10 Week Perinatal Mental Health Series

Open to all mental health practitioners. This 10 week series offers a forum to learn from an experienced perinatal mental health specialist, delving into weekly topic areas through training and case study discussions. 

This training is suitable for all mental health practitioners. The training groups require a 10 week long commitment. Each session will be 1.5 hours long and will consist of training on a specific PMAD topic. There will be a focus on a case study related to the week’s topic in order to highlight and incorporate the knowledge and skills learned through the reading and the training. Limited scholarships are available. 

Dates and times:  9:00 – 10:30am PDT, Wednesdays

October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29

November 5, 12, 19, 26

December 3,  2025

Location: Zoom

Continuing Education Units:

• 15 CEUs approved for LICSWs, LMHCs, and LMFTs
• This Program has been approved for 15 CEUs for Licensed Social Workers, Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists by the Washington State Society for Clinical Social Work.
• 15 Contact hours available for RNs. Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number 17084 for 15 contact hours
• This training is approved as an advanced course for the Postpartum Support International Certification in Perinatal Mental Health.
• Continuing Education is provided by Perinatal Support of Washington at the completion of the program.  CEUs are based on attendance (1.5 CEUs per meeting)
• CEUs available for live attendance only.

Course Outline:

Oct 1 (Week 1) – Adjustment issues, maternal shoulds and shame issues in American society
Oct 8 (Week 2) – Perinatal Depression
Oct 15 (Week 3) – Anxiety – Intrusive and scary thoughts, OCD
Oct 22 (Week 4) – Perinatal management of bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis
Oct 29 (Week 5) – Birth Trauma
Nov 5 (Week 6) – Medications during pregnancy & lactation
Nov 12 (Week 7) – Perinatal loss: miscarriage, stillbirth, preparing for pregnancy after loss, and risk for PMADs.
Nov 19 (Week 8) – Breastfeeding
Nov 26 (Week 9) – Supporting parents during and after the NICU
Dec 3 (Week 10) – Special considerations for sexual abuse survivors and PMADs, birth and parenting issues.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand how to accurately identify, assess and treat perinatal depression.
• Understand how to accurately identify, assess and treat perinatal anxiety.
• Understand how to accurately identify, assess and treat adjustment issues.
• Understand how to accurately identify, assess and treat perinatal bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis.
• Understand how to accurately identify, assess and treat birth trauma.
• Understand when breastfeeding is protective and when it is a risk factor for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.
• Understand how perinatal loss impacts the risk for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.
• Understand the special considerations for perinatal medication management.
• Understand how to accurately identify, assess and treat sexual abuse survivors for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.

Cost:

$475 General Registration
$400 PS-WA Member
$250 Current PS-WA Volunteer

Limited Scholarships available for Washington state providers who meet the following requirements:
1. Take 1 or more Medicaid (Apple Health) plans and
2. Agree to continue to take new clients with Apple Health plans for a year.
3. Work within communities who have historically been underserved and have the necessary connection to serve families in those communities.

Full and partial scholarships are available. To apply please follow this link to the application.
Deadline to apply: September 24, 2025

In the application you will be asked to write a brief statement about how this training will be used in your practice, how you plan to provide services to underserved communities, and how you hope this training will impact your community or community you serve. Please be sure to include details about how you meet the 3 criteria listed in the application.

This consultation group has felt really supportive and helpful in my growth in the perinatal field. Every month I feel I gain valuable knowledge and insight, in a caring, nonjudgemental space. I really enjoy attending monthly and hope it continues for a long time.
~Amanda LICSW, PMH-C

This is a live training and a recording will not be sent out.