Carrying More Than A Child: Addressing Racial Stress, Trauma & Emotional Safety in Black Maternal Mental Health Through Community Based Care
This training is open to WA state professionals who serve perinatal families in WA state. Priority registration for professionals serving Spokane County.
Carrying More Than a Child explores the emotional, cultural, and structural realities that shape Black maternal mental health during pregnancy and postpartum. This training invites community supporters to deepen their understanding of the pressures many mothers navigate beyond childbirth, while offering practical ways to provide supportive, culturally responsive care during the perinatal period. Participants will gain insights and tools that help strengthen connection, safety, and well-being for mothers and families.
Date: Thursday, June 4, 2026
Time: 9am-3:30pm PT
Location: Zoom
Cost: FREE
Trainer: America Allen, MSW, LCSW
Learning Objectives:
- Identify common perinatal mood and anxiety concerns and recognize how they may uniquely present in Black mothers.
- Explain how racial stress, medical inequities, and generational survival patterns impact Black maternal mental health.
- Apply trauma-informed, culturally responsive strategies to support emotional safety and well-being within community-based roles
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Continuing Education:
- 5 CEUs pending for LICSW, LMHC, LMFT
- 5 Contact Hours approved for RNs: Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number 17084 for 5 contact hours.
This free training is offered by Perinatal Support WA through a grant from Strengthening Families Washington at the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF).
This is a live training and will not be recorded. Questions regarding the training, please email: training@perinatalsupport.org
About the Trainer:
America Allen, MSW, LCSW, Clinical Supervisor at Perinatal Support Washington
Drawing on over a decade of clinical experience and a deep commitment to trauma-focused, culturally responsive care, America Allen provides supervision with the goal of equipping the next generation of social workers to feel both competent and compassionate in their practice. America earned her Master of Social Work from North Carolina Central University in 2015 and has since specialized in perinatal mental health, trauma recovery, and somatic approaches to healing. She completed Postpartum Support International’s Components of Care training in 2019, further deepening her expertise in supporting birthing individuals and families experiencing perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.
She is trained in EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Trauma-Focused CBT, with extensive experience supporting individuals through PMADs, birth trauma, grief and loss, and complex trauma. As the founder of suNu Healing Collectively, America has built a thriving practice centered on Black and Brown millennial women, emphasizing the importance of equity, psychological safety, and embodied healing in both clinical and community spaces.
In her role as a Clinical Supervisor, America integrates reflective supervision, trauma-focused models, and a strengths-based approach. Her passion lies in not only guiding clinicians through skill development, but also encouraging them to unlearn harmful systemic narratives and embody practices that honor both their clients’ humanity and their own.
