Programa de Resiliencia para Padres y Madres
Programa de Resiliencia para Padres
El Programa de Resiliencia para Padres ofrece apoyo entre pares a personas embarazadas y nuevos padres que atraviesan situaciones de estrés y desafíos emocionales. El Programa de Resiliencia para Padres ofrece apoyo a los padres que están atravesando dificultades de salud mental o que corren el riesgo de experimentarlas durante el período perinatal. Nuestro programa se basa en la experiencia vivida, la conexión cultural y la atención informada sobre el trauma.
Apoyamos a personas embarazadas y a padres primerizos hasta dos años después del parto. También apoyamos a personas que han sufrido una pérdida, han interrumpido un embarazo o han tenido otros resultados inesperados en el parto y que quizá no se consideren padres, así como a padres que actualmente no están criando a sus hijos debido a una pérdida, a la retirada de la custodia por parte de los servicios sociales, etc, si necesitan apoyo de salud mental perinatal.
Para Padres
Sabemos que la crianza de los hijos puede ser una experiencia abrumadora, especialmente cuando sientes que nadie entiende realmente por lo que estás pasando. Ahí es donde un compañero o un par puede ayudar.
Nuestros Especialistas en Apoyo Entre Pares (PSS) son padres de su comunidad que han experimentado de primera mano los retos de la salud mental perinatal. Aportan compasión, conexión y comprensión. No solamente hay un enfoque en entrenamiento y credenciales. Están aquí para acompañarle mientras afronta sus retos, como lo haría un compañero.
¿En qué me puede ayudar un especialista en apoyo entre pares?
- Crear rutinas realistas de autocuidado.Acompañarte en tus momentos de dolor, ansiedad o aislamiento.
- Apoyo y colaboración para que defiendas tus necesidades ante el sistema de salud y sus proveedores.
- Apoyo con recursos comunitarios (doulas, terapeutas, grupos de apoyo, etc).
- Construir tus metas de bienestar a través de una Rueda del Bienestar personalizada.
Se ofrece apoyo flexible en persona, por teléfono, mensaje de texto o videollamada, con citas semanales o quincenales. Se puede permanecer en el programa desde unos meses hasta un año, dependiendo de las necesidades de cada persona.
¿Qué significa apoyo cultural entre pares?
El apoyo en nuestro programa es culturalmente adaptado y toma en cuenta a la persona en su totalidad a la hora de prestar apoyo (no solo su diagnosis).
Esto significa que buscamos proveedores y tratamientos que apoyen y respeten la cultura, el género y que nuestros servicios están adaptados a los objetivos de la persona que recibe apoyo. Cada uno de nuestros especialistas en apoyo entre pares son miembros activos de sus comunidades y tienen amplia experiencia en conectar a su comunidad con recursos y eventos.
El Programa de Resiliencia para Padres ofrece servicios adaptados culturalmente a estas comunidades:
- Familias afroamericanas
- Familias latinas/hispanohablantes.
- Familias experimetando una pérdida prenatal
- Familias del oriental africana
Proveedores
El Programa de Resiliencia para Padres ofrece apoyo entre pares, adaptado culturalmente y basado en el conocimiento del trauma, a personas que están atravesando el período perinatal. Nuestro programa se basa en las necesidades de cada participante para ofrecer un apoyo único y personalizado que los padres necesitan durante el periodo perinatal para fomentar, recuperar y mejorar su bienestar emocional. En nuestro programa definimos el período perinatal como el período preconceptivo hasta dos años después del parto.
¿Cómo se integra el apoyo entre pares con un equipo de salud, o servicios sociales?
Nuestros especialistas actúan como “compañeros de apoyo emocional” y animadores, ofreciendo un apoyo constante y basado en las fortalezas para ayudar a los participantes a alcanzar sus objetivos de bienestar.
El apoyo entre pares es:
- Voluntario.
- Evaluaciones de salud mental solo bajo solicitud (no son obligatorias).
- Dirigido por los participantes.
- Muy flexible (presencial, con opción híbrida a través de mensajes de texto, vídeo o teléfono)
Observamos un alto nivel de compromiso y retención gracias a la confianza y la experiencia compartida que es la fundación de este programa. El Programa de Resiliencia para Padres puede mejorar el impacto de la atención clínica al apoyar las necesidades emocionales y prácticas de las familias.
Nuestros especialistas en apoyo entre pares están capacitados en el período perinatal y cuentan con experiencia vivida para brindar atención flexible y centrada en la familia a los padres que atraviesan:
- Angustia emocional, aislamiento o ansiedad.
