GLOBAL HEALTH

Dr. Zucker consults on various projects related to maternal mental health issues for companies and innovative campaigns. To name a few:

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), is expanding and enhancing services for pregnant and postpartum women with histories of substance use and mental disorders. SAMHSA has invited Dr. Zucker to provide technical assistance to projects funded under its Services Grant Program for Residential Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum (PPW). This includes providing project-specific technical assistance, presenting at meetings and conferences, and serving on expert panels.

Every Mother Counts

Harvard School of Public Health

Engender Health

UCSF

PRIVATE PRACTICE + MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH GROUPS

Dr. Zucker provides one-on-one as well as group consultation services for clinicians and other practitioners specializing in women’s reproductive and maternal mental health – in private practice settings, hospitals, birth centers, and medical groups.

PREPARING FOR PARENTHOOD + THE POSTPARTUM PERIOD

In her private practice, Dr. Zucker provides consultation services for women, couples, and burgeoning families. Jessica collaborates with reproductive psychiatrists, reproductive endocrinologists, obstetricians, and other healthcare providers.

ATTACHMENT + BONDING

Dr. Zucker was an advising consultant in the development of the PBS Early Attachment Toolkit Early Moments Matter in association with This Emotional Life.

Kids in the House: The Ultimate Parenting Resource invited Dr. Zucker to contribute her expertise on maternal mental health.

MEDIA

Check out Dr. Zucker’s media consulting projects.

WRITING

Dr. Zucker consults with writers, practitioners, and foundations on a variety of projects– ranging from educational materials, article development, to guide book preparation.

In honor of Mother’s Day, Jessica will be presenting at The Motherhood Consortium in Los Angeles on May 3, 2013. She will be addressing mother-daughter relationship dynamics and intergenerational body image issues.

Expecting the Unexpected When You’re Expecting workshop series continues in 2103. We will explore personal and cultural expectations surrounding pregnancy, birth, and motherhood. Perinatal and postpartum mood concerns will be discussed.

PREVIOUS ENGAGEMENTS

Bini Birth invited Dr. Zucker to lead a workshop in Los Angeles December 2012 exploring strategies women can employ with the hope of preventing postpartum depression and anxiety. Expecting the Unexpected When You’re Expecting aims to help pregnant and parenting women delve into conscious and unconscious expectations about pregnancy, birth, and motherhood with the hope of arming them with tools to gracefully navigate this milestone transition. Jessica spoke at a parenting event organized by Bini Birth that explored the art and science of early childhood attachment research and its implications for parenting (2011).

Jessica conducted a workshop addressing maternal mental health issues and attachment at the Institute for Girls’ Development in October 2012.

The Museum of Motherhood in New York City invited Dr. Zucker to take part in a conference dedicated to mindful motherhood and conscious parenting. Jessica offered perspectives on the art and science of attachment theory as well as one-on-one parenting consultation sessions. Dr. Zucker participated alongside cutting-edge authors, psychologists, parenting experts, and perinatal researchers.

Carrie Contey, nationally recognized parenting consultant, author, and Ted Talks speaker, created a dynamic weekend workshop that plunged into essential elements of what it means to parent mindfully. Carrie offered invaluable tools and insights for pregnant and parenting families. Subsequently, Dr. Contey invited Jessica to be a featured guest in her Evolve program. In the interview, Jessica discussed the art and science of attachment as well as specific ways families can foster healthy relationships across the lifespan.

Jessica participated in a roundtable media briefing and screening of This Emotional Life at the Paley Center for Media in New York City for New York area writers and reporters. Panelists explored the importance of establishing healthy social connec- tions in infancy and the latest science in understanding the bond between parents and children. Hosted by Dr. Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard psychologist and author, the television documentary series premiered January 2010 on PBS. The series addresses issues organized around improving social relationships, understanding complex emotional struggles, and searching for greater happiness. Project partners include: Paul Allen’s Vulcan Productions, Method, WGBH Boston Nova Science, Cause and Affect, Kunhardt McGee Productions, Vox Global Mandate, and Fleishman-Hillard.

PSYCHOANALYTIC ENGAGEMENTS

Dr. Zucker spoke at the American Psychological Association’s Division of Psychoanalysis conference in Chicago as an invited panelist in Spring 2010 in association with her Karnac Books publication.

Based on her Karnac publication, Dr. Zucker was invited to present her research in Fall 2010 at the William Alanson White Institute in New York City. She has been asked to return to the institute to discuss her book after its publication.

