Course Description

Perhaps the most heart-wrenching and challenging aspect of your work is when a baby dies. Parents and families need your calm competence and compassionate support more than ever. And you may wonder:


  • What are the main ingredients of quality perinatal bereavement care?
  • What are the parent’s core tasks, and how do I provide developmentally supportive care?
  • What words and actions have the most positive, powerful, and lasting effect on families?
  • What are the therapeutic approaches that support healing?
  • How does the practice of mindfulness, curiosity, compassion, and holding space protect me from burnout?


In this informative, engaging self-paced course, you’ll explore this complicated landscape with clinician Mara Tesler Stein, PsyD, PMH-C and developmental psychologist Deborah L. Davis, PhD.


Drawing on Debbie's classic book, Empty Cradle, Broken Heart: Surviving the Death of Your Baby, which has provided evidence-based support to parents for over 30 years, you’ll learn how to think about:

  • perinatal crisis, grief, and trauma; 
  • providing quality bereavement care in and out of the hospital; 
  • evaluating, supporting, and interacting with parents and families;
  • attuning to the nuances of grief, trauma, and adjustment
  • therapeutic approaches that support healing; and
  • the strengths, limitations, callings, defenses, and biases you bring to this job



This course was created with therapists in mind but is designed to be helpful to anyone who works with bereaved parents and their families. It can boost your competence and build your confidence in the important work you do with bereaved families. 


This course utilizes recordings of a live training held in May, 2022. CEs are calculated only based on video runtime. Readings are supplemental.


For more information on our work at The Touchstone Institute, visit our website.


Course Overview

  • Recorded/Asynchronous Distance Learning

    This course is structured for students to learn at their own pace.

  • Prerequisites

    There are no courses required in order to participate in this training.

  • CE Credits

    18 CEs are offered for this workshop. Please see CE coverage section below for specific approvals.

Continuing Education Credits

Participation in all training sessions and submission of a course evaluation is required to receive a CE Certificate for this course. Course evaluations are made available after all live sessions have been completed within the course portal. After completing the evaluation, participants will be able to download their CE certificates. This training offers 18 CE credits.

  • It is your responsibility to verify CE coverage in your State or Provence.

  • The Touchstone Institute for Perinatal Training is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Touchstone Institute for Perinatal Training maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

  • The Touchstone Institute for Perinatal Training, Inc. has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7346. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Touchstone Institute for Perinatal Training, Inc. is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

  • This course is approved by the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA). The Touchstone Institute is an approved training provider with EMDRIA: approval #22021.

  • This course is approved by Postpartum Support International (PSI) for continuing education towards obtaining and maintaining the PMH-C

  • The Touchstone Institute for Perinatal Training, [provider number 1876], 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: [1/19/25-1/19/28]. Social workers completing this course receive 18 continuing education credits.

Note on Accessibility:

We include captions in all of our live and self-paced trainings. If there is anything else you need to make our trainings accessible to you, please reach out to us at [email protected]. We recognize that every person has access needs and we are happy to do everything we can to meet yours.
Get in Touch

Instructors

Mara Stein, PsyD, PMH-C

Instructor

Mara Tesler Stein, Psy.D., PMH-C is a clinical psychologist practicing in the United States and Israel. She is the founder and director of The Touchstone Institute for Psychotherapy and Training where she offers both EMDR Foundational trainings for perinatal specialists & advanced EMDR workshops which take a deeper dive into the intersections and applications of EMDR and perinatal mental health. Dr. Stein is a staunch advocate for trauma-focused care and is trained and certified in a range of integrative trauma therapies. A certified EMDR therapist, EMDRIA Approved Consultant and Trainer, Dr. Stein is also certified in Emotion-Focused Family and Couple Therapy, is a Gottman Certified Therapist, and continues to pursue training in Clinical Hypnosis, Yoga-Informed treatment, Advanced applications of EMDR, Brainspotting, and Ego-State therapies.

