by Jennifer Vendetti, LMSW, CEIM

Approximately twenty conference participants attended from Connecticut; excitedly greeting one another, relationship-building and further strengthening our perinatal network. Two presenters represented our state; Catharine McDonald, LPC who educated attendees on Trauma & Birth: Implications for Medical and Psychiatric Care and Elisabeth Schneider, LMFT who introduced the Tiny Miracles Foundation Model: Addressing the Psychosocial Needs of NICU Families. Sharon Lavigne, MS, coordinator of the Connecticut Mother to Baby program provided an educational table to engage participants in the free national teratogen consultation service for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and their providers sponsored by the Office of Teratology Specialists. National PSI Warmline volunteer Jennifer Badeau, PSI CT chapter liaison Jen Vendetti and PSI CT chapter treasurer Cory Bernard attended the coordinator’s dinner on the eve of the conference. PSI CT chapter president Sharon Thomason, Ph.D. coordinated a meet & greet to network the Connecticut participant group.

The energy of the conference is fueling our continued efforts to improve how we address perinatal mental health in Connecticut, how we can help mothers remove the mask of motherhood and in the words of keynote speaker, author and perinatal specialized clinician Karen Kleiman, LCS “connect with her authentic suffering, that which is obscured by what she wants to conceal or keep hidden”. Together we can help women affected by Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders who are suffering in silence to realize that they are not alone, are not to blame and with help, will be well.

You can learn about the PSI annual conference through the conference mobile app available in the App Store for iPhones and the Google Play Store for Androids. Search ‘PSI 2017’ to download and look for the PSI logo. Audio recordings of the conference have been purchased by PSI CT.  Please contact the PSI Chapter Liaison at psictliaison@gmail.com for more information.

Here are some of the photos from the conference-if you have more, please send them to psictpres@gmail.com!