Jessica presented her research on female embodiment, sexual development, and the daughtering experience in pornography at the American Psychological Association’s Division of Psychoanalysis meeting as an invited panelist in 2008 in New York City. She collaborated with Drs. Muriel Dimen, Katie Gentile, and Virginia Goldner. The title of her paper is “Lights, Camera, Attachment: Female Embodiment as Seen Through the Lens of Pornography”.

PODCASTS

The Mental Illness Happy Hour, named one of the Top Ten Podcasts of 2011 by The Onion’s A.V. Club, is a weekly conversation between a guest and comedian/host Paul Gilmartin. The show is geared toward “anyone interested in or affected by mental health challenges which are prevalent in the creative arts.”  Dr. Zucker was a featured guest. She addressed issues pertaining to postpartum depression, struggles in parenthood, and other mental health related issues. This episode was named one of the best podcasts by The Onion and voted #1 of 2012 by listeners.

Dr. Zucker returned as a guest on The Mental Illness Happy Hour and discussed postpartum depression in men, the maternal mental health spectrum, among myriad other mental health topics. This episode was also named one of the best podcasts by The Onion and voted #2 of 2012 by listeners.

Tune in January 2013 to hear Dr. Zucker discuss under-talked about women’s reproductive and maternal mental health related issues.

WEBINARS

Dr. Zucker has been invited by the National Eating Disorders Association to facilitate an upcoming webinar on pregnancy and body image/eating disorder concerns. Jessica is partnering with Claire Mysko, internationally recognized body image expert and award-winning author of “Does This Pregnancy Make Me Look Fat?”. This interactive webinar will take place June 6, 2013.

DOCUMENTARIES

THE ILLUSIONISTS

Dr. Zucker will be interviewed for a documentary created by Elena Rossini discussing the intergenerational transmission of mother-daughter body image issues. The Illusionists is a feature-length documentary about the body as the “finest consumer object,” focusing on how mass media, advertising, and several industries manipulate and exploit women’s insecurities about their bodies for profit. In addition to the interview, Jessica’s writing is featured on The Illusionists blog in support of the film project.

EARLY MOMENTS MATTER

Dr. Zucker was interviewed for this award-winning documentary as an attachment expert. Early Moments Matter delves into the centrality of early parent-child attachment. The documentary is being distributed to hospitals, birth centers, and pediatrician’s offices nationwide as an educational tool for developing families.

MDG FIVE: ARTISTS + ACTIVISTS FOR MATERNAL HEALTH

Dr. Jessica Zucker will be contributing  to MDGFive. MDGFive.com, co-founded by Lisa Russell and Maya Azucena, harnesses the power of social media to increase community engagement in an effort to improve maternal health and reach MDG #5 by 2015. In September 2000, building upon a decade of major United Nations conferences and summits, world leaders came together at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to adopt the United Nations Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets – with a deadline of 2015 – that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). MDG Five – which focuses on improving maternal health by decreasing maternal mortality and achieving universal access to reproductive health services – is the only Millennium Development Goal which is lagging in progress.

RIDDIM TRAX

This documentary film explores the emotional intricacies inherent in reuniting with family members after years of separation. Riddim Trax interviewed Dr. Zucker as a therapeutic consultant.

BOOKS

Dr. Zucker is currently writing her first book for Routledge based on her research exploring mother-daughter attachment relationships and issues surrounding the body (forthcoming, 2014).

Dr. Zucker contributed a chapter to ”Knowing and Not-Knowing and Sort-of-Knowing: Psychoanalysis and the Experience of Uncertainty”, a psychoanalytic anthology published by Karnac Books (2010) based on her ethnographic research on women in pornography , female sexuality, and the complexity of mother-daughter attachment relationships. Edited by Dr. Jean Petrucelli, other contributing authors include, among others: Drs. Philip Bromberg, James Fosshage, Katie Gentile, and Allan Schore.

Jessica contributed (2012) to a book that explores the many transitions that accompany motherhood. All proceeds are donated to the March of Dimes.

“Mom Candy: 1,000 Quotes of Inspiration for Mothers” (2013) edited by Jena Pincott published by Random House includes Dr. Zucker’s perspectives on attachment and bonding.

BLOGS

Most recently, Dr. Zucker has contributed to Goop, Every Mother Counts, The Conversation, and Babble.

