Length
3 hour
CEU/CME Credit
3.0 units
Recorded
June 26, 2026
This training discusses evidence-based treatments and tools that can be used by providers to support individuals navigating mood and anxiety disorders, OCD, grief, and suicidality during perinatal or postpartum time periods and reproductive loss.
Key insights:
There are several ways to learn from this training. You can either watch the recording for free or take the self-paced course for CE credit. We also have the slides available to download.
(Free) You can watch the full recording of this training for free on our YouTube Channel. This is perfect if you’re not seeking CE credit or would like to preview the training before taking the course.
($52) You can receive 3 hours of self-paced, asynchronous CE credit for this training.
UCEBT is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. UCEBT maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
This presentation is also approved for 3 hours of home-study CE credit through UPA, NASW-UT, UAMFT, and UMHCA.
Physicians (ACCME) Credit Designation Statement:
CE Learning Systems designates this live activity for a maximum of 3 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Interprofessional Continuing Education:
This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credits for learning and change.
Follow along with the recording by downloading the presentation slides personal use.
However, please note that no part of the materials available through the Utah Center for Evidence Based Treatment may be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated or reduced to any electronic medium or machine-readable form, in whole or in part, without prior written consent of the presenter and creator of the presentation. Contact info@ucebt.com for questions.
This presentation provides an overview of perinatal and postpartum mood and anxiety disorders, which affects a significant portion of the childbearing population. Participants will explore the hormonal, physical, and psychological foundations of these disorders, including perinatal OCD, depression, anxiety, grief, reproductive loss, and birth trauma, recognizing that up to 30% of individuals describe their birth experience as traumatic.
The session will also address self-harm, suicidality, and rumination within this population, with attention to the stigma that often surrounds these experiences. A core focus will be the reproductive story as a clinical tool, emphasizing that failing to explore a client’s reproductive history and birth experiences may leave critical aspects of treatment unaddressed. Presenters will conclude with an overview of empirically supported, transdiagnostic treatment modalities and practical tools clinicians can integrate into their work.
Please note that some participants may experience discomfort during discussions of reproductive loss, suicidality, and perinatal mood disorders; self-care and consultation are encouraged as needed.
Learning Objectives:
List 2 evidence-based treatments appropriate for perinatal/postpartum mental health.
Explain what the reproductive story is
Describe 2-4 ways in which the reproductive story can be used to process reproductive grief and perinatal/postpartum mental health.
Summarize research on suicidality/self-harm in perinatal/postpartum populations.
Dr. Sheila Crowell is a co-owner of the Utah Center for Evidence Based Treatment, a licensed clinical psychologist, and a psychology professor at the University of Oregon. She is an expert in emotion dysregulation and suicide risk across the lifespan, with over 150 publications related to these topics. Over the past decade, her work has focused on pregnancy and the transition to parenthood for mothers and their partners. Dr. Crowell is currently co-directing several research projects, including a clinical trial of Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills for pregnant women, an exploration of sleep patterns in mother-father-infant families from pregnancy through the first year of life, and a study of trauma and coping among Black and Latina pregnant and their partners. Dr. Crowell is a mother to two young adult daughters and is passionately committed to providing science-based and non-judgmental therapy and parent coaching at UCEBT.
Dr. Rachel Hopkins is a clinical psychologist, the Program Director of UCEBT’s Anxiety and Mood Program, and mom to a fun, sweet, spunky 10-month-old. She received her Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Clinical Psychology from the Institute of Graduate Clinical Psychology at Widener University. Her doctoral research focused on facilitating posttraumatic growth in clinical treatment. As a therapist, Dr. Hopkins is passionate about helping people do hard things in order to reduce fear and worry and live a life that is bigger, fuller, and more meaningful. She specializes in treating anxiety, OCD, depression, trauma, and other chronic physical and mental health conditions using research-backed treatments including ACT, CBT, and DBT. She has completed advanced training and certification in reproductive mental health, military focused care, and is a proud member of The LGBTQ-Affirmative Psychotherapist Guild of Utah. When people are feeling stuck, unlike the kind of person they want to be, or living a life that has gotten increasingly limited, she is here to help.
Dr. Rachel Armstrong obtained her doctorate from William James College in Boston, MA. She received training and clinical experience in behavioral health interventions and health psychology, including training in clinical hypnosis and behavioral medicine interventions. She completed a certificate course on reproductive mental health and is passionate about working with individuals who feel stuck or overwhelmed with their mental health and physical health challenges. She completed her APA-accredited internship at LifeStance Health where she gained experience working in integrated behavioral health settings and working with perinatal populations. Currently, Dr. Armstrong is a postdoctoral fellow and licensed clinical psychologist at UCEBT.
