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Embracing a Lifespan Perspective in Birth and Healing with Helena Vissing

In this episode, Justine and Sarah are joined by Helena Vissing, PsyD, SEP, PMH-C, a licensed psychologist practicing trauma-informed somatic psychotherapy. They discuss the quote by Rosemary Balsam that highlights the relationship between a woman and embodied events, such as birth, across her entire lifetime. They explore the significance of birth as a prism that captures the past and future, the need for relational care in the prevention and healing from birth trauma, and the limitations of a purely medical approach to birth. Helena emphasizes the importance of holding a lifespan perspective and integrating somatic and psychodynamic approaches in supporting clients.

Keywords

birth trauma, female body, relational care, healing, lifespan perspective, somatic psychotherapy, psychodynamic approach

 

Takeaways

  • Birth is a transformative event that holds meaning for the individual both before and after it occurs.
  • Relational care is essential in the prevention and healing from birth trauma. Relational care provides support, understanding, and validation that is not available technology alone.
  • A purely medical approach to birth overlooks the importance of the relationship between the birthing person and their body, emotions, and experiences.
  • A lifespan perspective is crucial in understanding the impact of birth trauma and the ongoing journey of healing and transformation.
  • Integrating somatic and psychodynamic approaches can support clients in reconnecting with their bodies and navigating the complexities of the perinatal transition.

 

Sound Bites

  • "Birth is never just that one moment. It captures so much of what has gone before in your whole life."
  • "We cannot bypass the need for relational care that humans have. It's a defining feature of being human."

 

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction

01:43 Quote by Rosemary Balsam

08:28 The Importance of Relational Care in Birth

17:51 Challenging the Medical Approach to Birth

28:22 The Dilemma of Western Medicine

38:06 Healing and Reconnecting with the Body

50:17 The Prism of Healing and Transformation

On the Resilient Birth podcast, Justine and Sarah explore the impact of trauma across the perinatal period, from trying-to-conceive to pregnancy, from childbirth to postpartum and parenting. Through an inspirational quote that drives our weekly conversations about trauma and healing, Justine and Sarah explore topics such as birth trauma, parenting as a survivor, and finding healing with vulnerability and compassion that support birthing people and birth professionals.

Each week, listeners leave with takeaways to utilize in their lives and/or clients. Justine and Sarah hold the stories they share with honor and respect with the hope to impart knowledge, increase understanding, and bear witness to this challenging topic.

Sarah is a licensed mental health counselor, educator, and mom of three. She walks with a story of trauma from before and as a result of her perinatal experience.

Justine supports survivors of trauma through perinatal coaching and childbirth education. As well as being a mother of three, she holds a Ph.D. on representations of consent and sexual violence.

Learn more about Sarah and Justine's course called Trauma Informed Fundamentals here: https://resilient-birth.mykajabi.com/traumainformedfundamentals

Helena Vissing, PsyD, SEP, PMH-C, is a licensed psychologist practicing trauma-informed somatic psychotherapy in North California. She is certified in Perinatal Mental Health and specializes in working with expecting and new parents. She is Associate Professor in the somatic program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Before joining CIIS, Helena taught at several graduate institutions, including Reiss-Davis Graduate School, Antioch University, and The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Her areas of specialization include developmental psychology, perinatal mental health, and integrating psychodynamic and somatic modalities in trauma treatment. Helena also has extensive experience providing advanced level training of providers in perinatal mental health. She has published book chapters and articles on the topic of the psychology of mothering and its somatic aspects and is the author of Somatic Maternal Healing. Psychodynamic and Somatic Trauma Treatment for Perinatal Mental Health; a biopsychosocial framework for integrating and adapting a somatic approach to make perinatal mental health not only trauma informed, but also trauma responsive. She is one of the hosts of the podcast channel New Books in Psychoanalysis and is on the editorial board of the International Body Psychotherapy Journal.