Jessica is a PBS blogger for This Emotional Life. Her blog addresses issues pertaining to transitions in parenting, infant-caregiver attachment relationships, and postpartum mood disorders. She is a contributing blogger on The Huffington Post in association with this PBS project. Dr. Zucker was an advising consultant in the development of the PBS Early Attachment Toolkit Early Moments Matter. In conjunction with her involvement with PBS, Dr. Zucker was interviewed by Therese Borchard of Beyond Blue about attachment, motherhood, and establishing healthy relationships. This article can also be found on Psych Central. Her writing is featured in the PBS This Emotional Life newsletters A Mother’s Day Campaign for Emotional Health and Rising Above Your Limitations. PBS’ This Emotional Life launched Pay it Forward, a campaign dedicated to creating more access to underserved families about cutting edge attachment research through wider distribution of Early Moments Matter.

The International Museum of Women showcased Dr. Zucker’s pieces “Smaller Than Before: The Politics of Postpartum Bodies” + “Maternal Self-Esteem” in an exhibit MAMA: Motherhood Around the Globe. The IMOW is an innovative social change museum that amplifies the voices of women worldwide.

Katherine Stone, of Postpartum Progress, invited Dr. Zucker, among other writers and experts in perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, to participate in the annual online Mother’s Day Rally 2010 dedicated to maternal mental health. Jessica contributed “On Skipping Motherhood Perfection” to the rally. Dr. Zucker took part in the Mother’s Day Rally again this year 2013 with “On Abandoning Shame“. Postpartum Progress is the most widely-read blog on postpartum depression and other mental illnesses related to childbirth.

Dr. Zucker was a guest contributor to My Postpartum Voice, an award-winning blog dedicated to providing support for women and families struggling with postpartum mood disorders.

“Good Enough is the New Perfect: Finding Happiness + Success in Modern Motherhood” included Dr. Zucker as a guest contributor on the books blog- “What’s Up With Motherhood?“.

Kindred, a blog dedicated to conscious parenting, invited Dr. Zucker to contribute to their community.

Science and Sensibility, a research blog about pregnancy, birth, and beyond highlighted Jessica’s article “Fortifying Parenthood” about attachment: Part 1 and Part 2.

AnyBody, an online community dedicated to challenging the limited physical representation of females in contemporary society, featured Dr. Zucker’s writing on body image issues. Susie Orbach is the convener of AnyBody. She is the co-founder of the Women’s Therapy Centre in London and New York. She is a consultant and co-originator of the Dove Campaing for Real Beauty. The author of a number of books, including On Eating, The Impossibility of Sex, and the bestseller Fat is a Feminist Issue, Dr. Orbach lectures extensively worldwide.

The Illusionists is a feature-length documentary about the body as the “finest consumer object,” focusing on how mass media, advertising, and several industries manipulate and exploit women’s insecurities about their bodies for profit. Dr. Zucker’s writing is featured on The Illusionists blog in support of the film project. Cinematographer Elena Rossini was involved in the Endangered Species International Summit in London, among myriad other cutting-edge projects worldwide.

Jessica was the featured psychological expert on My Best Birth, founded by Abby Epstein and Ricki Lake, the creators of the documentary The Business of Being Born. The online interactive column explored issues related to pregnancy, birth, postpartum adjustments, and transitions in mothering.

MENTIONS

Tribeca Pediatrics incorporated Jessica’s viewpoints on the spectrum of experiences in the postpartum period in “The Meaning of New Mother”.

Dr. Zucker’s perspectives on motherhood were captured in “Gratitude and Parenting” for Fit Pregnancy.

The Bump, named the top women’s website by Forbes, highlighted Dr. Zucker’s thoughts on attachment and the process of mothering in “The Power of Motherhood”.

Disney’s Baby Zone called on Dr. Zucker’s expertise for an article titled “How to Handle Postpartum Depression”.

Babble highlights Dr. Zucker’s insights on postpartum body image in “Why the Obsession with Baby Weight Hurts All Mothers”.

Dr. Zucker’s parent-infant attachment perspectives are mentioned vis-a-vis the controversial Time Magazine May 2012 cover story “Are You Mom Enough?”.

“The Conversation“ highlighted Dr. Zucker’s article in the series launch newsletter. Click on Imperfections here.

Babble reviews “The Conversation” and encourages viewers to read Dr. Zucker’s “Smaller Than Before” stating the article is “required reading for anyone who is, has, or is about to have a postpartum body.”

