Course Summary
This course builds clinical awareness about childlessness and relevant issues that can come up in therapy. The vast majority of us did not learn about this community during our education and yet we will likely come across a client without children at some point. The childless community has been quite vocal about the difficulty of finding therapists that truly understand the basics of their experiences, let alone the nuances.
In addition to those on a childless path, many of your clients may be undecided, ambivalent, and confused about parenthood. Professional development about parenthood abounds. It may be clinically helpful for you to know about the ‘other side’ and how to help your client consider both paths as transformative and healthy. Did you know there are a number of studies out there with direct suggestions for clinical practice with childless clients? I was surprised too! The chasm between a journal article and a provider is typically bridged by a training, a talk, or a textbook. In this case, unfortunately, most academic folks have not been shouting their findings from the rooftops. So, I’m enthusiastically bridging this gap! The curriculum for this self-paced course is below.
1 CE offered. Katie Maynard PLLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7374. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Katie Maynard PLLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
COURSE PARTICIPANTS WILL:
- Gain insight into societal stigmas and clinical biases about non-parents
- Learn research findings about childlessness and special considerations for clinical work
- Understand more about four big clinical themes that can arise in therapy
- Recognize the need for, and create an individualized plan for ongoing learning and clinical application
- Leave with a workbook, references cited, and discussion guide
Student Reviews
- “Thanks so much for the obvious time, thought and effort you put into todays training. It was very focused, with great content and lots of very reflective questions. It is so great to see this type of training being provided and to such a high standard.”
- “I'm excited that there's starting to be more guidance for therapists around this topic. I'm looking forward to joining more of your trainings in the future!”
- “This was a really well organized and well researched presentation. The case studies were very useful and I appreciate all of the resources to continue learning about this topic. It is very overdue, and glad that you are helping to raise awareness about the issues that childlessness people experience. Now we are better informed and can take our learnings out into our practices.”
- “Loved the training! This is such a big gap in our education as providers, and within our community as providers. So glad to see more discussion around this- especially as many people are beginning to experience existential dread and climate change fears that are impacting their choices.”
Course curriculum
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1Chapter One: Introduction and Groundwork
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2Chapter Two: The Lived Experience
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3Chapter Three: Reflections and Moving Forward
Katie Maynard, MSW, LICSW
Katie Maynard is a licensed Clinical Social Worker with over two decades of involvement within psychotherapy, clinical research, and macro-level community based social work. She holds master's degrees in both Social Work and Library and Information Sciences from the University of Washington.
Her lived experience informs and inspires her enthusiastic advocacy for better mental health care for people without children. Alongside a private practice she also provides supervision, consultation, and training to clinicians seeking to enlarge their competency with therapy that is affirmative of childless and childfree people.
She offers one of the very first clinical trainings on this topic and projects on her horizon include a broadened course catalog, professional publication, and ongoing inquiry into the experiences of mental health providers without children. Learn more at www.katiemaynard.com
Katie Maynard PLLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7374. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Katie Maynard PLLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