- Duelo, pérdida o resultados inesperados en la crianza de los hijos.
- Barreras culturales o sistémicas para acceder a la atención médica.
- Trauma debido al racismo y la discriminación.
- Navegar por sistemas complejos (vivienda, atención médica, prestaciones, asuntos legales).
- Trastornos de salud mental perinatal, como depresión, pensamientos intrusivos o estrés relacionado con la UCIN.
¿Quién podría ser un buen candidato para este programa?
Este programa es ideal para personas que:
- Necesitan conectarse con recursos comunitarios o proveedores que les brinden apoyo.
- Son inmigrantes, BIPOC, 2SLGBTQIA+ o pertenecen a comunidades que sienten inseguridad en los sistemas tradicionales.
- Alguien que necesite apoyo para crear estrategias y metas relacionadas con el bienestar.
- Necesita apoyo más allá de lo que pueden proporcionar los servicios clínicos
Meet Our Team
Elizabeth Moore Simpson, Parent Resilience Program Manager
Elizabeth Moore Simpson (she/her), LICSW, Parent Resilience Program Manager
Is a parent of two and also identifies as a bereaved parent. Prior to joining PS-WA she had over ten years of experience working with growing families. With an infant-early childhood mental health (IECMH) and perinatal health focus, she has held roles as a full-spectrum doula, restorative justice circle keeper, child and family therapist, PMH therapist and community organizer.
Elizabeth practices as a perinatal therapist, abortion doula and is the program manager for PS-WA’s Parent Resilience Program. She enjoys bringing tarot and body-based awareness to her personal and professional practice. She is passionate about supporting families impacted by the child welfare system to sustain, develop and strengthen secure attachments with family and community and working upstream to challenge mandated reporting laws causing harm and distrust between families and providers.
Elizabeth enjoys improvising crafts with her kids and manifesting cozy fall days. She aspires to bring levity, integrity and realness to her work with colleagues and families and can often be found scouring thrift stores for costumes and craft supplies.
Elizabeth.MooreSimpson (at) perinatalsupport (dot) org
Stephanie Valerdi, Parent Resilience Program Support Coordinator & Latinx Peer Support
Stephanie Valerdi (she/her/they/them), Parent Resilience Program Support Coordinator and Latinx Peer Support
Stephanie Valerdi Tellez (she/they) brings over a decade of experience advocating for families and parents through a variety of community-based roles. Stephanie is deeply committed to promoting equity and accessibility within community services, centering their work around a trauma-informed approach to support families.
With a background in mental health and early childhood education and development, Stephanie has offered compassionate, bilingual support (in English and Spanish) to parents navigating challenges in the birth-to-five age range. Stephanie has provided culturally aligned, strengths-based peer support within the Latinx community and has worked to expand access to Spanish mental health and community resources. Her work is grounded in a passion for improving outcomes for families most impacted by systemic oppression.
Stephanie also brings her lived experience to her work. As a Queer, chronically ill Mexican immigrant and survivor of gender-based violence, she understands firsthand the complexities of navigating the mental health system. She draws on this experience to connect deeply with QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color) survivors and peers, offering affirming, trauma-informed peer support.
In addition to her one-on-one support work, Stephanie facilitates Queer parent groups and serves her community as a board member of Somos Seattle a Latinx LGBTQ+ organization, and the WA State LGBQT Commission.
Outside of her work, Stephanie is rooted in both family life and community care. They find joy in everyday moments, spending time in nature with her wife, 9-year-old child, and their dog, or attending drag shows and celebrating Queer & Latinx joy. Stephanie remains fiercely committed to challenging racism, homophobia, and systemic oppression in all its forms, bringing that purpose into every aspect of her daily life.
stephanie.valerdi (at) perinatalsupport (dot) org
La Tonia Bussell-Packard, Peer Support Specialist
La Tonia Bussell-Packard (they/she), Parent Resilience Specialist, Traditional Midwife
La Tonia is a queer Black femme who supports pregnant and parenting families as a Parent Resilience Specialist in King County. They serve as an encouraging resource and witness for parents navigating the perinatal mental health landscape by using their firsthand experience as a parent who has lived with anxiety and depression. La Tonia knows firsthand the barriers that exist for Black and queer folx seeking support for their mental health. La Tonia has experienced personal and professional loss, which allows them to offer supportive tools and skills that are based on lived experience and shared community ways of ‘knowing’ and processing grief and loss.