Psychoanalyst and writer Joyce McFadden wrote an article for The Huffington Post addressing body image issues which referenced Dr. Zucker’s piece on pregnancy.

Karen Kleiman, Founder and Executive Director of the Postpartum Stress Center, wrote an article for Psychology Today based on Dr. Zucker’s Pediatricians: They’re Not Just For Kids Anymore piece. The Postpartum Stress Center recognized Dr. Zucker’s achievements working in maternal mental health.

Postpartum Progress, the most widely-read blog on postpartum depression and other mental illnesses related to childbirth, referenced Dr. Zucker’s perspectives on postpartum depression’s impact on attachment.

Babble writers Rebeca Odes and Ceridwen Morris of “From the Hips” reviewed Dr. Zucker’s Huffington Post article “Maternal Self-Esteem.”

Every Mother Counts, founded by Christy Turlington Burns, is an advocacy and mobilization campaign to increase education and support for maternal mortality reduction globally. Every Mother Counts seeks to engage new audiences to better understand the challenges and the solutions while encouraging them to take action to improve the lives of girls and women worldwide.

“No Woman, No Cry”

Educational Toolkits

Blog

Dr. Zucker is honored to support Every Mother Counts through a series of posts on maternal mental health issues impacting women worldwide.

Dr. Jessica Zucker and Christy Turlington Burns co-authored an article about Global Motherhood and Mental Health for The Huffington Post titled “In the Minds of Mothers: How Mental Health Impacts Mothers Worldwide”. The 2-part Q+A can be found here and on Every Mother Counts Part I and Part II. Stay tuned for additional collaborative articles on global maternal health concerns.

Here is a post titled “Considerations of Antidepressant Use In Utero: Navigating Pregnancy + The Postpartum Period” that addresses maternal mental health complexities. Dr. Zucker weighed in on another piece about what women can do to get help when pregnancy or new motherhood isn’t feeling quite right.

Jessica leant her expertise on girls and women’s development in an article titled “Girls and Hormones: Making it OK to be Female”.

Maternal Mental Health in the Midst of Tragedy - December 2012

The Miscarriage Story – March 2013

In the Minds of Mothers: How Mental Health Impacts Mothers Worldwide

The Politics of Postpartum Bodies

Maternal Self-Esteem

Postpartum Depression

Parenting Begins Long Before Baby Arrives

Prepartum Healthcare Impacts Postpartum Mood Disorders

This Emotional Life shines a special spotlight on the importance of attachment, revealing the science behind these early relationships and demonstrating what can happen when they don’t develop. Created by leading childhood development experts, including Dr. Jessica Zucker, and featuring an information-packed, 65-page handbook and 30-minute film, This Emotional Life’s exclusive toolkit, Early Moments Matter, is designed to help parents and caregivers learn what attachment is, why it is important and how they can go about building secure attachments with their children.

Jessica participated in a roundtable media briefing and screening of This Emotional Life at the Paley Center for Media in New York City for New York area writers and reporters. Panelists explored the importance of establishing healthy social connections in infancy and the latest science in understanding the bond between parents and children. Hosted by Dr. Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard psychologist and author, the television documentary series premiered January 2010 on PBS. The series addressed issues organized around improving social relationships, understanding complex emotional struggles, and searching for greater happiness. Project partners include: Paul Allen’s Vulcan Productions, Method, WGBH Boston Nova Science, Cause and Affect, Kunhardt McGee Productions, Vox Global Mandate, and Fleishman-Hillard.

As a consultant for this critically-acclaimed and award-winning multi-platform project, Dr. Zucker has had the honor of writing on topics centered around attachment, maternal mental health, and the motherhood continuum.

A catalogue of Dr. Zucker’s articles can be found here.

Jessica is an attachment expert. Dr. Zucker is a PBS blogger for This Emotional Life. Her blog addresses issues pertaining to transitions in parenting, infant-caregiver attachment relationships, and postpartum mood disorders. She is a contributing blogger on The Huffington Post in association with this PBS project. Based on her expertise, Dr. Zucker was an advising consultant in the development of the PBS Early Attachment Toolkit Early Moments Matter. Her writing about attachment-related issues is featured in the PBS This Emotional Life newsletters A Mother’s Day Campaign for Emotional Health and Rising Above Your Limitations. PBS’ This Emotional Life launched Pay it Forward, a campaign dedicated to creating more access to underserved families about cutting edge attachment research through wider distribution of Early Moments Matter.

