Choose Your Mentor
PPNE Mentors serve two purposes; they assess and grade student work and they provide one-on-one support to students going through the PPNE program. Several also support different languages. This is especially important since one of our main goals is to have you feel fully seen, heard, and supported. Your mentor will be your guide through the course, so don't hesitate to reach out to them if you have questions, or difficulty getting started, or want to talk more about the content or application to your line of work. We invite you to connect each month in some way (email, Zoom, office hours) and for each module. We find that our most successful students work with their mentors regularly.
We request that you fill out a Course Enrollment Questionnaire that helps your Mentor get to know you better. If you haven't yet completed the Student Enrollment Questionnaire, please do so in the previous section.
Please choose a mentor from the following list (if possible, please send your first 2 preferences)
Email Stephanie Duran at [email protected] to be placed in touch with your mentor.
Mentors
Barbara C Decker, HBCE, PPNE, CLD Certified Prenatal Bonding Facilitator (BA and GPE)
Washington, USA
Barbara C. Decker has been a childbirth educator for over 45 years and is a HypnoBirthing® Practitioner, doula, and doula trainer (CAPPA). She is a Certified Prenatal Bonding (BA) Facilitator, one of 12 facilitators in the United States trained by Psychoanalyst, Dr. Gerhard Schroth of Germany. Barbara is also a Certified Prenatal Bonding Facilitator through TheGreatestPregnancyEver.com program and assisted with the online training program that addresses challenges with domestic violence, foster care, and adoption on our birthing families. As the designer of a preconception/early pregnancy class called “EmpoweringPregnancy”, she prepares parents before conception or in early pregnancy how to connect with the baby coming to or in the womb. Understanding that most parents have no idea of the importance of the gestational period motivated her as a childbirth educator to start education much earlier than most classes. We know that “the womb is the baby’s first classroom and all must attend”, says David Chamberlain. She has been lecturing across the United States and Internationally at conferences, is a faculty member of CAPPA, Advisor for Prenatal Pregnancy Attachment, Treasurer of NGHWA, and a Registered Hypnotherapist in the state of Washington. As a member of APPPAH she is on the Board and serves as Membership Chair.
Divya Deswal, SEP, BCST, PPNE
Guguram, INDIA
Divya has worked with expectant families since 2001 as a Childbirth educator, HypnoBirthing practitioner and Doula. She is a Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist and Somatic Experience Practitioner and is currently teaches and mentors doulas in India. She also collaborates with hospitals to set up and facilitate water birth for their clients.
Divya’s journey began with the birth of her first baby in 1996. She realized how much her choices and preference in birth and parenting arose from her cultural and spiritual beliefs about the sentient nature of the baby and how strongly she felt about them. She had an opportunity to experience an embodied spirituality in pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding.
Divya is a PPNE graduate with APPPAH and has also studied Prenatal Development Interventions and Parent Infant pathways with College of Education + Human Development at University of Minnesota. These programs and her training as a SE and BCST practitioner enables her to support women and babies in their journey through pregnancy and birth and beyond.
Divya is co-founder of an online platform My Child First, www.mychildfirst.com, that offers information on many aspects of reproduction and parenting. The platform aims to bring diverse information and offer an opportunity to the user to integrate that information from the perspective of the baby and make decisions as parents - ‘Choices in childbirth through the baby’s eyes’.
Dr. Susan Highsmith, PhD
Active - No longer accepting new students
Arizona, USA
Susan Highsmith is an educator and counselor residing in Tucson, Arizona. She received her doctorate in Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology from Santa Barbara Graduate Institute (SBGI). She instructs masters and doctoral candidates; lectures at universities, community colleges, and charter schools; and speaks at international congresses addressing consciousness in the womb and the long-lasting effects of our earliest experiences. Susan is a National Board Certified Counselor (NBCC). She holds a Doctorate of Divinity from the American Institute of Holistic Theology, and seeks to balance psychological theory and practice with spiritual and holistic wisdom.
Vicky Jeter, PPNE, LSP
Kentucky, USA
Vicky has been a Licensed Spiritual Practitioner through Centers for Spiritual Living for 30 years. Using unique combinations of conviction in faith, applied universal creative principles, awareness of pre- and perinatal considerations, compassion and self-empowerment tools for stability and health in each client, Vicky has assisted hundreds of people to embrace expanded consciousness and healing and realize their dreams. Vicky is an experienced teacher, facilitator and motivational speaker in the Science of Mind teaching and she has been a trainee in pre- and perinatal awareness with Dr. William Emerson for 17 years. Vicky is a Pre- and Perinatal Educator (PPNE), with a certificate through the Association for Pre- and Perinatal Psychology and Health. In addition, Vicky is a published author of her autobiographical account of her own healing in her first book, Call Me Victoria: Life Poems and Stories from Trial to Triumph, published in 2012. She has also published a number of stories, articles and reviews for periodicals and magazines on a variety of topics and themes.
