ACT for Perinatal Mental Health initial training (online)

The perinatal period is a time of profound change physically, psychologically, and emotionally.

While it can bring joy and connection, it can also bring challenges. Research shows that when a mother experiences mental health difficulties during this time, the effects can impact the whole family, shaping both parent and child wellbeing for years to come.

Yet, access to effective, evidence-based psychological support remains limited — particularly for those experiencing moderate to severe mental health challenges.

Many parents who reach out for help encounter a range of barriers:

• stigma and fear of judgment, especially worries about being seen as an “unfit” parent
• practical hurdles, such as finding time between busy schedules
• systemic obstacles, including long waiting lists and treatments focused on specific diagnoses

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) offers a transdiagnostic, compassionate, flexible approach to help parents make room for difficult emotions, reconnect with what truly matters to them, and find meaning in the midst of change.

By fostering psychological flexibility, ACT supports parents to respond to self-criticism, uncertainty, and shifting identity with greater openness and self-kindness.

Led by a team of facilitators who are all specialists in perinatal mental health within the NHS and academia, this training brings together their extensive experience of delivering ACT both in person and online.

They aim to share their learning experiences and increase clinicians’ knowledge and confidence in applying ACT to perinatal mental health in both individual and group formats.

Who it’s for

This course would benefit any healthcare professional working with parents during the perinatal period and early years, including those who do not work directly in mental health services. Examples of backgrounds and roles include:

• Psychologists and other therapist roles
• Psychiatrists
• Maternity staff such as Obstetricians and Midwives
• Occupational Therapists
• Social Workers
• Health Visitors and Nursery Nurses

What you’ll learn

The 2-day training will be delivered via Microsoft Teams, with a focus on both theory, experiential learning and discussion.

Through case studies, video demonstrations and experiential exercises, you’ll gain practical tools to integrate ACT into your work with parents.

Topics covered

Over the 2 days, we will cover the following:

• an Introduction to the ACT model, including the different components of the hexaflex and additional elements such as ACT and emotions, and ACT and compassion.
• applying the ACT model to common difficulties experienced in the perinatal period including intrusive thoughts, feelings of guilt and shame, held narratives around what it means to be a mother or parent, identity shifts, managing uncertainty of the future and emotional distress.
• explore how ACT can help parents strengthen their bond with their baby, and reconnect with their sense of identity and purpose now they are a parent.
• learn practical applications of skills to different presenting difficulties
• explore the use of ACT individually and also in a group format
• gxplore the use of ACT face-to-face and as a remote delivered intervention
• Gain knowledge in the current evidence-base for using ACT within the perinatal period

We will also discuss more nuanced topics such as ‘self disclosure’ within ACT, and how that sits with your discipline and background, and as a tool for supporting the application of ACT in the perinatal period.

Benefits

By the end of the course, we hope that healthcare staff will feel their knowledge and confidence in using ACT in the perinatal period has increased.

We hope they will have more practical strategies within their toolkit to support parents within the perinatal period experiencing a range of challenges.

We hope attendees will recognise the impact that ACT can have, in empowering parents to live a fulfilling life around the rollercoaster of parenting.

Additionally, this training allows for discussion and sharing of ideas/challenges with peers.

Previous training feedback has told us that this has been one of the highlights of the training, allowing learning from each other in different services, contexts and countries and thus building a wider knowledge base of applying ACT in the area of perinatal mental health.