Deborah L. Davis, PhD

Instructor

Deborah L. Davis, Ph.D. is a developmental psychologist who writes books that support parents through heart-wrenching crises such as the death of a baby during pregnancy or infancy, premature birth, parenting in the NICU, perinatal hospice and palliative care, and making end-of-life medical decisions. She has also contributed to a number of other parent books, medical texts, and professional guidelines that inform and support health care practitioners on developmentally supportive, relationship-centered care, perinatal bereavement care, and medical ethics. She is best known for her books, Empty Cradle, Broken Heart: Surviving the Death of Your Baby (1991; 1996; 2016) and A Gift of Time: Continuing Your Pregnancy When Your Baby’s Life is Expected to Be Brief (2011; in press). She is forever inspired by the resilience of bereaved parents and the healing transformations they experience on their journeys.

Tiered pricing options for this course:

Questions? See our FAQ below.

More about our pricing:

We offer tiered pricing for all of our trainings in order to make our courses accessible to as many practitioners as possible. If you are unsure which tier of payment is right for your financial situation, please read through our FAQ section below or visit our website.


Please reach out to us at [email protected] if you are interested in a multi-month payment plan. We are always happy to create a custom payment plan to make it more feasible for everyone to participate in our courses. 

Course Details

    1. Introduction

    2. Get to know Mara Tesler Stein!

    3. Get to know Debbie Davis!

    4. How to Use This Course

    5. Learning Objectives

    6. Your Expressive Arts Project

    7. Expressive Art Examples from Prior Trainings

    8. Anti-Oppression Statement from The Touchstone Institute

    9. Content and Activation Reminder

    1. Slides

    2. Handouts

    3. Additional Resource List

    4. Additional Books

    1. Case vignettes

    2. Grief as a dad and parenting after loss

    3. Being faced with a termination for medical reasons after 8 years of trying to grow a family

    4. Death then life

    5. A letter to myself after neonatal loss

    6. Grief as a dad and parenting after loss

    1. Introduction

    2. Recording: Laying the Foundation and Self-as-Therapist

    3. Readings: Sociocultural Considerations

    4. Readings: Self-as-Therapist

    1. Introduction

    2. Recording: Philosophies of Care and Therapeutic Principles

    3. Readings: Philosophies of Care and Therapeutic Principles

    1. Introduction

    2. Recording: The Parent's Painful Journey

    3. Readings: Grief

    4. Readings: Trauma

About this course

  • $650 - $850
  • On-demand
  • 18 CE's - APA, EMDRIA, and PSI

Learning objectives: 
MODULE ONE—Laying the Foundation
A. Therapeutic Principals
● Describe why relationship-centered care is key to providing quality bereavement care.
● Identify the importance of providing developmentally supportive care
● Name the three core tasks grieving parents face
● Describe the therapeutic effects of practicing mindfulness, curiosity, compassion, and holding space with parents
● Describe the value of accepting and connecting with parents with the pitfalls of protecting and directing parents
● Identify and differentiate grief, trauma, and postpartum mood and anxiety disorders
● Describe the nuances of working with marginalized populations
● Identify and describe intersectionality
● Describe how to think about supporting parents as they grieve
● Describe how to think about supporting parents when there is also trauma 
● Describe how to think about trauma-focused treatment and making referrals
B. Self as Therapist
● Describe what they find challenging about this work and name their own defenses and strategies for coping
● Name why being aware of their own experiences of loss and trauma is key to forming therapeutic relationships and holding space for parents 
● Identify their implicit assumptions and name their beliefs about marginalized populations
● Identify biases in systems and discuss why understanding intersectionality is
an important component of providing quality care 
● Name and have strategies to address symptoms of burnout
● Describe the importance of recognizing one’s own callings, strengths, and limitations, and how this fosters self care, which boosts resilience and wards off burnout

MODULE TWO—The Parent’s Painful Journey
● Describe why perinatal bereavement is so hard for parents to endure
● Describe the ebb and flow of grief and mourning, and the value of grieving
● Describe how perinatal trauma affects parents’ brains
● Normalize (rather than pathologize) the chaos and craziness of the first months or
year after a baby’s death
● Identify the relationship between a parent’s sense of control and painful feelings
of anger, guilt, failure, or vulnerability
● Identify ways to support parents in making peace with agonizing decisions
● Describe the special challenges fathers or non-gestational parents may face as
they grieve and process trauma

