The Mothercentric Approach - Redefining PMADs: Patriarchy, Matrescence and the Disease of Shame

The Mothercentric Approach brings an Internal Family Systems-informed, holistic vision for understanding and treating Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADS) - not as disorder in mothers - but rather as the consequence of Parts and Patriarchy during Matrescence and the accompanying Disease of Shame new mothers embody. This is not a course about diagnosing PMADs - it's a course about working effectively with matrescent women, without making mothers into identified patients on behalf of a patriarchal society that exiles their needs and dismisses their value.

The symptoms and unmet needs of new mothers are commonly labeled as illness, disease or sickness and then medicated, with an implied promise that mom will "return to her old self”, when everything has changed - her biology, her identity, her role, her reality - and in fact, she’ll never return to the way she was before. Matrescent women's parts are dramatically reconfigured by physiology, and that reconfiguration changes her focus and prioritizes baby. Parts are reconfigured in a way that amplifies anxiety and inner critics, which colors how moms feel about themselves. Rather than treating this as pathology, the Mothercentric Approach appreciates the system's design and good intentions, while orienting us to the increased vulnerability of new mothers, and their susceptibility to anxiety and shame. Our society's patriarchal norms echo and reiterate that baby is more important than mom, and our society is largely unsupportive, disempowering, unrewarding and shaming to mothers as they make their way through this most tender period. We are in fact reliant on mothers for the health and wellbeing of our entire species, and yet mothers are neglected and forgotten during a crucial time, when they are themselves highly vulnerable - and simultaneously forming and influencing the next generation. Participants will be offered a new paradigm for thinking about the mental health of new mothers - a more holistically informed perspective that considers the perinatal phase of life as a portal to healing humanity’s legacies of trauma and suffering. Participants will work with the material experientially, engaging their own inner systems with guided IFS meditations and opportunities to explore their own parts.

In this course we present the Four Cornerstones of the Mothercentric Approach, which provide an Internal Family Systems informed foundation for conceptualizing cases and treating new mothers as well as the Outside-Inside Method (Two-Track Method) that supports the exploration of symptoms and the uncovering and healing of underlying, ubiquitous shame (aka "mom parts") that all mothers seems to wrangle with.

What's unique about the Mothercentric Approach?

• The only perinatal mental health training informed by Internal Family Systems;
• Focuses on matrescence as a developmental phase, not a disorder;
• Identifies psychological patriarchy as a propagator of shame;
• Identifies shame as a primary culprit in PMADs and gives instruction for working effectively with that shame;
• Centers the experience of perinatal women (not their babies).

• Participants who complete Mothercentric training are invited to an exclusive consultation group called the Mothercentric Continuum - an opportunity to meet monthly to continue practicing applications of IFS, exploring patriarchy and matrescence and receiving consultation from Jessica and Rebecca on working with perinatal clients.

Educational goals:

This seven hour course will be useful for anyone engaging closely with individuals who are in the perinatal phase of life, including mental health providers, social workers, clinical supervisors, medical and health care providers, childbirth professionals, teachers or professors, parents or caretakers, and anyone interested in shifting the way we conceptualize, treat and support women who are conceiving, birthing and raising children.

Measurable Learning Objectives

• Objective 1: List two ways in which Internal Family Systems is effective with perinatal clients.
• Objective 2: Name the four cornerstones of the Mothercentric Approach.
• Objective 3: Name the primary way patriarchy causes and perpetuates symptoms in matrescent women.
• Objective 4: Describe the components of the Two-Track Method.

This course takes place online over 8 hours (9:00-5:00 PST), with one hour allotted for lunch.

This course is approved by PSI for continuing education, relevant to advanced training for obtaining PMH-C's.

Instructor Information:

Jessica Sorci, M.A., LMFT, PMH-C is a Level 3, Certified Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapist with advanced training in Intimacy From the Inside Out (working with couples using IFS), as well as a Certified Perinatal Mental Health Professional. In her early adulthood, Jessica devoted her life to her own emotional healing and her first-hand experience of the therapeutic experience informs her deep and compassionate work with her clients and supervisees. In her role as Clinical Director at Family Tree Wellness, Jessica blends her love of IFS with her extensive background in creative expression and spirituality to create one-of-a-kind trainings and workshops that reach people's hearts and open their minds. With a view that mothering is the very heart of our humanity, Jessica knows that the health of our world depends upon women and families receiving attuned support during their most tender times in life, and often speaks and writes on the subject of matrescence.

Rebecca Geshuri, M.A., LMFT, PMH-C is a holistic Internal Family Systems therapist in the Silicon Valley, certified in Perinatal Mental Health and Brainspotting. Informed by her own personal losses, Rebecca is devoted to illuminating the disenfranchised grief and trauma that often accompanies motherhood and the ubiquitous identity shifting.  Most importantly, she is a mother of three live daughters, pre-teen, teen, and on the cusp of adulthood. In her spare time, Rebecca enjoys spending time with her daughters and her husband, gardening, singing, playing with her dog and having deep, meaningful conversations.

Jessica and Rebecca are co-founders of Family Tree Wellness, a group psychotherapy practice in the heart of Silicon Valley, which provides counseling and community for clients on the reproductive journey.  In addition, they provide clinical supervision for therapists gaining licensure, as well as advanced training for licensed therapists interested in deepening their work with clients going through matrescence.

The fine print:

Course meets the qualifications for 7 hours of continuing education credit for LMFT’s, LCSW’s, LPCC’s and LEP’s as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. This course will be useful to anyone engaging closely with matrescent women.

Requests for a full refund should be submitted by email to our Practice Manager Maristella Martinez at mari@familytreewellness.org, no later than 2 weeks prior to the start of the course. An administrative fee of $25 will be assessed. Cancellations occurring within 2 weeks of course start date are eligible for a partial refund equal to 75% of the course fee. If the course is being offered again, participants can request to postpone attendance until next course start date, and those requests must be received in writing, by email and will be assessed a $25 administrative fee. Refunds will be issued within 5 business days.

To request accommodations for special needs, or to obtain the grievance policy or report a grievance please email mari@familytreewellness.org or call (408) 345-5572.

Course completion certificates will be awarded at the end of the course in exchange for a completed evaluation form. Family Tree Wellness, Inc (Provider #1000049) is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFT’s, LCSW’s, LPCC’s and LEP’s. Family Tree Wellness, Inc maintains responsibility for the program & all of its content.