Perinatal Mental Health Essentials Bundle

Description

When a pregnant or postpartum client describes distress, clinicians need to distinguish expected adjustments from concerns warranting further assessment and recognize when urgent evaluation is needed. Distinguishing unwanted intrusive thoughts from psychotic symptoms is especially consequential for understanding the client’s experience and helping them access appropriate care.

This 6-CE bundle brings together two complementary self-study courses to help behavioral health professionals approach these decisions with a stronger clinical foundation. You will connect a broad understanding of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders with focused education on postpartum psychosis, from recognition and immediate care needs through support after stabilization.

Rachel Diamond, Ph.D., LMFT, PMH-C, brings perinatal clinical practice, research, and teaching experience. Julia Alzoubaidi, Ph.D., PMH-C, adds psychological expertise, lived experience of postpartum psychosis, and leadership experience with Postpartum Support International.

These self-paced courses combine conceptual frameworks, clinical examples, a case exercise, and practical screening and referral resources. The complementary perspectives encourage thoughtful assessment while keeping clients’ histories, relationships, and access to care in view.

Topics include adjustment to parenthood, matrescence, parenting expectations, reproductive justice, biopsychosocial-spiritual assessment, perinatal mood and anxiety presentations, and intrusive thoughts. Focused postpartum psychosis content addresses symptoms, risk factors, family involvement, access to immediate treatment, and ongoing therapeutic needs.

Key Takeaways:

• Recognize concerns more clearly: Distinguish expected perinatal adjustments from clinically significant distress, with careful attention to symptoms that warrant further assessment.
• Understand the person behind the symptoms: Integrate identity changes, social pressures, relationships, and barriers to care into clinical conceptualization.
• Clarify the next step: Consider screening findings alongside clinical inquiry and relevant family observations to inform further assessment, referral, and access to urgent evaluation when indicated.
• Support recovery with greater perspective: Consider both immediate needs and the therapeutic work that continues after an acute postpartum psychosis episode.

Why this course bundle?

• Expert faculty: Learn from clinicians whose perinatal specialization, research, teaching, and lived experience bring complementary perspectives to complex presentations.
• Practical tools: Connect clinical examples and a case exercise with screening, referral, and recovery considerations relevant to everyday practice.
• Integrative content: Telehealth Certification Institute pairs foundational perinatal assessment with focused postpartum psychosis education in one flexible, 6-CE self-study bundle.

Respond to clients’ experiences with understanding and compassion while strengthening your ability to support recovery and resilience. Enroll now in the Perinatal Mental Health Essentials Bundle and become the clinician who is better prepared to recognize concerns, guide next steps, and support recovery.

Format and Access

Instruction consists of a total of over 6 hours of video instruction, and a post-test for each course.  Each course is a non-interactive, recorded self-study.

Individual Course Information

Upon registration, the following courses will be added to your account:

1. From Pregnancy to Postpartum: A Therapist's Guide to Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders, Online Self-Study

Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders are common, yet many affected clients do not receive treatment. Symptoms can be mistaken for expected changes during pregnancy and postpartum, while shame and fear of judgment may make disclosure difficult. Behavioral health professionals need to recognize when distress warrants closer assessment without dismissing clients’ experiences or assuming that every difficult adjustment indicates a disorder.

For clinicians seeking foundational knowledge in perinatal mental health, this training explores how pregnancy and postpartum can change the meaning and presentation of familiar clinical concerns. It is designed for behavioral health professionals across disciplines who want to better understand this transition and respond to clients’ needs.

Rachel Diamond, Ph.D., LMFT, PMH-C, is a licensed marriage and family therapist certified in perinatal mental health through Postpartum Support International. Her clinical focus on reproductive trauma and the transition to parenthood, together with her experience as a university professor and published researcher, informs an approach that connects perinatal research with the realities of clinical assessment and care.

Expectations about being a “good mother” can intensify shame and obscure the support a client needs. Matrescence, the developmental transition into motherhood, and a reproductive justice perspective help clinicians understand distress in relation to identity changes and the conditions in which clients receive care and raise children. These perspectives encourage attention to social pressures, discrimination, and barriers to seeking help.

Familiar symptoms can carry different meanings in the perinatal period, and a positive screening result cannot resolve those differences on its own. Clinical examples and a biopsychosocial-spiritual framework help connect symptoms with the client’s history, physical health, relationships, and sources of meaning and support. This broader picture informs decisions about further assessment and the level of care a client may need. Distinguishing distressing, unwanted intrusive thoughts from psychotic symptoms illustrates why careful inquiry matters for both accurate understanding and timely intervention. Screening and referral resources are integrated into this process, with attention to follow-up and barriers to accessing care. The focus is on foundational assessment and conceptualization, rather than training in specific treatment protocols.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify unique constraints and considerations for pregnant and postpartum clients.
• Differentiate between normative adjustments during pregnancy and postpartum from clinically significant mental health concerns.
• Differentiate between the range of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) that present throughout pregnancy and postpartum.
• Apply conceptual frameworks tailored to working with perinatal clients to effectively identify and organize relevant clinical information with pregnant and postpartum clients.
• Describe screening, referral, and resource options for pregnant and postpartum clients.

