diff --git a/enaml/qt/qt_toolkit_object.py b/enaml/qt/qt_toolkit_object.py
index 368470560..e3968622d 100644
--- a/enaml/qt/qt_toolkit_object.py
+++ b/enaml/qt/qt_toolkit_object.py
@@ -55,15 +55,15 @@ def init_layout(self):
     #--------------------------------------------------------------------------
     # ProxyToolkitObject API
     #--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-    def init_top_down(self):
-        """ Initialize the proxy tree for the top-down pass.
+    def activate_top_down(self):
+        """ Activate the proxy for the top-down pass.
 
         """
         self.create_widget()
         self.init_widget()
 
-    def init_bottom_up(self):
-        """ Initialize the proxy tree for the bottom-up pass.
+    def activate_bottom_up(self):
+        """ Activate the proxy tree for the bottom-up pass.
 
         """
         self.init_layout()
diff --git a/enaml/widgets/toolkit_object.py b/enaml/widgets/toolkit_object.py
index e40c99ac0..281ca7da1 100644
--- a/enaml/widgets/toolkit_object.py
+++ b/enaml/widgets/toolkit_object.py
@@ -29,20 +29,20 @@ class ProxyToolkitObject(Atom):
     #: A reference to the ToolkitObject declaration.
     declaration = ForwardTyped(lambda: ToolkitObject)
 
-    def init_top_down(self):
-        """ A method called by the declaration to init the proxy.
+    def activate_top_down(self):
+        """ A method called by the declaration to activate the proxy.
 
-        This method is the first of two passes made over the proxy
-        tree for initialization. This method is called top-down.
+        This method is called in top-down order, during the descent
+        phase of the declaration's proxy activation pass.
 
         """
         pass
 
-    def init_bottom_up(self):
-        """ A method called by the declaration to init the proxy.
+    def activate_bottom_up(self):
+        """ A method called by the declaration to activate the proxy.
 
-        This method is the second of two passes made over the proxy
-        tree for initialization. This method is called bottom-up.
+        This method is called in bottom-up order, during the ascent
+        phase of the declaration's proxy activation pass.
 
         """
         pass
@@ -195,33 +195,36 @@ def activate_proxy(self):
         times and should not normally need to be invoked by user code.
 
         """
-        self._activate_proxy_top_down()
-        self._activate_proxy_bottom_up()
+        self.activate_top_down()
+        for child in self.children:
+            if isinstance(child, ToolkitObject):
+                child.activate_proxy()
+        self.activate_bottom_up()
+        self.proxy_is_active = True
 
-    #--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-    # Private API
-    #--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-    def _activate_proxy_top_down(self):
-        """ Run the top-down initialization pass for the proxy tree.
+    def activate_top_down(self):
+        """ Initialize the proxy on the top-down activation pass.
+
+        By default, this method calls the 'activate_top_down' method on the
+        proxy object. It may be reimplemented by subclasses which wish
+        to perform toolkit-specific initialization.
 
         """
-        self.proxy.init_top_down()
-        for child in self.children:
-            if isinstance(child, ToolkitObject):
-                child._activate_proxy_top_down()
+        self.proxy.activate_top_down()
 
-    def _activate_proxy_bottom_up(self):
-        """ Run the bottom up initialization pass for the proxy tree.
+    def activate_bottom_up(self):
+        """ Initialize the proxy on the bottom-up activation pass.
 
-        On completion, the active proxy flag is set to True.
+        By default, this method calls the 'activate_bottom_up' method on the
+        proxy object. It may be reimplemented by subclasses which wish
+        to perform toolkit-specific initialization.
 
         """
-        for child in self.children:
-            if isinstance(child, ToolkitObject):
-                child._activate_proxy_bottom_up()
-        self.proxy.init_bottom_up()
-        self.proxy_is_active = True
+        self.proxy.activate_bottom_up()
 
+    #--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    # Private API
+    #--------------------------------------------------------------------------
     def _update_proxy(self, change):
         """ Update the proxy widget when the Widget data changes.
 
diff --git a/enaml/wx/wx_toolkit_object.py b/enaml/wx/wx_toolkit_object.py
index 280c0ed53..ace9fb9f5 100644
--- a/enaml/wx/wx_toolkit_object.py
+++ b/enaml/wx/wx_toolkit_object.py
@@ -55,15 +55,15 @@ def init_layout(self):
     #--------------------------------------------------------------------------
     # ProxyToolkitObject API
     #--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-    def init_top_down(self):
-        """ Initialize the proxy tree for the top-down pass.
+    def activate_top_down(self):
+        """ Activate the proxy tree for the top-down pass.
 
         """
         self.create_widget()
         self.init_widget()
 
-    def init_bottom_up(self):
-        """ Initialize the proxy tree for the bottom-up pass.
+    def activate_bottom_up(self):
+        """ Activate the proxy tree for the bottom-up pass.
 
         """
         self.init_layout()