of what was wed to us at birth and gets undone at dying
-Rumi
Our earliest experiences before, during and after birth can profoundly affect how we live our lives and relate to others throughout life. Awareness and acknowledgement of this important time is often missing from our cultural views, which obscures our ability to heal and prevent further trauma.
This is an introductory course intended for anyone interested in this earliest time in life. For practitioners it offers a peek into potential sources of your clients’ issues, both physical and psychological, enhancing your ability to recognise and support healing of prenatal and birth trauma.
For those who are not practitioners, there is also the potential for greater understanding of how your early life may be impacting you and also how to support your own children, grandchildren and others, both born and yet to be born, in having a gentler entrance into life.
Teachings will be offered both visually through PowerPoint presentations and somatically through brief embodied explorations. The course includes activities for you to engage in between modules as a way to deepen your own learning. Those pursuing Continuing Professional Development credit will be expected to complete a short assignment demonstrating your learning and understanding.
If you are fascinated by how life begins, if you have a baby or have ever been one, this information will be relevant for you.
This short course can also provide an introductory preview into material covered in more depth in the full 6-seminar training for practitioners, Our Journey Here, starting in May. Please click here to learn more about the full training. This 3-week course is not a pre-requisite to the training but can give you a taste of what it will be about.
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this 3-part series participants will be better able to:
Describe the relationship between very early experience and relational tendencies, behavioural patterns and personality qualities
Demonstrate a basic understanding of at least three major prenatal events and their effects
Explain at least three potential birth traumas and their effects
Describe how postpartum experience may affect bonding, attachment and health
Demonstrate new insight into how their personal early experience may have been affecting their sense of self, relationships or life choices.
Logistics:
This 3-part series of 1.5-hour classes via Zoom airs weekly, with additional integrative personal explorations to be completed after each class. Please scroll down to Curriculum for details and to Announcements for updates.
If you are unable to attend live or wish to review the class after it has aired, the video recordings will be available on this page within a day or two after each class.
Each class includes a presentation as well as guided personal exploration in relation to the material presented.
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WHEN:
3 Sundays: January 17th, 24th 31st, 2021
5 – 6:30 p.m. UTC/GMT (12 noon – 1:30 p.m. East Coast, 9 – 10:30 a.m. Pacific Coast, 18:00 – 19:30 most European locations).
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COST:
The £90 cost is in GBP paid via PayPal. £75 early bird price available until January 3rd is about $97 USD, $128 CAD, 82 euros.
To access the class, please make sure you have logged into this website, then click the Buy Now button for this course. If you don’t yet have an account with Resourcing Your Life, please create one here https://www.courses.resourcingyourlife.org/wp-login.php?action=register before trying to purchase the course. (If you accidentally purchase the course as a guest, you will not receive emails with the information you need to access the class.)
Once you have purchased the course, it will appear under My Courses when you log in to the website. Choose the course, scroll down to where you can click on the Register for Zoom Meeting Here Link button below. This will lead you to a link to register with Zoom. Please do this right away in order to receive emails with the link to the meeting and reminders. You may not receive an email with this information until you have registered with Zoom.
Please try to log in to the class at least a few minutes before it starts to ensure you have access and we can begin on time together.
Please note that some materials are available before the course begins. More may be added after you have registered. Please check back to this page to view any additional preparation materials you may have missed. It can be helpful to practice the meditations provided before the course begins. Once the course starts, more materials will be added to each module. There will also be useful announcements emailed to you from time to time. Some people have trouble receiving these emails. If you haven’t received any, we recommend checking the “announcements” tab below, as all announcements will also be posted there, visible only to those registered for the course.
Course Features
Lectures16
Quizzes1
Duration4.5 hours
Skill levelAll levels
LanguageEnglish
Students48
CertificateYes
AssessmentsYes
Curriculum
Curriculum
Register for Zoom meeting here
You will need to register with Zoom in order to access the classes.
In this module we explore early embodiment via pre-conception, conception, and early embryological formation with associated prenatal psychological development. The potential for prenatal bonding and essential support systems for conception and pregnancy will be introduced.
Birth involves a major change for both foetus and family. This module introduces potential effects of birth traumas commonly experienced by babies and mothers, including possible prevention and repair. The developmental potential of this important time when the baby becomes more autonomous is also discussed.
Module 3: The Fourth Trimester: Postpartum Bonding and Beyond
This module discusses the importance of mother-baby bonding after birth and the challenges of separation at this potentially magical time. We will look at how bonding, attachment, attachment and health may be affected by this important early phase of life outside the womb.
Cherionna Menzam-Sills is a prenatal and birth therapist, movement therapist and Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist. Drawing on 40 years experience, her background includes an M.A. in Somatic Psychology (Dance/Movement Therapy) and a Ph.D. in Pre- and Perinatal Psychology, as well as Occupational Therapy, Massage Therapy, intensive study of BMC and Body-Mind Psychotherapy with Susan Aposhyan and 10 years intensive study with prenatal and birth psychotherapy pioneers, William Emerson and Ray Castellino. She worked intensively with founder of Continuum, Emilie Conrad for the last decade of her life. Emilie authorized her to teach Continuum in 2007. Her work is further informed by years of intensive Vipassana meditation practice and other mindfulness practices.