Understanding and Treating Reproductive Trauma: A Call to Action

Description

Reproductive trauma is defined as psychological distress following challenging experiences related to reproduction and fertility. This can include a wide range of events, such as infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, invalidation of reproductive choices, and life-threatening medical experiences. These types of traumatic experiences have become increasingly common due to legislative restrictions on reproductive rights (e.g., abortion bans, limits on contraception), with disproportionate impacts for people of color. This 1.5-hour webinar will focus on the impact of reproductive trauma and traumatic invalidation on mental health, including its implications for perinatal PTSD and treatment using the DBT Prolonged Exposure (DBT PE) protocol. The perinatal period is often conceptualized as beginning in pregnancy and extending through 1-year postpartum. During this time, individuals are at unique risk for various types of trauma exposure that can have long-lasting impacts on the mental and physical health of both the parent and child. Due to societal pressure and stigma, many individuals suffer in silence and do not seek support. Moreover, structural factors (e.g., institutional racism, healthcare policy) can both increase exposure to potentially traumatic events and limit access to high-quality healthcare, thereby increasing the risks for adverse outcomes and maternal-infant mortality. While these reproductive events often meet Criterion A for PTSD, other experiences that do not can still be profoundly impactful and lead to clinically significant PTSD symptoms (e.g., negative birthing experiences, invalidation of losses related to IVF). In this webinar, we will orient participants to trauma and traumatic invalidation as it presents in the perinatal period. The impact of individual, social, and structural factors on risk for and outcomes of reproductive trauma will also be discussed. Case examples will be presented to illustrate common issues that arise when implementing DBT PE to address reproductive traumas.

Learning Objectives

As a result of this training, participants will be able to:

• Define the concept of reproductive trauma.

• Identify awareness of trauma, traumatic invalidation, and PTSD in reproductive contexts.

• Identify strategies for assessing and treating reproductive trauma.

Who Should Attend

This introductory webinar is intended for mental health professionals and trainees with an interest in reproductive mental health and trauma treatment.

Instructors

Samantha Hellberg, PhD is the Associate Director of the Marsha M. Linehan DBT Clinic at the University of Washington and a licensed clinical psychologist in Washington. She earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill, where she completed over 4-years of training in reproductive mental health with the world-renowned UNC Center for Women’s Mood Disorders. During this time, she provided evidence-based treatment for reproductive mental health concerns in outpatient, inpatient, and comprehensive DBT settings, and received funding from the NSF and IOCDF to support her research in perinatal mental health. After graduate school, she completed her internship and postdoctoral fellowship in DBT with Dr. Melanie Harned at the Seattle VA. As a fellow, she contributed to training, research, program development, and clinical services with a focus on emotion dysregulation, suicide, and PTSD. She also served as a study therapist and adherence coder for DBT and DBT PE on Dr. Harned’s multisite clinical trial at the VA. In her current roles, Dr. Hellberg provides training, supervision, and consultation in DBT and DBT PE to advanced graduate students and community clinicians, as well as clinical services in her independent practice.

Melanie Harned, PhD, ABPP is a Psychologist and Coordinator of the DBT Program at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System as well as an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington. Dr. Harned has previously worked as the Research Director of Dr. Marsha Linehan’s Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics at the University of Washington (2006-2018), Director of Research and Development for Behavioral Tech, LLC (2014-2017), and Director of Behavioral Tech Research, Inc. (2013-2016). Dr. Harned’s research focuses on the development and evaluation of the DBT Prolonged Exposure protocol for PTSD as well as methods of disseminating and implementing this and other evidence-based treatments into clinical practice. She regularly provides training and consultation nationally and internationally in DBT and DBT PE and has published numerous articles and book chapters on these treatments. She is a certified DBT therapist, a certified PE therapist and supervisor, is board certified in Behavioral and Cognitive therapy, and is licensed as a psychologist in the state of Washington.

Cost

Webinar Registration (Pay What You Can):

The suggested fee is $45, but we are using a pay what you can model starting at $0 to make the webinar accessible to as many people as possible. All net proceeds will be donated to Planned Parenthood to protect and promote reproductive health.  

The registration fee covers attendance at the live webinar, electronic copies of the materials, and access to the webinar recording.  Any fees that are paid will be non-refundable.

Continuing Education Credits (optional for those who attend the live webinar):

The fee is $10 for 1.5 Continuing Education credits offered by Triangle Area Psychology clinic Continuing Education (TAP CE). CE credits must be registered and paid for separately via TAP’s CE website. CE credits are only available if you attend the live webinar. No CEs are available for viewing the webinar recording.

Continuing Education Information

Continuing Education (CE) credits are being offered for this workshop by Triangle Area Psychology clinic Continuing Education (TAP CE: https://tapclinicnc.com/tapce/) as described below.

1.5 CE credits are being offered for this webinar for those who attend the live event in full. TAP is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. TAP maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Participants who miss more than 15 minutes of the training will not be eligible for CEs - partial CE credits will not be given. Participants are required to sign in online at the beginning and conclusion of the course and participate fully in the course, Q&A and any assessments given by the presenters. Questions about the CE credits for this event can be directed to tapce@tapclinicnc.com.