AllDoulas.com supports the educational programs offered by
A Safe Passage.
Read my review of the workshop. I am pleased to help Jodi announce her new Distance Education Mentorship Program:
A Safe Passage Advanced Practitioner training is offered as a distance education mentorship program to meet the geographical and time-related barriers many professionals face in trying to access our specialized workshops. The
distance education mentorship program offers many unique benefits such as one-on-one tutoring and course pacing.
The goals of the Distance Education Mentorship Program are:
- To provide a rich learning experience that is accessible, flexible, encourages student creativity and critical thinking.
- To increase awareness around the impacts childhood sexual abuse, sexual violence and woman abuse has on the child victim/adult survivor
- To increase awareness of how violence and abuse impact women uniquely in the childbearing year
- To introduce basic counseling skills to practitioners who work with women during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum
- To encourage professionals working with women survivors to develop safety plans for themselves and self-care plans for dealing with vicarious trauma
Your Distance Education Mentorship Program includes:
- Eight comprehensive study modules
- Supplemental reading binder containing research articles
- Certification binder
- Trigger cards
- 3 mentoring sessions with your tutor by telephone or webcam
- On-going email support
- Certificate of completion
You are required to complete specific assignments before each mentoring session to be reviewed with your tutor for evaluation. Each module includes an overview, detailed list of homework requirements and required reading.
Due to the mentoring aspect of this program there is limited monthly enrollment. Should you wish to be considered for this program please email your request and your preferred start date.
A Safe Passage Distance Education Courses
Specialized Distance Education courses are available based on key topics related to supporting women survivors of abuse in the childbearing year. Whether you are brand new to the field of supporting survivors or looking for a refresher course, our specialized programs offer exceptional learning experiences. You may also use any completed courses as credit towards the Distance Education Mentorship Program.
When you purchase a course you will receive a student manual with the required readings and assignments. Enrollment is accepted on an on-going basis with each course being allotted a 3-6 month timeline for completion. At the conclusion of each course you must complete a telephone quiz with your assigned tutor and submit all assignments for evaluation. You will be graded on a pass/fail basis. Successful students will receive a certificate of completion.
Introduction to Abuse and the Childbearing Year
This introductory course provides a comprehensive overview of issues related to abuse against women and children with information specifically related to the childbearing year. Women survivors can face serious mental and physical health consequences as a result of their abuse. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the magnitude of the issue and the unique stressors that arise in the childbearing year for women who have survived childhood abuse, childhood sexual abuse, sexual violence and woman abuse.
Childhood Sexual Abuse and the Childbearing Year
Children who have experienced abuse, particularly sexual abuse may experience profound challenges in the childbearing year. This course addresses these challenges, including the impact of sexual abuse on the child victim and how children who have experienced abuse may cope with their traumatic pasts during pregnancy, labour and birth and the early postpartum period. Emphasis is placed on fostering an understanding of how the adaptive mechanisms a child being abused may use to cope are potentially problematic for the female adult survivor in the childbearing years. Principles of Harm Reduction are introduced.
Woman Abuse and the Childbearing Year
In most cases, abuse during pregnancy is a continuation of abuse that began before the woman became pregnant. On-going abuse can make it impossible for a woman to embrace pregnancy as a time of joy. When women are in abusive relationships it can be very difficult to get the support they need from their partners to make their birth experience positive ones. This course examines some of these very complex dynamics related to woman abuse and the childbearing year.
Asking About Abuse: Creating Safe Spaces for Women
"A woman may hear for the first time from you that woman abuse is unjust and that she has does nothing to deserve it. Every action that we take as individuals is part of the solution towards ending violence against women." (Women's Mental Health & Addictions, Action & Research Coalition, London ON)
Research has shown that women who have experienced abuse felt it important that caregivers ask specifically about abuse issues during routine prenatal appointments. This course will examine the debate surrounding some of the commonly used screening practices, including the Routine Universal Screening Protocol (RUCS). Questions of "how can I ask about abuse?" and "what do I say if she says yes?" will be thoroughly explored. Confidentiality and duty to report legislation are discussed.
Safety and Risk Factors in the Childbearing Year
Women who are being abused are most often at risk during their attempts to leave an abusive relationship or shortly after their relationships have ended. There are however, other important risk factors that care providers should be aware of when working with abuse survivors. Research has indicated that pregnancy is a high risk time for women living with abuse.
The course will explore safety planning for women whether they are remaining in the abusive relationship or are attempting to leave the relationship and what to consider once the relationship has ended. Emphasis is placed on compassionate, client centered options that are respectful of each individual woman's expressed needs.
Postpartum and the Survivor of Abuse
It is not uncommon for a woman to remember or recall a history of abuse for the first time during the postpartum period. It may be the sound of her baby's cries or the neediness of her baby that triggers her own memory of helplessness or violation. In this course common postpartum adjustment issues are presented including the physical and emotional recovery process, attachment disorders, newborn care concerns as well as helpful support strategies in the postpartum period. Emphasis is placed on de-briefing the birth experience postpartum with the woman survivor.
Counseling Tools and Strategies
Many professionals who work with women in the childbearing year have expressed a keen interest in learning basic counseling tools for working with women survivors in their care. In this course various basic counseling strategies are introduced for providing support to women survivors during the childbearing year.
Caring for the Caregiver
We strongly suggest this course for professionals who have not had similar training
Vicarious Traumatization is a term coined by Pearlman and Saakvitne (1995) to
describe "those permanently transformative, inevitable changes that result from
doing therapeutic work with trauma victims". This course will look at the concept of vicarious trauma in the lives of professionals working with women survivors. Risk factors and resiliency factors will be presented including a discussion on how the professional's own abuse history may impact how they interact with survivors in their care.
New: Distance Education Program with A Safe Passage
