Seleni Institute Launches Comprehensive Maternal Mental Health Intensive Trainings Online

Online Trainings Aim to Fill Knowledge Gaps in Reproductive Mental Health Care

After training over 1,000 professionals around the globe, Seleni Institute is launching its 16-hour CE accredited* Maternal Mental Health Intensive (MMHI) virtual training to address critical gaps in the reproductive mental health educational landscape. Seleni’s two-module training provides clinicians with a comprehensive toolkit to fully support their patient populations. This training provides the opportunity to gain this important knowledge base for you to apply to skills in a more flexible and user-friendly environment.

Awareness of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) has increased. PMADs include depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic, and posttraumatic stress disorder and are the most common complications of pregnancy though are routinely underdiagnosed and undertreated. It is critical that clinicians receive training and evidence-based best-practices to effectively recognize, prevent, diagnose, and treat these conditions.

It is also important to recognize that 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage, and 1 in 160 babies are stillborn. However, our society has almost no understanding of how women and families who experience reproductive loss and child loss grieve and recover. Unresolved grief from reproductive loss and child loss puts women at high risk for experiencing complications and is a significant risk factor for developing a PMAD. Seleni’s training examines theoretical and clinical applications related to parental grief and bereavement, including current theory and research; models of effective counseling and psychotherapy; and potential obstacles to clinician effectiveness.  

The content for Seleni trainings is unique, providing the most recent and leading clinical and theoretical conceptualizations for PMADs and perinatal grief and loss.
 
“We know that many women and families face serious emotional health challenges during the family building years (18-45) for which there is no comprehensive graduate training, but great need for accurate diagnosis and effective treatment,” said Hara Ntalla, M.S.Ed/CSE, LP, LP, Clinical Director at the Seleni Institute.  “We are excited to offer healthcare professionals around the globe the opportunity to enhance their knowledge in the convenience of the online training format. We have seen firsthand the impact that these trainings have had and know that the online training will continue to change the way emotional health issues are treated.”
Our multidisciplinary curriculum is drawn from our clinical teams’ expertise built on years of experience treating women, men, and families.  We combine our unique clinical insights with evidence-based approaches that result in successful treatment outcomes.
Available both in-person and online, our MMHI training equips participants to:
• Differentiate normative experiences such as the “baby blues” from the wide range of perinatal emotional distress that encompasses PMADs, including postpartum depression and anxiety, panic disorder, OCD, and PTSD.
• Identify risk factors for PMADs. 
• Implement effective interventions based on best practices of clinical treatment of PMADs and perinatal grief.
• Evaluate the need for additional interventions, including psychiatric consultation and collaboration as well as psychopharmacological interventions.
• Diagnose and implement effective interventions and patient care management strategies for normative and complicated grief related to miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal loss, and the death of a child.
• Help clients make decisions about whether and how to move forward with building a family.
• Implement effective and sensitive interventions for a diverse patient body, including those undergoing ART and third-party reproduction, the LGBTQ+ community, fathers, immigrants, and adolescent and young parents.
• Prevent clinician burnout by enhancing self-care and connection. 
This training is appropriate for psychologists, psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, social workers, nurses, mental health counselors, physicians, graduate students, marriage and family therapists, pastoral counselors, and midwives.  Seleni’s MMHI continuing education (CE) for licensed social workers by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work. As a result, social workers who complete Seleni’s online MMHI training will receive CE credit.

After successful completion of the coursework, participants will receive a certification of completion, a digital badge for their professional website and LinkedIn profile, a permanent listing and link on the Seleni website, and, if applicable, continuing education credits.

About the Seleni Institute
The Seleni Institute is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the emotional health of individuals and families during the family-building years to improve the lives of our generation and future generations. With our partners, we treat, train, support, advocate, and provide research funding. The organization was founded in 2011 to destigmatize and transform mental health and wellness.

For more information or to register for upcoming MMHI trainings, please contact Marianela Faria at [email protected], call (212) 939-7200 or visit training.seleni.org.

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