American Pregnancy Association. (2026, January 28). Baby Blues. https://americanpregnancy.org/postpartum/baby-blues/
American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787
Blount, A. J., Adams, C. R., Anderson-Berry, A. L., Hanson, C., Schneider, K., & Pendyala, G. (2021). Biopsychosocial factors during the perinatal period: Risks, preventative factors, and implications for healthcare professionals. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(15), 8206. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18158206
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Infertility FAQs. https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/infertility/index.htm
Chandra, A., Copen, C. E., & Stephen, E. H. (2013). Infertility and impaired fecundity in the United States, 1982–2010: Data from the National Survey of Family Growth. National Health Statistics Reports, 67, 1–19. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr067.pdf
Covington, S. N. (Ed.). (2022). Fertility counseling: Clinical guide (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009030151
Desai, M. K., & Brinton, R. D. (2019). Autoimmune disease in women: Endocrine transition and risk across the lifespan. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 10, 265. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2019.00265
Doka, K. (1998). Disenfranchised grief: Recognizing hidden sorrow. Wiley; University of Michigan.
Eisenlohr-Moul, T. A. (2025). Toward precision reproductive psychiatry: A call for targeted, transdiagnostic approaches to premenstrual disorders. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 182(10), 894–897. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.20250781
Fairbrother, N., Collardeau, F., Albert, A. Y. K., Challacombe, F. L., Thordarson, D. S., Woody, S. R., & Janssen, P. A. (2021). High prevalence and incidence of obsessive-compulsive disorder among women across pregnancy and the postpartum. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 82(2). https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.20m13398
Glazier, K., Swing, M., & McGinn, L. K. (2015). Half of obsessive-compulsive disorder cases misdiagnosed: Vignette-based survey of primary care physicians. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 76(6), e761–e767.
Hantsoo, L., Sajid, H., Murphy, L., Buchert, B., Barone, J., Raja, S., & Eisenlohr-Moul, T. (2022). Patient experiences of health care providers in premenstrual dysphoric disorder: Examining the role of provider specialty. Journal of Women’s Health, 31(1), 100–109. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2020.8797
Harvard Health Publishing. (2017, May 1). Premenstrual dysphoria disorder: It’s biology, not a behavior choice. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/premenstrual-dysphoria-disorder-its-biology-not-a-behavior-choice-2017053011768
Hill, L., Rao, A., Artiga, S., & Ranji, U. (2025, December 3). Racial disparities in maternal and infant health: Current status and key issues. KFF. https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/racial-disparities-in-maternal-and-infant-health-current-status-and-key-issues/
Howard, L. M., & Khalifeh, H. (2020). Perinatal mental health: A review of progress and challenges. World Psychiatry, 19(3), 313–327. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20769
Hudepohl, MacLean, & Osborne. (2022). Perinatal obsessive-compulsive disorder: Epidemiology, phenomenology, etiology, and treatment. Current Psychiatry Reports, 24(4), 229–237. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-022-01333-4
International Association for Premenstrual Disorders. (n.d.). Diagnostic Recognition Timeline. https://www.iapmd.org/diagnostic-recognition-timeline
International Association for Premenstrual Disorders. (n.d.). Transgender & PMDD. https://www.iapmd.org/transgender-pmdd
International Association for Premenstrual Disorders. (n.d.). What is PMDD? https://www.iapmd.org/pmdd
International Association for Premenstrual Disorders. (n.d.). What is PME? https://www.iapmd.org/pme
International OCD Foundation. (n.d.). Perinatal OCD screening & screening tools. https://iocdf.org/perinatal-ocd/for-clinical-providers/perinatal-ocd-screening-screening-tools/
International OCD Foundation. (n.d.). OCD treatment guide: Best evidence-based therapies, medications, and new advances. https://iocdf.org/about-ocd/ocd-treatment-guide/
Jaffe, J. (2017). Reproductive trauma: Psychotherapy for pregnancy loss and infertility clients from a reproductive story perspective. Psychotherapy, 54(4), 380–385. https://doi.org/10.1037/pst0000125
Kepley, J. M., Bates, K., & Mohiuddin, S. S. (2023). Physiology, maternal changes. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.