In conjunction with her involvement with PBS, Dr. Zucker was interviewed by Therese Borchard of Beyond Blue about attachment, motherhood, and establishing healthy relationships. This article can also be found on Psych Central.

Katherine Stone, of Postpartum Progress, invited Dr. Zucker, among other writers and experts in perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, to participate in the annual online Mother’s Day Rally dedicated to maternal mental health. Jessica contributed “On Skipping Motherhood Perfection” to the rally. Postpartum Progress is the most widely-read blog on postpartum depression and other mental illnesses related to childbirth.

Attachment articles written by Dr. Zucker:

• Attachment Angst? Pave a Path of Presence
• The Presents of Presence: A Look at Attachment + Bonding
• Attachment Q + A
• Prepartum Healthcare Impacts Postpartum Mood Disorders
• Connecting With Baby Before Birth
• Parenting Begins Long Before Baby Arrives
• Social Attachment, Motherhood, + Mental Health: An Interview with Dr. Zucker
• Pediatricians: They’re Not Just For Kids Anymore
• Intergenerational Transmission of Attachment
• The Birth of Attachment Theory
• Fortifying Parenthood

Fortifying Parenthood

Parents are often burdened by internalized expectations surrounding attachment.  Cultural pressures seep into our pores, clogging our hearts/minds with a million different ideas of how we “should” raise our children.  Egging women on to embody unattainable perfection from head to toe, cultural pressures leave us feeling compass-less and palpably insecure during times when we need to trust ourselves most.  Ubiquitous Super Mommy messages drain the life force out of genuine connection and intuitive responsiveness.  Laying the groundwork for healthy attachment relationships with our children may be easier than we think.

Stripping away the external frills, media hype, and ever-present “shoulds” of babydom allows us to wholeheartedly plunge into the basic elements that make up healthy connection and fruitful development.  When we focus our energies on the burgeoning relationship with our children rather than culturally-bound trends handed down from generation to generation, we find that presence of mind is one of the most powerful conduits for connecting.

Here are some enriching tid bits about attachment and simple steps you can take with the aim of laying a foundation of health in the relationship with your child.

Q: What is attachment?
A: Attachment is the process as well as the quality of the relationship that an infant forms with caregivers.  Initial experiences in relationship with primary caregivers creates the infrastructure for subsequent relationships– how the developing child views connection, how she experiences her self, and the world around her.  Attachment can occur with biological and adoptive mothers, fathers, stepparents, grandparents, and any other consistent person in the child’s life.  Embedded in repeated experiences of predictable care, the infant learns about trust and security.  Growing up in an environment infused with safety and intentionality ensures healthy social and emotional development.  “Children with a history of secure attachment show substantially greater self-esteem, emotional health and ego resilience, positive affect, initiative, social competence, and concentration in play than do their insecure peers” (Wallin, 2007). 

Q: What are some concrete ways to set the stage for my child(ren) to experience a secure attachment?

 A: Research has found that it is the quality of the infant-caregiver interaction rather than the quantity of care that establishes the health in the attachment bond.  In other words, the caregiver’s sensitivity to the infant’s gestures and expressions during interactions is of paramount importance. Number of hours spent together is not necessarily equated with security of attachment.  For example, if a mother is home with her child full-time feeling depressed, notably overwhelmed, and appreciably disconnected from her infant, the distressing quality of their interactions may deleteriously impact the child’s sense of poise and/or interpersonal security.  Having a nuanced sense of what makes you feel the most present with your child will benefit the emotional health of the family.

The caregiver-infant patterns of communication hold great potential in establishing a secure attachment.  Consistent maternal attunement facilitates the infant’s ability to freely explore the world around her, engage in spontaneous play, and rely on the caregiver to provide loving responses.  Repeated instances of feeling cared for results in a child’s establishment of behavioral expectations for future interactions, inside and outside of the home.  Optimally, she learns to expect that people can provide safety, spontaneity, and continuity.

Security is further felt when the caregiver illustrates thoughtful actions and mindful behaviors.  These include: narrating for your child the events of the day as you move from one activity to the next, prolonged gazing and smiling, cuddling and comforting, skin to skin gentle touch, as well as calmly and consistently tolerating the variety of affective states your baby exhibits as she begins to take in the world around her.

