About this webinar
Date: July 7, 2025
Time: 1 to 4 p.m. ET
Facilitator: Kristine Aanderson, R.Psych., MA, PMH-C.
CE hours: 3
This training is suitable for:
- Mental Health Professionals: psychotherapists, counsellors, psychologists, social workers.
- Medical Professionals: nurses, psychiatrists, pediatricians, family doctors.
- Direct Service Workers: drop in workers, shelter and hostel workers, child and youth workers, youth justice workers.
Level of training: Introductory
Client age category: For professionals who work with clients aged 12 years to adulthood.
Trigger Warning: Participating in our programming may evoke powerful feelings and can trigger participants who have experienced personal trauma.
Description: This comprehensive and accessible introductory training is designed for health care professionals from a variety of disciplines who wish to gain a key understanding of perinatal mental illness.
Postpartum women incur more hospitalizations than any other phase in the female life cycle and suicide is one of the leading causes of maternal deaths in Canada and the United States. Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) are the most underdiagnosed, underreported and untreated complications of childbirth; and yet are highly responsive to treatment and proper care, particularly with early identification. The background of women’s reproductive mental health as well as race and ethnicity are especially important factors to learn about relative to the socio-cultural impact of outcomes for women suffering from perinatal mental illness.
This training provides a foundational understanding of evidence-informed and widely accepted practices in working with this population. An overview of screening tools for assessing PMADs will be provided, along with addressing the impact of COVID-19 on maternal mental health. In addition, the increasing rate of paternal mental illness will be contextualized.
Learning objectives:
- Discuss basic terminology used in the field of perinatal mental health.
- List the range of diagnoses that occur during the childbearing years; and their clinical presentation relative to reproductive mental health.
- Review basic screening tools used to assess PMADs.
- Describe factors that elevate risk.
- Identify signs of heightened perinatal suicidality.
- Elucidate the role of race in outcomes for perinatal women of colour.
Continuing Education (CE) Information: SickKids Centre for Community Mental Health Learning Institute is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) to offer continuing education (CE) hours. Full-day programs equal six CE hours; half-day programs equal three CE hours; for less than half-day programs, one hour of programming equals one CE hour. SickKids Centre for Community Mental Health Learning Institute maintains responsibility for the programs.
Other licensing boards and professional organizations will grant continuing education credits for attendance at their own discretion; participants will need to submit the course outline and Certificate of Participation for their consideration.
Registration closes
If registration has closed and you're still interested in joining this course, please contact Mary Anne at mvanrooyen@sickkidscmhlearning.ca
Accessibility
We strive to ensure our online learning programs are easy for everyone, everywhere. If you have any accessibility requirements (closed-captioning, ASL interpreters, advanced access to program materials), please email Mary Anne Van Rooyen at mvanrooyen@sickkidscmhlearning.ca to let us know how we can best support your learning experience.
Photography is being used for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted in the content is a model, except where indicated.