La Tonia has spent the last 7+ years advocating for families, attending births, and providing compassionate care as a birth doula and student midwife. They graduated from midwifery school in June 2021 and now practice and attend births as a traditional midwife. In all their work, La Tonia centers Black, Indigenous, and QTPOC families in their role as a midwife, doula, and peer. They use the framework and lens of reproductive justice, the intersections of race, class, gender/sexuality, and ability, and radical rest politics when supporting families in their community.
Amy Menjivar, Peer Support Specialist
Amy Menjivar (she/her), Peer Support Specialist
Amy is a Latina and mother of two children and PMAD’s survivor and Bilingual Spanish speaker. She has a passion to provide strong contributions to our society, with awareness of the use of stigmatizing language around mental illness. She has a background in Early Childhood Education and has worked with children for the past 9 years. She has supported King County Families and children of all ethnicities with special needs. She has worked mostly with Latin families as their family support specialist.
Amy is passionate about helping the community, engaging families and building community. She is committed to help immigrants in the community and teach families that there is someone here to listen to them and also to receive help.
Jessy Trevizo, Peer Support Specialist Supporting Perinatal Loss Families
Jessy Trevizo (she/her/ella), Peer Support Specialist Supporting Perinatal Loss Families
Jessy Trevizo is a queer Mexican and African-American full-spectrum holistic doula, herbalist, and yoga teacher.
She comes to this work with lived experience, deep commitment, and humility.
Her own journey with perinatal loss has shaped the way she understands grief not as something to “move through,” but as something to be held with care, compassion, and respect. That experience guides her in creating spaces where parents feel seen, honored, and supported in their unique process.
She has primarily served African American families and Latinx Spanish-speaking families, supporting them prenatally, during labor and birth, postpartum, and through experiences of perinatal loss as well as abortion. Her 6 years of experience as a doula has equipped her with experience in offering emotional, physical, and culturally matched care rooted in trust, respect, community and traditions.
She brings a holistic approach to her work, integrating her background in herbalism, yoga, and somatic practices. Through mindfulness, breath work, and body-based awareness, she gently supports parents in reconnecting with themselves and navigating their experiences and grief in ways that feel grounded, safe, and embodied.
Supporting parents through loss is not just something she does, it is part of her calling to support birthing people through ALL birth experiences.
She is deeply committed to walking alongside families in their grief, holding space for their stories, and honoring the love that exists in every loss.
jessy.trevizo (at) perinatalsupport (dot) org
Suad Farole, Peer Support Specialist For East African Families
Suad Farole (she/her), Peer Support Specialist For East African Families
Suad is a dedicated birth and postpartum doula, Infant Mental Health Specialist, Grief Doula, lactation support specialist, home visitor, and domestic violence advocate with over 10 years of experience serving diverse communities. As a mother of three and a trusted support figure in her community, she brings a compassionate, culturally responsive, and holistic approach to care. She is bilingual in Somali and English, allowing her to provide accessible and culturally grounded support.
Suad specializes in prenatal and postpartum care, with a strong focus on infant mental health, maternal well-being, breastfeeding guidance, and grief support. She also supports families navigating complex life circumstances, including trauma and domestic violence, offering a safe and empowering space for healing.
Her work is rooted in creating non-judgmental environments where mothers feel seen, heard, and supported. She has extensive experience working with East African families and welcomes families from all backgrounds.
Suad is deeply committed to breaking stigma around maternal mental health and ensuring that no mother feels alone in her journey. She believes in caring for both mother and baby—emotionally, physically, and spiritually—laying the foundation for healing, resilience, and thriving communities.
Macyn Hinson, Peer Support Intern
Macyn Hinson, Peer Support Intern
Macyn Hinson is a Master of Social Work student and Peer Support Intern specializing in perinatal mental health. She is passionate about supporting birthing people and families as they navigate the emotional realities of pregnancy, postpartum adjustment, and early parenthood.
Her work is grounded in a trauma-informed, strengths-based approach that centers empathy, cultural responsiveness, and the belief that no one should have to move through the perinatal period alone. Macyn is particularly interested in perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, birth trauma, and the ways identity, relationships, and life transitions shape mental health across the reproductive journey. She also holds a strong interest in supporting military spouses and families, recognizing the added layers of relocation, deployment cycles, and isolation that can impact perinatal wellbeing.
In her role with Perinatal Support Washington, Macyn provides peer-based support, helps connect families to resources, and contributes to creating accessible, community-centered care. She brings a warm, relational presence to her work, valuing authenticity, active listening, and meeting people exactly where they are.
As an emerging social worker, Macyn is continuing to grow into a clinician while deepening her commitment to equitable, identity-affirming perinatal mental health care. She is dedicated to supporting the well-being of parents, infants, and families, including those navigating the unique challenges of military life.
