Bearing the Unbearable: A Relationship-Based Training Program for Perinatal Loss

Bearing the Unbearable is a comprehensive, integrated relationship-based training program for working therapeutically with bereavement following a perinatal loss.

Perinatal loss is like no other form of loss. Birth and death join in a way that does not fit our understanding of natural order.

The field of perinatal loss is a vast landscape covering preconception and assisted conception issues, early and late miscarriage, termination including genetic/medical termination, prematurity, stillbirth and neonatal death. Perinatal loss is more than the loss of a baby. Perinatal loss is the loss of an attachment relationship. The loss of dreams and hopes. Subsequently, feelings of shame, guilt, isolation, and disenfranchised grief are common when perinatal loss is present.

A baby is not only gestated in utero, but is also gestated in mind…when a baby dies, so too do the hopes and dreams attached to that baby.

Working with families bereaved from pregnancy and infant death can be harrowing.  The emotionally-charged nature of perinatal loss lands the clinician squarely in the territory of unbearable, intolerable and unspeakable aspects of human experience.  The clinician is required to join with their patient/client to bear the unbearable, tolerate the intolerable and find words for the unspeakable experiences that occur when a pregnancy ends and a baby dies.

The Perinatal Training Centre has developed a comprehensive, integrated, relationship-based training program for working therapeutically with bereavement following a perinatal loss.  

Our training program includes 12.5-hrs of Continuing Professional Development.  Content is delivered via three components:

• Video tutorials – 2.5-hrs
• ‘Live’ online immersive workshop – 8-hrs
• Implementation and integration post-workshop consultation – 2-hrs

1.    Video tutorials:

Participants will complete a series of six 20-30-minute video tutorials that will orient them to concepts, theories and models of grief, and relevant concepts and theories in the field of perinatal and infant mental health.

Video tutorial topics include:

1. Overview of perinatal loss
2. Models of grief
3. Developmental frames of practice (1)
4. Developmental frames of practice (2)
5. Relational frames of practice
6. Clinical considerations

Participants will be invited to actively reflect on the material as it is relevant to the families and communities they serve, in order to personalise the information and optimise the training experience.   Participants will be given access to the video tutorials 4-weeks prior to the live workshop.

2.    The ‘live’ online training:

This will provide the opportunity for participants to take a deep dive into the ideas presented in the video tutorials.  Participants will be oriented to the material from the video tutorials and be primed to explore the therapeutic application of the material in greater depth within a supportive space where there is a sharing of wisdom. The workshops will be facilitated by two or more of the Training Team, where the emphasis is on therapeutic formulation and intervention at an advanced level.

3.    Post-workshop consultation:

The live workshop is followed by a small group, 2-hour post-workshop consultation to help integrate the workshop material into your practice.  Research tells us that there are limitations to a ‘drop-in, fly-out’ stand-alone workshop style of learning.  The implementation and integration post-workshop consultation provides opportunity to discuss effective ways to integrate the material covered in the workshop in meaningful ways to your practice setting and the families you serve.  The consultation will be facilitated by one or more of the training team via video conferencing.  The consultation typically occurs between 2-4 weeks post workshop.  Live participation is required, as the groups will not be recorded.  Participation in the post-workshop consultation is not compulsory but highly recommended to optimise your training experience.

“Working with families bereaved from pregnancy and infant loss is harrowing – it requires bearing the unbearable alongside them. Our training program positions you to hold the complexities of difficult experiences and create a containing psychological nest for your patients to experience and make sense of their grief.”   ~ Dr Bronwyn Leigh

• Identify key features and types of perinatal loss;
• Differentiate between perinatal loss and loss at other times in the lifespan;
• Outline and apply multiple grief models relevant to perinatal loss;
• Locate perinatal loss within a developmental frame, highlighting normative psychological transitions through pregnancy and postpartum and how these processes may be affected or interrupted by perinatal loss;
• Assess and formulate presenting issues from a relational perspective, integrating psychodynamic, attachment theory principles and mindful self-compassion;
• Examine effective ways to support parents through pregnancy after perinatal loss;
• Consider parallel processes in this therapeutic work.

This workshop is designed for multidisciplinary health professionals either currently working with, or who have a desire to work with, families bereaved following a pregnancy or infant loss, as well as those holding parents through a subsequent pregnancy. The training program is primarily targeted at those working in an ongoing therapeutic capacity with bereaved parents. First responders, eg., delivery suite nurses, sonographers, OBs, may benefit from the training too, but this is not our primary target audience.