Kiesner, J., Eisenlohr-Moul, T. A., & Vidotto, G. (2022). Affective risk associated with menstrual cycle symptom change. Frontiers in Global Women’s Health, 3, 896924. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgwh.2022.896924
Le, G. H., Wong, S., Au, H., Badulescu, S., Gill, H., Vasudeva, S., … & McIntyre, R. S. (2025). Association between rumination, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in persons with depressive and other mood disorders and healthy controls: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 368, 513–527.
Linehan, M. M. (1993). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorder. Guilford Press.
March of Dimes. (2023). Infant mortality rates by race/ethnicity. https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/data?reg=99&top=6&stop=92&lev=1&slev=1&obj=1
Mayo Clinic. (2024, August 7). Menopause. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/menopause/symptoms-causes/syc-20353397
Mayo Clinic. (2023). Miscarriage. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pregnancy-loss-miscarriage/symptoms-causes/syc-20354298
Mayo Clinic. (2022, February 25). Premenstrual syndrome (PMS). https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/premenstrual-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20376780
Mayo Clinic. (2022, November 24). Postpartum depression. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/postpartum-depression/symptoms-causes/syc-20376617
McBain, T. D., & Reeves, P. (2019). Women’s experience of infertility and disenfranchised grief. The Family Journal, 27(2), 156–166.
Merriam-Webster. (2026, June 5). Perinatal. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perinatal
Merriam-Webster. (2026, May 7). Postpartum. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/postpartum
MGH Center for Women’s Mental Health. (n.d.). PMS and PMDD: When premenstrual symptoms interfere with functioning and quality of life. https://womensmentalhealth.org/specialty-clinics/pms-and-pmdd/
Misri, S., Abizadeh, J., Sanders, S., & Swift, E. (2015). Perinatal generalized anxiety disorder: Assessment and treatment. Journal of Women’s Health, 24(9), 762–770. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2014.5150
Molina, N. C., Zhou, A., Conradt, E., & Crowell, S. E. Rumination as a Correlate of Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors Postpartum. Poster presented at the Association for Psychological Science Annual Conference, Barcelona, Spain.
Nayman, S., Beddig, T., Reinhard, I., & Kuehner, C. (2023). Effects of cognitive emotion regulation strategies on mood and cortisol in daily life in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Psychological Medicine, 53, 5342–5352. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291722002495
Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (1991). Responses to depression and their effects on the duration of depressive episodes. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100(4), 569.
Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2000). The role of rumination in depressive disorders and mixed anxiety/depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109(3), 504.
Raffi, E. R., & Freeman, M. P. (2017). The etiology of premenstrual dysphoric disorder: 5 interwoven pieces. Current Psychiatry, 16(9), 20–28.
Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (1996). The posttraumatic growth inventory: Measuring the positive legacy of trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9(3), 455–471. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.2490090305
Rogers, M. L., & Joiner, T. E. (2017). Rumination, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts: A meta-analytic review. Review of General Psychology, 21(2), 132–142.
Salamon, M. (2024, January 1). Break the cycle. Harvard Health Publishing. https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/break-the-cycle
Shi, Z., & MacBeth, A. (2017). The effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions on maternal perinatal mental health outcomes: A systematic review. Mindfulness, 8(4), 823–847. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0673-y
Scolan, D. (n.d.). Rumination. The OCD & Anxiety Center. https://theocdandanxietycenter.com/rumination/
Spano, K. (2025, May 28). Women’s Mental Health Across the Lifespan: The Latest Techniques from CBT, DBT, and Mindfulness to Treat the Impact of Hormonal Shifts, PMS, PMDD, Postpartum, Perimenopause & Menopause. [Lecture]. PESI, Inc.
Stroebe, M., & Schut, H. (1999). The dual process model of coping with bereavement: Rationale and description. Death Studies, 23(3), 197–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/074811899201046
Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (1995). Trauma and transformation: Growing in the aftermath of suffering. Sage Publications.
Wallace, K., & Araji, S. (2020). An overview of maternal anxiety during pregnancy and the post-partum period. Journal of Mental Health & Clinical Psychology, 4, 47–56. https://doi.org/10.29245/2578-2959/2020/4.1221
Watkins, E. R. (2008). Constructive and unconstructive repetitive thought. Psychological Bulletin, 134(2), 163.
Watkins, E. R. (2018). Rumination-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression. Guilford Publications.
Zalewski, et al. (2017). Clinical considerations when treating adults who are parents. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 24(4), 370.
Zisook, S., & Reynolds, C. F., III. (2017). Complicated grief. Focus, 15(4), 12s–13s. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.154S14
We have provided expert virtual trainings and self-paced courses for
continuing education credit since 2020 on a variety of evidence-based topics.