2. Postpartum Psychosis: What to Know as a Behavioral Health Professional, Online Self-Study

Would you recognize postpartum psychosis if a client appeared lucid during an appointment? Symptoms can fluctuate and escalate quickly, making timely recognition essential. Therapeutic support remains important long after the acute emergency has passed.

For behavioral health professionals working with perinatal clients, responding effectively means recognizing concerning changes, helping clients reach immediate care, and understanding recovery. This introductory 2-CE course addresses those responsibilities while examining the stigma and uncertainty that can complicate seeking and receiving support.

Julia Alzoubaidi, Ph.D., PMH-C, is a licensed psychologist who brings professional expertise and lived experience of postpartum psychosis. She manages Postpartum Support International’s Postpartum Psychosis Program and coordinates its Postpartum Psychosis Task Force. Her work with survivors and families, including co-facilitating a support group, connects clinical understanding with firsthand insight into the challenges of recognizing the illness and rebuilding life afterward.

Distinguishing possible psychosis from other perinatal concerns requires attention to changes from a client’s usual functioning and cultural context. Dr. Alzoubaidi explores how nonjudgmental questions and family observations can clarify a complex presentation, emphasizing safety and urgent evaluation when diagnostic certainty is not yet possible.

After stabilization, clients may face depression and grief while trying to understand an experience that has disrupted their sense of self. Explore ways to help clients rebuild confidence and family relationships while acknowledging the potential trauma of psychosis and hospitalization. Practical supports and realistic expectations help clinicians respond to uncertainty about the future while making room for hope.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the prevalence, risk factors, etiology, symptoms, and clinical course of Postpartum Psychosis (PP).
• Identify best practices for assessing risk, involving family, and connecting to immediate treatment, as well as potential next steps in your own setting.
• Describe both immediate and long-term therapeutic needs.

Course Details

What is included: 

Enrollment in the Perinatal Mental Health Essentials Bundle includes:

• Two individual courses that offer a total of 6 CEs
• Instruction from clinicians with specialized perinatal mental health experience
• Instructional materials addressing mental health during pregnancy and postpartum

Who Should Attend: 

These courses are intended for clinicians who provide behavioral health services.

Teaching Methods: 

These are non-interactive, self-study courses. Teaching methods include recorded lectures, videos, a post-test, and a course evaluation.

How to Attend:

Course access and completion instructions.

Instructors and Disclosures

Instructors

About Rachel Diamond, Ph.D., LMFT, PMH-C

Dr. Rachel Diamond is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) and certified in perinatal mental health (PMH-C) through Postpartum Support International. She maintains a private practice in Chicago, Rachel Diamond, PLLC, where she primarily works with individuals and couples presenting with issues related to pregnancy and adjusting to new parenthood. She is trained in EMDR specifically for the perinatal population and utilizes this in her treatment of reproductive traumas. Additionally, as a former university professor, Dr. Diamond is also a well-published researcher. The focus of her research and scholarship is on relational and perinatal mental health with special attention to empirically-based practical applications for clinicians. You can find her writings in journals such as Women and Birth, Family Process, and Contemporary Family Therapy, as well as popular media such as The Conversation and her Psychology Today blog “Preparing for Parenthood”.

About Julia Alzoubaidi, Ph.D., PMH-C

Julia Alzoubaidi, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist who worked with children and adolescents until her firstborn was six months old, when she experienced postpartum psychosis. As part of her healing process, she began volunteering with PSI in various capacities. Her involvement evolved into managing PSI’s Postpartum Psychosis Program and coordinating PSI’s Postpartum Psychosis Task Force. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and two children.

Disclosure Statement: 

The instructor(s) for this course receive compensation for their services. There are no reported conflicts of interest to disclose.

CE Hours

Credit Hours:

This program consists of a total of 6 continuing education hours of credit. (Individual courses offer separate certificates with CEs)

Counselors:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6693.  Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified.  Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Mental Health Counselors. #MHC-0048.

Marriage and Family Therapists:

Many MFT licensing boards accept our courses or one of the approvals which we have from professional associations.  You can check with your board to determine if your licensing board would accept this course.

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0135.

Social Workers:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, #1609, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 05/02/2024 – 05/02/2027. Social workers completing these courses receive a total of 6 clinical continuing education credits.

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Social Workers #SW-0435.

Addiction Professionals:

This course has been approved by Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #193104, Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is responsible for all aspects of the programming.

Psychologists:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Psychologists #PSY-0128.

Art Therapists:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Creative Arts Therapists #CAT-0093.

Other Professionals:

This course qualifies for 360 minutes of instructional content as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations.  Retain your certificate of completion and contact your board or organization for specific filing requirements.

Accommodations and Policies

Closed Captioning is available for live webinars and recorded video presentations.

You can click on the following links to view our policies:

• Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities.
• Cancellation Policy
• Grievance Policy
• Support Options
• Disclosure Statement