MODULE THREE—Supporting the Parent’s Healing Journey
● Name the therapeutic benefits of affirming the baby, parenthood, enduring
bonds, and decisions made
● Describe the value of meaning-making and how to support parents in doing this
● Describe the difference between “moving on” and “living in remembrance” and
discuss which option is more realistic and therapeutic than the other
● Describe a variety of therapeutic approaches that support healing and integration
● Differentiate between top-down and bottom-up treatments for trauma

MODULE FOUR—The Importance of Social Connection and Support
● Describe common challenges couples face as they grieve and mourn 
● Describe strategies to suggest to couples in order to support their efforts to maintain connection and strengthen the relationship
● Describe common challenges parents face with their own parents (the baby’s grandparents) and strategies to strengthen those relationships
● Describe common challenges parents face with their older children
● Describe strategies parents can employ for supporting their older children 
● Describe common challenges parents face with friends and acquaintances 
● Describe strategies parents can employ for dealing with others
● Discuss how relationships and social connections are healing for parents

MODULE FIVE—The Next Chapter
Participants will be able to
● Describe the common challenges parents face as they decide whether or when to try 

to get pregnant again
● Identify why the “best advice” for timing subsequent pregnancy is to support parents in making their own informed decision
● Describe and normalize the common emotional challenges parent face during subsequent pregnancy, birth, and parenting
● List and describe therapeutic approaches for supporting bereaved parents during subsequent pregnancy and parenting

Text & media

Empty Cradle, Broken Heart: A Practitioner’s Guide to  Working with Bereaved Families (Live)

Timed Outline (all times are US ET)

There will be a 30-min break each day at 1:30pm and again at 5:30pm

DAY 1

11-12:30pm: Laying the Foundation and Philosophies of Care

A)   What to expect:

a)     Schedule/Itinerary

b)    Titles of Day 1; Day 2; Day 3

B)   Overall Theme: The power of connection and key skills

a)     Expressive arts project (invite people to do this throughout)

C)   How to Think

a)     Overview of course:

i) How to think about What You Do (day 1);

 ii) What Parents Experience (day 2); and 

iii) How to Support Parents  (day 3) 

iv) The value of focusing on How to Think


(1) Overview of Day 1, Thinking about (a) Philosophy of Care.

(b)  Self-Care.

(c)   How you bring yourself to this work.

(d)  Therapeutic Principles.

(e)   Philosophy of Care Self-Care

12:30pm-3pm: Therapeutic Principles and Self as Therapist

A) What do you find challenging about this work (expressive arts #1)

a.     this is where I get uncomfortable, scared, anxious, sad

b.     these parents drive me crazy

c.     this is where I run and hide

d.     this is where I don’t know what to do.


B) Your own experience of loss.

C).   Your own experience of trauma.

D)   Holding space for death, loss, grief, and trauma.

E)    Defenses (reenactment, trauma maps, shutdown)

F)    Biases

a.              In self

b.              In systems 

G) Intersectionality

H)   Oppression and perinatal loss – beliefs about marginalized populations 

i. REFLECTION

I)     Callings and limitations

J)     Mindful inquiry about implicit assumptions and thoughts

K)   Burnout

L)    Clinical Q&A

3-4:30pm Lunch

4:30-7pm Therapeutic Principles 

A) Relationship-Centered, Developmentally Supportive Care for Parents

a.     Mindfulness & curiosity & compassion

b.    Engaging with parents & Holding Space for what they are  experiencing and what they want 

i.        Recognizing and differentiating grief, trauma, PMADs

ii.      Working with marginalized populations

iii.     Recognizing intersectionality

c.     Adaptive Information Processing Model

d.    How to think about supporting parents as they grieve.

e.     How to think about supporting parents when there is also trauma.

f.      How to think about trauma focused treatment

g.     How to think about making referrals

h.    Clinical Q&A

7-7:30pm: Q&A and Wrap Up Day 1

Day 2

11-11:30am: Q&A from Day 1

11:30am-3pm: The Parent’s Painful Journey

A)   Why is this so hard?

