Overview

Helping Mothers, Helping Babies: Somatic Perinatal Psychotherapy By Leslie Ann Costello, PhD For counselors and psychotherapists working with pregnant and postpartum mothers-or women struggling with fertility-Helping Mothers, Helping Babies offers an essential, client-centered approach to perinatal mental health. In this groundbreaking manual, Dr. Leslie Ann Costello introduces somatic interventions that help women navigate the profound psychological and physiological transitions of motherhood. Drawing on decades of experience in psychotherapy, bioenergetic analysis, and perinatal mental health, Dr. Costello presents a powerful framework that integrates body-based therapeutic techniques into counseling sessions. This book is designed to give therapists practical, evidence-based strategies to support their clients in reducing anxiety, processing trauma, and strengthening their sense of self-all while fostering deeper connections with their babies and families. Unlike traditional talk therapy, somatic interventions work directly with the body's wisdom. Pregnancy, birth, and early motherhood are deeply embodied experiences, yet many therapeutic models overlook the role of the body in mental health. Helping Mothers, Helping Babies bridges that gap by providing clear, accessible guidance on using somatic techniques to help clients regulate emotions, release tension, and rebuild trust in their own bodies. Inside, you'll discover: ✅ A foundational understanding of perinatal mental health and body-based therapy ✅ Practical somatic interventions that can be easily integrated into counseling sessions ✅ Case examples illustrating real-life applications of somatic psychotherapy ✅ Exercises designed for both therapist and client, ensuring firsthand experiential learning ✅ Strategies for creating a somatically safe therapeutic space ✅ Specialized approaches to working with infertility, birth trauma, postpartum anxiety, and mother-infant bonding This book is not just about helping mothers feel better-it's about helping them become the parents they want to be. By supporting maternal well-being, therapists can create lasting change for entire families, strengthening relationships and fostering resilience from the very beginning of life. For therapists seeking a compassionate, body-centered approach to perinatal mental health, Helping Mothers, Helping Babies is an invaluable resource. Whether you are new to somatic work or looking to deepen your practice, this book will transform the way you support mothers in their journey-empowering them not just to survive, but to thrive. ���� Order your copy today and start bringing the power of somatic psychotherapy into your practice!

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9781739017071

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Reviews

""Helping Mothers, Helping Babies is a vital contribution to the emerging and direly needed field of somatically informed perinatal mental health. Costello brings a depth of clinical wisdom, research, and embodied understanding to the realities of the perinatal journey-offering a much-needed shift from a 'baby-first' lens to a mother-centered, integrative approach. With clarity and compassion, she weaves somatic interventions into the therapeutic process, making this book an invaluable resource for clinicians seeking to support mothers in their full complexity. Costello's work resonates deeply with the timely emphasis on maternal embodied healing as foundational to perinatal care on both individual, family, and community levels. This book is a must-read for any practitioner committed to bridging the gap between psychology and the lived, felt experience of the maternal body."" - Helena Vissing, PsyD, SEP, PMH-C, Associate Professor at CIIS, author of Somatic Maternal Healing: Psychodynamic and Somatic Trauma Treatment for Perinatal Mental Health ""This beautifully written and deeply informative book is infused with palpable compassion and expertise borne of Dr. Costello's decades of work with the perinatal population. Throughout this practical and accessible guide, the author seamlessly integrates somatic, body-based approaches with relatable vignettes and insights from decades of experience as a perinatal therapist. In creating this guide for clinicians and other helping professionals in the perinatal sphere, Dr. Costello continues to offer invaluable support for mothers navigating the profound physical, emotional, and psychological shifts of motherhood. Filled with immediately usable, intuitive somatic tools, this guide is grounded in a deep understanding of trauma-informed care. It presents accessible, research-backed techniques that feel natural and are proven to be highly effective in clinical practice. The book itself is thoughtfully structured, making it easy to navigate and integrate into therapy sessions. Insightful, empowering, and deeply practical, this book is an invaluable resource for any clinician committed to supporting mothers in a holistic, embodied way. An essential addition to every therapist's bookshelf!"" - Jaimee Folkins, MEd, CCC, LCT, PMH-C, owner and psychotherapist at Balanced Beginnings Counselling Therapy ""Dr. Leslie Costello uses her vast experience as a clinician working with perinatal women to provide a thorough and thoughtful book. She makes a theoretically solid and impassioned plea to therapists, arguing for a somatic approach to healing. Leslie's work reveals what she preaches in the book - her use of compassionate inquiry and how she follows the body to provide a somatic shift that brings new insights to the client. In the summary, Leslie writes, ""Helping women to take the mantle of maternal identity in a way that genuinely honors the individual is significant... Perinatal therapists keep our eyes firmly on the mother. She is the locus of our work, and yet there is an element of the future in perinatal therapy that can make it even more meaningful."" And that future involves all of us. A woman who feels grounded in her body, vital, and able to manage her new role as a mother creates a kind of peace that spreads from her home and radiates out to the whole society."" -Vincentia Schroeter, PhD Author of Communication Breakthrough: How Brain Science and Listening to Body Cues Can Transform Your Relationships (2018) and Baby Quest (forthcoming). Co-author: Bend Into Shape: Techniques for Bioenergetic Therapists (2011)

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