Birth Trauma Prevention Starts with You
an experiential workshop for perinatal professionalsHawthorn East
15 CPD points
Are you looking for new ways to support birthing families to their fullest potential, despite our birth-unfriendly culture?
Are you aware of the pervasiveness and many faces of trauma in all of our histories?
Do you understand the principles of trauma prevention along the perinatal continuum?
Would you like to help your clients tap into their primal intelligence for birthing and acess to their true Yes, No or Maybe responses for their entire perinatal and parenting journey?
Are you curious to learn simple but powerful hands-on approaches to nervous system regulation for birthing families – at a fundamental level beyond words, affirmations, mindset or energy therapies?
We know that trauma is rife in the perinatal field for a number of reasons. Research indicates that birth trauma is most highly correlated with clients’ perception of care and level of obstetric intervention, And it’s fair to say that the official stats are most likely the very tip of the iceberg, given widespread misunderstanding around trauma.
There are of course no guarantees in life or in birth, and we cannot protect birthing families from all eventualities.
However, all parts make up the whole.
And we as birth professionals hold enormous power to make a difference at the micro, human-to-human level.
Intended as an antidote to the overwhelm and helplessness you might experience as a birth professional in facilitating positive pregnancy, birth and postnatal experiences, this two-day workshop applies Polyvagal and attachment theory lenses to trauma and its prevention. It is designed as a deep dive to build upon experiences which give you:
- a more thorough understanding of what trauma is, types of trauma you may encounter, the nature of protective survival responses, and recognising autonomic nervous system state shifts in yourself and your clients
- a felt-sense understanding of co-regulation in creating bubbles of safety where birthing families can feel more resourced simply due to the stability of your nervous system
- awareness around trauma-sensitive practice with a deeper appreciation of interpersonal boundaries, verbal and non-verbal communication, informed decision-making & consent
- ideas for preventing entrenched trauma responses in pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period, including a bodymind approach to birth debriefing where your clients’ nervous system state informs the way in which you hold space
- building nervous system & trauma awareness into birth preparation including practice around boundaries (embodied Yes, No & Maybe)
- the opportunity to practice a variety of portable body-based regulation tools to benefit yourself and your clients, including the notion of layers of support for all
- sound reasons to adapt your practice to a whole-family approach
- supporting families following a difficult birth including some hands-on approaches for nervous system regulation, and the Primal Supported Attachment process for babies to promote closure, nervous system settling, bonding & attachment
- time to reflect on your personal gifts & challenges in the birthing field and ways in which you might increase the support you receive in your work
This workshop is especially suited to birth and postpartum doulas, midwives, lactation consultants, perinatal bodyworkers and others in the birthing field who are already engaged in reflective practice and are keen to add cutting-edge holistic tools to their repertoire. It will include theory, guided somatic processes, non-invasive touch practices, and dyad or small group discussion.
The 15 hours of CPD points includes a series of educational videos realating to trauma from a mindbody perspective, perinatal trauma in particular, preventative strategies, and self-preservation tips for birth practitioners. These can be accessed from four weeks prior to the workshop.
Please read the Terms & Conditions carefully before completing your registration.
Investment:
AUD 459
Option to pay $149 deposit with full amount to be settled by 3 April.
Workshop places are limited to create a trauma-sensitive container
One half-price ticket will be offered to any perinatal professional working with Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander & refugee families.
Email nisha@feminineinstincts.com.au to apply.
Your Facilitator
Nisha Gill is a Somatic Experiencing® (trauma) Practitioner and counsellor who applies a range of bodymind approaches in her work with her clients. Her special focus is on the resolution of birth, developmental, sexual, pre- & peri-natal and medical traumas.
Nisha’s practice is informed by her experiences as birth and postnatal doula, birth educator, integrative bodyworker and female embodiment teacher. Her trauma practice also includes gentle tactile components based on trauma trainings with Kathy Kain (Somatic Practice) and Aline LaPierre (Neuro Affective Touch) and pre- and peri-natal trauma education with an emphasis on the baby’s experience.
Nisha is guided in her work by the profound intelligence of our mammalian physiology, and her mission is to promote perinatal experiences for babies and their families to the blueprint of birth. She delivers trauma education to birth professionals, body-centred practitioners, sexuality coaches and families.
Applying a neuro-physiological approach to trauma, Nisha supports birth workers to value their therapeutic presence with the families they serve more wholly in minimizing trauma and promoting resilience.
Nisha will be supported during the workshop by her colleagues, Rachel Penn, also an experienced Somatic Experiencing® and trauma touch practitioner, and Glenys Frank, midwife and researcher.
Terms and Conditions
naarchasing a ticket to the workshop confirms that you have read, understood and agree to the T&C outlined below:
Safety & Wellbeing
All participants are responsible for their own wellbeing in the workshop.
Whilst all care is taken to provide a safe-enough space, Nisha Gill as workshop facilitator cannot be held liable for adverse reactions in response to group participation.
Please note that the workshop space is on the first floor of a building which does not have an elevator. Participants will need to be ambulant up and down stairs.
If experiencing symptoms of COVID or other respiratory illness, participants will have tested negative on PCR testing prior to attendance.
Arrival Time
Due to the nature of this workshop and the need to establish a safe container together with the group, it is essential that participants are on the premises at least fifteen minutes prior and ready to begin attendance at the nominated time.
Participants arriving late, for whatever reason, will not be able to join the workshop and will forfeit their fees. If you arrive late, please do not attempt to enter the workshop space.
The workshop space will be open for participants to arrive and get settled from 9:00 am for a 9:30 am start.
Cancellations & Refunds
- Cancellations before 20 April 2024 will be refunded the ticket price paid minus a $40 handling fee.
- No refunds will be permitted after 20 April 2024.
- All final payments must be settled by 3 April 2024 to secure registration and video training content.
- Tickets may be transferred to another person who fits the suitability criteria, but no less than seven days before the start of the workshop. The new participant must contact Nisha at nisha@feminineinstincts.com.au and sign off on terms and conditions for workshop attendance. The organisers are not responsible for the transfer of funds in this situation. It is advised that you purchase travel insurance to cover any interstate air travel and accommodation in case of illness.
- In the event of a confirmed lockdown or border closure due to COVID meaning you cannot travel to the venue at the planned date and the:
– event is unchanged – a full refund will be issued.
– event is cancelled – a full refund will be issued.
– event is postponed – you may transfer your payment to the new scheduled date.