B)   The Three Core Tasks

C)   Developmentally Supportive Care

D)   Grief and Mourning

E)    Trauma and the Brain

F)    Early Days and Months

G)   Painful Feelings

H)   Making peace with agonizing decisions

I)     Treatment for trauma and other therapeutic principles sprinkled

J)     The special challenges that fathers/non-birthing partners face

K)   Clinical Q&A

3-4:30pm: Lunch

4:30-7pm: Supporting the Parent’s Healing Journey

A) Affirming

a.     The baby

b.     Parenthood

c.     Enduring bonds

d.     Decisions made

e.     Making meaning

f.      Living in Remembrance

g.     Therapeutic Approaches that Support Healing and Integration

7-7:30pm: Q&A and Wrap Up Day 2

Day 3

11-11:30am: Q&A from Day 2

11:30am-1:30pm: Medical Decisions, Neurobology and Therapeutic Approaches

2-3pm: Interfacing with Others

A)   The Couple

B)   The Family

C)   Support Networks

D)   How Connection Heals E) Clinical Q&A

3-4:30pm: Lunch

4:30-5:30pm: Next Chapter

A) Trying Again B) Subsequent Pregnancy

C)   Bonding, birth and beyond

D)   Therapeutic Approaches supporting subsequent pregnancy and parenting

E)    Clinical Q&A

6-7pm: Case Discussions

7-7:30pm: Q&A and Wrap Up Day 3



Frequently Asked Questions

  • Is this course EMDRIA-Approved?

    Yes, this course is approved for 18 CE credits through the EMDR International Association.

  • Is this course approved by PSI?

    Yes, this course is approved by PSI for 18 CE credits both for obtaining the PMH-C as well as for renewing the PHM-C.

  • Is the Generative Access tier right for me?

    Select this tier if you: Own the home you live in (even with a mortgage); live in a two-income household; have investments, retirement accounts, or inherited money; travel recreationally; have access to family money and resources in times of need; work part-time by choice, etc.

  • Is the Sustaining Access tier right for me?

    Select this tier if you: Have income available for recreational activities (going out to dinner, movies, concerts etc.); have consistent work compensated at a median income rate based on your region; pay rent that is not more than 25% of your monthly household income; do not own your own home, etc.

  • Is the Supported Access tier right for me?

    Select this tier if you: Are a graduate student paying tuition; have major medical expenses not covered by insurance; have been denied work, or experience discrimination related to ableism, racism, sexism, gender discrimination or other forms of oppression; are eligible for public assistance; have immigration-related expenses; have ever been denied work due to incarceration history; are supporting adult children, extended family members in need or have other adult dependents; are an elder with limited financial support; are primarily working in a setting with under-resourced populations and your income reflects this work, etc.

  • Are there payment plan options available?

    Yes! We are happy to work with you to create a payment plan that fits your needs. Please reach out to us over email with a brief description of the length of the plan that you are interested in using to pay for this course: [email protected].

  • How can I learn more about your pricing?

    Please visit our website for more information on our approach to pricing our trainings: www.touchstoneinstitute.org/pricing.

  • What is your refund policy?

    We require 30-days notice for cancellations to receive a refund, minus a 5% administrative fee. If you cancel within thirty days you will be able to apply your full tuition to any other trainings we offer.

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Join our growing community of perinatal providers

Enroll Today

Continuing Education Credits

Participation in all training sessions and submission of a course evaluation is required to receive a CE Certificate for this course. Course evaluations are made available after all live sessions have been completed within the course portal. After completing the evaluation, participants will be able to download their CE certificates. This training offers 18 CE credit hours.

  • It is your responsibility to verify CE coverage in your State or Provence.

  • The Touchstone Institute for Perinatal Training is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Touchstone Institute for Perinatal Training maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

  • The Touchstone Institute for Perinatal Training, Inc. has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7346. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Touchstone Institute for Perinatal Training, Inc. is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

  • The Touchstone Institute for Perinatal Training, [provider number:1876], is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. The Touchstone Institute for Perinatal Training maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: [1/19/2024-1/19/2025]. Social workers completing this course receive 42 continuing education credits.

  • This course is approved by the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA). The Touchstone Institute is an approved training provider with EMDRIA: approval #22021.

  • This course is approved by Postpartum Support International (PSI) for continuing education towards obtaining and maintaining the PMH-C