EMDR for Reproductive, Perinatal, and Infant Mental Health - Mara Tesler Stein

This book offers the first comprehensive EMDR-focused volume devoted to the reproductive, perinatal, and postpartum periods. Drawing on the expertise of a global, interdisciplinary community of contributors, this volume offers a comprehensive guide to EMDR therapy across reproductive, perinatal, infant, and early relational mental health. It explores perinatal best practices, applications across the eight phases of EMDR therapy, and practical treatment guidelines for specific perinatal populations. It also offers an integrated case conceptualization lens grounded in perinatal development and the Adaptive Information Processing model.

More than 30% of birthing people worldwide describe their birthing experience as traumatizing. Yet, reproductive trauma extends well beyond labor and delivery. Disruptive or traumatizing events may arise while trying to conceive, during pregnancy, and in the newborn and postpartum periods. Because these events are common, commonly stigmatized, and rarely life-threatening, their impact is often minimized, and family members and physicians may not recognize their repercussions, making them potentially challenging to detect.

Therapists working with this population know that the ripple effects of these events can be profound, and many have found EMDR therapy to be the most efficient and effective way to treat trauma in this period. However, finding specialized training and literature for the overlap between EMDR and perinatal issues remains challenging, and non-specialist EMDR therapists are often underprepared for the complexity of reproductive and perinatal trauma.

Accessible, practical, and clinically grounded, this volume will orient both perinatal EMDR specialists and EMDR therapists who encounter perinatal issues in their work.