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Association For Pre  And Perinatal Psychology And Health

APPPAH is dedicated to enhancing the health and well-being of parents and infants through education, research, and outreach, emphasizing the critical impact of prenatal and perinatal experiences on lifelong health and development.

Your Body Knows Your Birth StoryA Somatic Path to Finding, Healing, and Thriving Beyond Birth TraumaA masterclass with Annie Brook, PhD&nbsp; 🗓️ Thursday, August 13, 2026 &middot; 11:00 AM ET Join APPPAH for the next installment of our Masterclass Series, where the science of prenatal and perinatal psychology meets the embodied work of supporting the earliest period of human life. In this session,&nbsp;Annie Brook, PhD&nbsp;&mdash; birth trauma therapist, founder of The Brook Institute, and creator of the&nbsp;Birth&#39;s Hidden Legacy&nbsp;online course &mdash; guides us into a body-centered understanding of how our earliest experiences live on in our tissues, our patterns, and our relationships. Drawing on four decades of clinical work across hospitals, trauma centers, public schools, mental health clinics, and private practice, Annie shares the somatic tools she has developed to help therapists, parents, and clients recognize the imprint of birth and begin the work of repair. Whether you&#39;re meeting a child still finding their way after a hard start, an adult client whose body holds something they can&#39;t quite name, or your own quiet wonderings about where a pattern began, this masterclass offers practical, embodied entry points for locating the story the body already knows &mdash; and gently opening a path toward healing and thriving. Reserve your seat below.

Your Body Knows Your Birth Story with Annie Brook, PhD

The Grandmother Presence: The Life-Giving Partnership of the Elder and the Embryo A Masterclass with Dr. Stephanie Mines 🗓️ Friday, August 7, 2026 &middot; 4 PM ET Join APPPAH for the next installment of our Masterclass Series, where the science of prenatal and perinatal psychology meets the embodied, ancestral, and sacred dimensions of bringing new life into the world. In this session, Dr. Stephanie Mines &mdash; neuroscientist, trauma researcher, author of five books, and founder of The TARA Approach and Climate Change &amp; Consciousness &mdash; invites us to explore the profound and often overlooked partnership between the elder and the embryo. Drawing on over three decades of research into shock, trauma, and regenerative healing, as well as her work as an award-winning poet, Stephanie illuminates the life-giving role that grandmothers and elder wisdom-keepers play in the earliest moments of human development. Weaving together neuroscience, somatic healing, and cross-generational insight, Stephanie offers a rich framework for practitioners, families, and community elders alike: an invitation to recognize the elder&#39;s presence not as peripheral, but as essential &mdash; a living resource for resilience, belonging, and the continuity of life itself. Reserve your seat below.

The Grandmother Presence: The Life-Giving Partnership of the Elder and the Embryo with Stephanie Mines

The 10 Adverse Babyhood Experiences (ABEs)Early Indicators of Risk for Chronic Illness &mdash; and Opportunities for&nbsp; Prevention and RepairA masterclass with Veronique Mead, MD, MA, SEP, PPNP 🗓️ Tuesday, August 4, 2026 &middot; 3:00 PM ET Join APPPAH for the next installment of our Masterclass Series, where the science of prenatal and perinatal experience meets a new understanding of where chronic illness begins &mdash; and where it can be prevented and healed. In this session,&nbsp;Veronique Mead, MD, MA&nbsp;&mdash; former board-certified family physician and Dartmouth-affiliated assistant professor of family medicine, retrained as a somatic psychotherapist with specialty training in pre- and perinatal trauma and Somatic Experiencing &mdash; introduces the framework she has been developing across 25 years of research: the 10&nbsp;Adverse Babyhood Experiences (ABEs). A subset of ACEs, ABEs identify the specific categories of adversity from preconception through a child&#39;s third birthday that shape lifelong risk for autoimmune and other chronic illnesses. Drawing on her unusual path from obstetrics into somatic trauma work, Veronique offers a grounding overview of what the science now shows about how early experience influences health &mdash; and, just as importantly, how recognizing the 10 ABEs opens real, practical opportunities for prevention, healing, and repair at any stage of life. A clinically rich and deeply hopeful session for practitioners, parents, and anyone living with or working alongside chronic illness. Reserve your seat below.