It is advisable not to engage in this training while pregnant or in the early postpartum.

Prerequisites

Training and experience in mental health is assumed. Assumed knowledge: experience in general assessment, diagnosis, formulation and treatment planning of mental health conditions.

• 12.5-hrs of Professional Development training with our dedicated and experienced Training Team of perinatal psychologists, comprising:
  • Video tutorials totalling 2.5 hrs
  • Live, online workshop totalling 8 claimable hrs
  • Small group, 2-hr Implementation and Integration Post-Workshop Consultation held in the weeks after the workshop via video conferencing
• Detailed power point slides in booklet form provided at the workshop as a post-training professional resource
• Helpful handouts and articles in a mix of hard copy and electronic form
• Recommendations for books, websites and further training opportunities
• Certificate of Attendance
• Perinatal Training Centre Certificate of Completion electronic logo as part of our identity program
• Option to continue your professional development upon course completion via access to individual or group supervision or consultancy with a Perinatal Training Centre supervisor

Registration Fee: $ TBC
Cost includes GST and all participant inclusions

Cancellation Policy
Cancellations: Full amount less $100 admin fee will be provided for cancellations received in writing more than four weeks prior to event, where video content has not been accessed. Strictly NO refund after this time irrespective of circumstances. 

Bearing the Unbearable is the training program of choice for the NHS in the UK as they develop their National Bereavement Care Pathway. Our training was undertaken in 2022 by dozens of UK health professionals, supporting their delivery of bereavement care to communities across the UK.

Dr Bronwyn Leigh is a Clinical Psychologist, experienced trainer and Director of the Perinatal Training Centre and the Centre for Perinatal Psychology. Bronwyn is deeply interested in the psychological aspects of becoming a parent, the emotional development of infants, and parent-infant relationships. Her interest in perinatal loss is long-standing and preceded her qualification as a psychologist, volunteering as a telephone grief counsellor to parents bereaved from pregnancy loss or neonatal death. She later held an honorary position as the national trainer in perinatal loss counselling for the Bonnie Babes Foundation, travelling Australia to train others in perinatal loss counselling. She has provided media interviews discussing perinatal loss and grief and has facilitated various workshops in the perinatal field nationally.

Carla Anderson is a Clinical Psychologist working in her private practice Perinatal, Child and Family Psychology for the past thirteen years, with a special interest working with families within the perinatal period, particularly perinatal loss. Carla’s passion began prior to this with the Bonnie Babes Foundation as a volunteer telephone grief counsellor for families who had experienced a miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death. She then held an honorary position as a national trainer in perinatal loss counselling. Carla then went on to volunteer as a telephone grief counsellor for Angel Babies. Carla has also been involved in a number of national projects and training programs within the perinatal field, and recently published a journal article on Pregnancy-related fears.

Dr Charise Deveney is a Clinical Psychologist. Charise founded Let’s Talk Psychology Practice in Sydney in 2008 and since that time has worked with a strong perinatal and infant mental health focus. In 2016 Charise completed specialist perinatal and infant mental health training with the NSW Institute of Psychiatry. For the past 10-years Charise has been facilitating a private group program that supports women with the transition into motherhood. Psychodynamic, attachment, and relational-based frameworks guide Charise’s work with perinatal women and infants.

Julie King is a Psychologist and Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Clinician. After a long career working with children and their parents, Julie began working specifically with parents and infants in 2003. She was lucky to be part of a team that offered home visiting to parents and infants and included weekly case conferences and supervision. She found this work very rewarding and was keen to enhance her knowledge and skills. She initially enrolled in a Graduate Diploma in 2006 and then completed her Masters in Perinatal & Infant Mental Health in 2011. She began her private practice in 2008. As a Senior Psychologist Julie provided hands on training in infant mental health (including joint casework) to colleagues in her local Child and Youth Mental Health (CYMHS) team. Julie is acutely aware of the vulnerability experienced by parents in the transition to parenthood. That vulnerability is felt more acutely when also coupled with perinatal loss. Julie has seen a lot of grieving parents in both her public and private work. Julie is passionate about helping parents and families at these times. Julie also has specific skills in helping very young siblings grappling with family loss. Julie strongly believes it’s important that all families receive sensitive and informed care. Julie is therefore delighted to be part of the team offering this training. Julie has always been keen to share the substantial “treasure” of practice wisdom and research in the perinatal and infant mental health field and has delivered a number of papers at conferences and MHPN meetings.