Spring brings some excellent opportunities to participate in events promoting awareness and education of our issue. If you haven’t already done so, please visit the button on PSI’s homepage entitled “National and Worldwide Events” to find such listings.
Foremost among these is PSI’s annual conference Maternal Mental Health: A Multisystemic View to be held in Houston, Texas from June 4 – 7th. Registration is open now, with Early Bird discounts available through May 1st. Register NOW to take advantage of reduced rates and ensure attendance at the sessions of your choice. Offering several tracks responsive to the varied needs of conference participants, this year’s event is our most ambitious yet with new preconference educational opportunities.
Continuing education is essential for those who wish to offer professional or support services to mothers in the perinatal period. The most seasoned clinician or most well meaning social support advocate needs refresher courses and updated info to ensure offering efficacious interventions for mothers and their families. And consumers need to know what’s available and how to select the right support when considering treatment options. Judicious selection of a recovery team can hasten a return to self and more joyous mothering.
With continuing emphasis on consumer education and the responsibility of practitioners to adopt treatment protocols efficaciously responsive to presenting issues, it is essential to receive training in this specialty to receive referrals. Increasingly private and public funders—and even insurers—are correctly insisting on educational benchmarks and measurable outcomes when evaluating the effectiveness of programs and services in which they may invest/reimburse. PSI is rising to this challenge by creating a national standard of training for those wishing to pursue this specialty.
PSI’s preconference program awards participants with a certificate of completion indicating they have received training of the highest standards, based on the most recent research and treatment protocols. This is true not only of clinical work, but for those wishing to initiate a community based support group. Consistency and compliance with high standards are critical to any endeavor seeking to offer support and treatment to mothers and their families during this time of crisis.
Each time one of our colleagues presents new research, writes an autobiography of their struggles with perinatal mood disorders, offers an artistic expression of their journey through motherhood and what best supported their recovery, or compiles a new clinical or social support guide, I always find these unique perspectives to be profoundly valuable and deepening of my own knowledge and connection to those we serve. PSI has made it part of our mission to review these submissions and incorporate the best into our certificate training programs. We hope you will avail yourselves of these great educational opportunities and keep our network strongly committed to excellence.
Hoping to see many of you in Houston!
Warmly,
Susan