The 10 Adverse Babyhood Experiences (ABEs) Early Indicators of Risk for Chronic Illness — and Opportunities for Prevention and Repair with Veronique Mead MD, MA, SEP, PPNP

Our Red Thread Inheritance:&nbsp; Working with the Vulnerabilities and Strengths of Our Mother Line&nbsp; with Jane Hardwicke Collings 🗓️ Monday, July 27, 2026 &middot; 8 PM ET Join APPPAH for the next installment of our Masterclass Series, where the science of prenatal and perinatal psychology meets the embodied, ancestral, and sacred dimensions of bringing new life into the world. In this session, Jane Hardwicke Collings &mdash; former homebirth midwife of 30 years, teacher, author, and founder of the School of Shamanic Womancraft &mdash; invites us to explore the red thread of inheritance that runs through our mother line: the vulnerabilities and the strengths passed down from mother to daughter across generations. Carrying the lineage of Shamanic Midwifery from her teacher Jeannine Parvati Baker, Jane has devoted her life&#39;s work to the wisdom of the cycles, the sacred dimensions of menstruation, pregnancy, birth, mothering, and menopause, and the reclaiming and healing of our rites of passage. Weaving together decades of midwifery experience, women&#39;s mysteries teaching, and cross-generational insight, Jane offers a rich framework for practitioners, mothers, and wisdom-keepers alike: an invitation to recognize what we have inherited from our mother line &mdash; not as fixed fate, but as living material we can work with, heal, and transform for the generations to come. Reserve your seat below.

Our Red Thread Inheritance: Working with the Vulnerabilities and Strengths of Our Mother Line with Jane Hardwicke Collings

How Your Prenatal Shadow May Affect How You Meet Little OnesAs a Parent, Birth Practitioner, or TherapistA masterclass with Cherionna Menzam-Sills, PhD&nbsp; 🗓️ Friday, July 24, 2026 &middot; 1:00 PM ET Join APPPAH for the next installment of our Masterclass Series, where the science of prenatal and perinatal psychology meets the embodied work of supporting the earliest period of human life. in this session,&nbsp;Cherionna Menzam-Sills, PhD&nbsp;&mdash; Somatic Prenatal and Birth Therapist, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist, Continuum teacher, and author of&nbsp;The Prenatal Shadow,&nbsp;Spirit into Form, and&nbsp;The Breath of Life&nbsp;&mdash; guides us into one of the most quietly powerful dynamics in perinatal work: the way our own unresolved prenatal and birth experiences shape how we meet babies, parents, and clients. Drawing on more than 30 years of practice &mdash; including intensive work with pioneers William Emerson and Ray Castellino, and her doctoral study in pre- and perinatal psychology &mdash; Cherionna will help us recognize how the prenatal shadow (the implicit imprints we each carry from our own beginnings) can subtly influence our presence, our pacing, and our capacity to truly meet the little ones in our care. A tender and rigorous invitation for parents, practitioners, and therapists alike. Reserve your seat below.

How Your Prenatal Shadow May Affect How You Meet Little Ones with Cherionna Menzam-Sills, PhD

Rethinking Attachment: The Prenatal Mindfulness Relationship-Based (PMRB) Program A masterclass with Dr. Antonella Sansone, PhD 🗓️ Tuesday, July 14, 2026 &middot; 7:00 PM ET (Wednesday, July 15 &middot; 9:00 AM Brisbane) Join APPPAH for the next installment of our Masterclass Series, where the science of prenatal and perinatal psychology meets the embodied work of supporting the earliest period of human life. In this session, Dr. Antonella Sansone &mdash; clinical psychologist, researcher, and creator of the Prenatal Mindfulness Relationship-Based (PMRB) program &mdash; invites us to rethink attachment from the ground up. What if the foundations of secure attachment aren&#39;t laid in infancy, but well before birth? Drawing on her PhD research and field studies with African indigenous cultures, Antonella weaves primal wisdom with rigorous science. She&#39;ll explore how maternal mindfulness and interoception can protect against postnatal depression and anxiety &mdash; and serve as early indicators of mother-baby relationship difficulties. A holistic, embodied invitation for clinicians, birth practitioners, therapists, and parents alike. Reserve your seat below.

Integrating Indigenous Wisdom, Mindfulness, and Science: The Prenatal Mindfulness Relationship-Based (PMRB) Program with Antonella Sansone, PhD

Welcoming The New Human:&nbsp;Embodying the Science Through Positioning Relational Love as Primary Care in Pregnancy &amp; Birth A masterclass with Victoria Rose&nbsp;🗓️ Monday, July 6, 2026 &middot; 12:00 PM ET Join APPPAH for the next installment of our Masterclass Series, where four decades of research in prenatal and perinatal psychology meet the lived, embodied work of welcoming a new human into the world. In this session,&nbsp;Victoria Rose&nbsp;&mdash; Certified Prenatal and Perinatal Educator, APPPAH Affiliate Partner, and founder of&nbsp;Luminous Birth&nbsp;and the&nbsp;Luminescence Fertility &amp; Preconception Program&nbsp;&mdash; invites us to reconsider a quiet but radical idea: that relational love is not a soft accompaniment to clinical care, but the primary care itself. Drawing on the science of attachment, neurobiology, and epigenetics alongside her work with somatic practice and indigenous traditions, Victoria will offer practitioners and parents a grounded, embodied framework for honoring the baby as a conscious participant from the very beginning &mdash; and for recalibrating how we hold pregnancy, birth, and the families we serve. Reserve your seat below.

