Pre and Perinatal Psychology

What is Birth Psychology?

The essence of birth psychology, in addition to supporting healthy births, is to harness the qualities or factors which optimize the development of a baby before birth and after birth and use these factors to restore all human situations, relationships, emotional disorders, and trauma.

The main underlying principle is - health is in the system. Nature has built in everything needed to grow optimally. Humans have an innate push towards health and optimal development. The conceptus, the fetus, and the born baby simply need the proper support to actualize her natural impulse towards health. This push towards health is present in us throughout the lifespan, and can be enlisted for our healing throughout life.

Christine's approach to working with pre and perinatal psychology, or birth psychology, is heavily influenced by attachment research, neuroscience, trauma research, epigenetics, embryology, and the polyvagal theory.

Current Research on Birth Psychology

Birth Psychology now integrates fields of embryology, infant research, attachment theory, neuroscience, trauma, and epigenetics. The veracity of birth psychology comes from the explosion of research and academic articles which appear in prestigious professional journals, many of which can be found in Christine's resources page, blog, and bookstore.

About the History of Birth Psychology

Many theories and practitioners have influenced the development of birth psychology. The influences begin in 1924 with psychoanalysis—Freud, Kline, Winnicott—Otto Rank, and the controversial Willheim Reich. The 1950s and 1960s included transpersonal psychology, consciousness studies, breathwork, the controversial primal scream therapy, various forms of the human potential movement at Essalen. The 1980s and 1990s brought APPPAH, ISPPM, attachment research, and infant research. More recently, the field has been influenced by epigenetics, the decade of the brain, affective neuroscience, interpersonal neurobiology (A. Schore, Dan Siegel), ongoing attachment research, trauma research and trauma resolution therapies. Some of the specific therapies which have evolved include EMDR, Neurofeedback, various somatic psychotherapies including somatic experiencing, and crainiosacral therapy.