chronicles Dr. Masgutova’s uncompromising passion for healing suffering individuals, despite enduring her tragedies, including the sudden death of her sister and her only son. She has changed lives throughout the world with her authentic compassion and empathy. As documented through Dr. Masgutova’s recollections, the voices of select parents and professionals, and the writer’s own experience as the mother of a special needs child, The Depth of Her Touch captures what it feels like to experience the gift of Dr. Masgutova’s touch through her Masgutova Method.