Welcoming The New Human  with Victoria Rose

Perinatal Stress and the Infant:&nbsp; Recognizing Maternal Impact and Supporting PatientsA masterclass with Jorina Elbers, MD, MSc 🗓️ Monday, September 14, 2026 &middot; 12:00 PM ET Join APPPAH for the next installment of our Masterclass Series, where the science of prenatal and perinatal psychology meets the embodied work of supporting the earliest period of human life. In this session, Jorina Elbers, MD, MSc &mdash; Canadian board-certified neurologist, pediatric neurology and pediatric stroke specialist, and Director of the Trauma Recovery Project at the HeartMath Institute &mdash; explores one of the most consequential dynamics in early life: the ways maternal stress during the perinatal period shapes the developing infant, and what clinicians and birth practitioners can do to help. Drawing on her training at the University of Toronto, her graduate work in epidemiology at Stanford, and six years as an assistant professor and pediatric neurologist at Stanford Children&#39;s Health, Dr. Elbers brings a uniquely integrative lens to this work. The author of more than 25 research articles and book chapters on how the body adapts to chronic stress and trauma, she now develops trauma-sensitive HeartMath programs for health practitioners, first responders, refugees, and parents. In this masterclass, she&#39;ll help us recognize the imprint of maternal stress on the infant nervous system &mdash; and offer practical, science-grounded approaches for supporting both mother and baby in the perinatal window. A rigorous and compassionate invitation for clinicians, birth practitioners, therapists, and parents alike. Reserve your seat below.

Perinatal Stress and the Infant: Recognizing Maternal Impact and Supporting Patients with Jorina Elbers, MD, MSc

From Birth to WalkingDevelopmental Baby Massage and the Enablement of Early Motor MilestonesA masterclass with Peter Walker &nbsp;🗓️ Monday, September 21, 2026 &middot; 11:00 AM ET Join APPPAH for the next installment of our Masterclass Series, where the science of prenatal and perinatal psychology meets the embodied work of supporting the earliest period of human life. In this session,&nbsp;Peter Walker&nbsp;&mdash; pioneer of Developmental Baby Massage, author of widely translated books on infant massage and early movement, and educator who has personally trained more than 25,000 teachers across the world &mdash; guides us through the unfolding choreography of a baby&#39;s first year: how touch, movement, and attuned support can ease the journey from those earliest moments after birth all the way to standing and walking. Drawing on more than 40 years of work with families and a decade-long collaboration with the late psychiatrist R.D. Laing, Peter shares the developmental approach he created by weaving traditional baby massage together with motor milestone enablement. Practitioners, parents, and educators will come away with a richer understanding of why the first 1001 days matter so deeply &mdash; and a set of tangible, hands-on ways to support bonding, regulation, and confident physical development during this irreplaceable window. Reserve your seat below.

From Birth to Walking: Developmental Baby Massage and the Enablement of Early Motor Milestones with Peter Walker

Birth as InitiationReclaiming the Power of the Sacred FeminineA masterclass with Dr. Isa Gucciardi 🗓️ Monday, November 9, 2026 &middot; 12:00 PM ET Join APPPAH for the next installment of our Masterclass Series, where the science of prenatal and perinatal psychology meets the embodied, ancestral, and sacred dimensions of bringing new life into the world. In this session,&nbsp;Dr. Isa Gucciardi&nbsp;&mdash; transpersonal psychologist, cultural anthropologist, hypnotherapist, creator of the Depth Hypnosis therapeutic model, and Founding Director of the Foundation of the Sacred Stream &mdash; invites us to remember birth as one of the great initiatory passages of human life. Drawing on her training in comparative religion, transformational healing, and four decades as a dedicated Buddhist practitioner, Isa explores how the cultural forgetting of birth&#39;s sacred dimension has shaped the way we approach pregnancy, labor, and the early postpartum &mdash; and what becomes possible when we restore it. Weaving together depth psychology, cross-cultural wisdom traditions, and the lived realities of contemporary perinatal care, Isa offers a tender and powerful framework for practitioners, parents, and seekers alike: an invitation to meet birth not only as a medical event, but as a threshold of profound transformation for the one being born, for the mother, and for the lineage that surrounds them. Reserve your seat below.

Association For Pre And Perinatal Psychology And Health

Association For Pre And Perinatal Psychology And Health

Events

Events

Perinatal Stress and the Infant: Recognizing Maternal Impact and Supporting Patients with Jorina Elbers, MD, MSc

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From Birth to Walking: Developmental Baby Massage and the Enablement of Early Motor Milestones with Peter Walker

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Birth as Initiation: Reclaiming the Power of the Sacred Feminine with Dr. Isa Gucciardi

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