Babies often feel distressed and unequipped to modulate their changing feelings.  Infants depend on the attachment figure to help them manage and tolerate their affective experiences.  This requires caregivers to “bear within herself, to process, and to re-present to the baby in a tolerable form what was previously the baby’s intolerable emotional experience” (Wallin, 2007).  Ideally, during the initial months of your baby’s life, she learns that caregivers are able to gracefully navigate challenging moments with love and understanding.  Caregiver consistency, responsiveness, and sensitivity yields infant flexibility, resilience, and a sense of attachment security.

Q: How do the earliest moments between infant and caregiver impact future relationships?

A: Healthy development and attachment security flourish when resonant, competent, attuned, loving, and consistent parental behaviors mark the initial months of a baby’s life.  Babies bask in a comforting balance between connection and exploration as a direct result of environmental safety and trustworthy role modeling.  Sensing that the world is a safe place reinforces self-confidence, trust in others, and a feeling that love and growth are generative.  Conversely, when infants experience their caregiver as threatening or regrettably unstable, fear of closeness can prevail.  Our internal compass for establishing and navigating relationships is initially arranged through seminal infant-caregiver interactions.  Simply put, when early life feels melodic and predictable, the world and others in it feel approachable.  The template for how we come to understand what it means to be in relationship with others is set up during infancy and into toddlerhood.  These formative relational patterns persist as we journey into adolescents and adulthood.

Q: How can I prepare to become a parent who offers my child(ren) a different experience than I had growing up?

A: Awareness is essential.  Having a reflective stance and carving out time to consider your attachment relationship history can have far-reaching effects on your future parenting patterns.  Research has found that forthcoming attachment security is more likely when parents have been honest with themselves about the realities of their own childhood experiences.  Therefore, we need not have experienced perfect, flawless childhoods ourselves in order to ensure our future offspring with secure relationships.  What is vital, however, is having a curiosity about the realities of how you were raised, your formative relationships, and how you were impacted by your experiences- the good, the bad, and everything in between.  Reviewing our lives through a raw and honest lens will allow us to more deeply understand why we are who we are.  This type of reflection is a natural springboard for cultivating additional insight, mourning difficulties in childhood relationships, and honing aspects of your personhood that may create a more harmonious babyhood for your children.

* * *

Cultivating a sense of reciprocal intimacy in the ever-changing relationship relies, in part, on how you navigate the many feelings that arise each day. It is not a danger to the budding relationship with your child to experience complex feelings. It is what you do with these poignant moments, how you understand the feelings, and the way you react to them that matters most. There is no more powerful a way to invoke the memory of your childhood than to become a parent yourself. And the opposite of this is true as well. Getting a taste of what you didn’t get from your parents while parenting your newborn can stir enigmatic feelings that viscerally catch us off guard, leaving us potentially panic-stricken.

Our childhood histories don’t simply fade into the background upon becoming a parent. In fact, entering the maze of motherhood often stimulates memories seemingly long forgotten. Though they might not be consciously remembered, early experiences get stored deep in the crevices of our psyches and in the muscle memory of our bodies. A potentially daunting task, swimming in the complicated pools of our past may ensure a smoother childhood for our offspring. Research states that “experiences that are not fully processed may create unresolved and leftover issues that influence how we react to our children” (Siegel & Hartzell, 2003).

Attempting to make connections between the ways in which the past impacts the present awards us a freedom and flexibility of being with ourselves and with our children.  Invariably, when we model for our children an embodiment of authentic reflexivity we provide them with opportunities for deepening connection.  Developing a clearer sense of how we have been shaped by the parenting we received fosters a more conscientious parenting path.

Consistency builds healthy attachment. Predictability yields trust. Bonding strengthens connection. Engendering these experiences in your child might require you to dig deep–to excavate your own childhood experiences with the aim of being the best parent you can be.

Book References

Parenting From the Inside Out: How a Deeper Self-Understanding Can Help You Raise Children Who Thrive (2003) by Dan Siegel and Mary Hartzell

The Whole-Brain Child (2011) by Dan Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson

Perinatal and Postpartum Mood Disorders: Perspectives and Treatment Guide for the Health Care Practitioner (2008) edited by Susan Dowd Stone and Alexis E. Menkins

Attachment in Psychotherapy (2007) by David Wallin

The Pregnancy and Postpartum Anxiety Workbook (2009) by Pamela Wiegartz