Nina Ketscher, MA, PhDc, PPNE, CEIM
Leipzig, GERMANY
Nina holds a masters in Clinical Psychology with a specialty in Somatic Psychology from Santa Barbara Graduate Institute. She is a graduate and mentor of APPPAH’s Prenatal & Perinatal Educator Certificate Program (PPNE) and has been creating and nurturing connections while working with babies, mamas and families in person and virtually for over 12 years.
In her work with private clients and in workshops, Nina blends Western somatic and prenatal and perinatal psychology with Eastern spiritual healing knowledge. Nina lived, studied, and taught at Sri Kaleshwar’s Soul University, in India for 5 years and most recently worked in an Integrative and Functional Medicine Pediatric clinic in the US, where she saw a greater need for prenatal and perinatal educators to be integrated throughout our medical, mental and behavioral health and educational systems internationally. Born in CA, USA, Nina resides in Leipzig, Germany with her husband and her 8 year old son.
Nina believes through expanding our view on conception, pregnancy, birth, and parenting, we will create new generations of strong, conscious and loving children, equipped to face the challenges of our modern and unstable world.
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Anne Matthews, BSc Hons Physio, DC, Dip Biomech, FBCA, FCC, PPNE
Belfast, IRELAND, UK
Anne is a Pre & Perinatal Educator having completed the certification program with APPPAH. Since 2006 she has studied in Europe under the instruction of Karlton Terry, Institute of Pre & Perinatal Education (PPNEd - USA) which included 100s of hours of residential and workshop study together with personal PPN regressions and mentoring work.
Anne has been an independent holistic based Chiropractor with 33 years of clinical experience. Her professional background includes Physiotherapy, Chiropractic, Biomechanics, Craniosacral Therapy, Counselling together with Paediatric Neuro-developmental trainings. Anne’s interest in PPN work followed on from the Craniosacral Therapy and Visceral Manipulation courses taken through the Upledger and Barral Institutes (UK and Ireland) together with the Fascial Release work taught by Carol Phillips, DC (USA).
Anne is also the Clinic Director of the Belfast Chiropractic Clinic & Complementary Therapies which she set up in 1986 and over the past 3 decades has brought together a collaborative care team of natural health care practitioners and therapists focusing on the integrative care ethos of caring for the diverse needs of the family.
Anne’s works with newborns, older babies, together with small children and pregnant mums. Her passion is to integrate and weave her therapeutic skills in working with children as a Pre & Perinatal Educator. She focusses on the resolution of prenatal, birth and early trauma as she interprets a child’s Baby Body Language, which a child will express physically, developmentally and emotionally. During a child’s trauma healing session Anne will facilitate parents to connect on a more heart felt and soulful way with their child.
Anne has created and developed her Baby Body Language teaching approach in order to facilitate an understanding of the Pre & Perinatal perspectives in the physical, emotional and developmental challenges of the growing child. She has taught her BBL workshops to parents, practitioners, therapists and teachers both in Europe and USA.
Anne continues to be a life long learner and has in addition completed a Womb Surround workshop with Cherionna Menzam-Sills, UK
Anne uses her wide range of therapeutic skills to weave through the layers of trans-generational trauma from a Pre & Perinatal perspective by taking into consideration social backgrounds and historical events.
www.belfastchiropracticclinic.com
Active - Max with Students
Susan Martin AAHCC, CLEC, PPNE
California, USA
For Susan, professional and personal experiences have solidified the concept that parents are the most important influences and advocates in a child's life, and that parenting presents a wonderful opportunity to grow as a human being. Her first pregnancy led her to more than 20 years of study focused on attachment, pregnancy, birth, mothering through breastfeeding, and the dynamics of family relationships. Her professional interests include the prevention of traumatic childbirth, resilience, social and cultural influences on parenting, child well-being, and parent advocacy. The mother of two daughters, Susan is a La Leche League Leader, Bradley Method childbirth educator, doula, and certified lactation counselor. The PPNE program, of which she is a proud graduate, deepened her understanding of all these interests. She loves teaching and working with people.
Esteban Molina, CCEP, CCHt
California, USA
Esteban is a certified Core Energetics practitioner and a certified clinical hypnotherapist. He studied psychology in his home country Colombia where he worked as a clinical psychotherapist in a hospital setting before moving to the US. In 2010 he started working at a surrogacy agency, enlivening his interest in the emotional component of fertility, pregnancy and childbirth, which brought him to APPPAH in 2013. He earned his PPNE certification, giving him a deeper understanding of the complexity of the baby’s perspective as they come into this world, as well as the impact of early experiences in adult life.
Esteban’s work focuses on supporting individuals and couples navigating their journey of becoming parents from before conception until after birth. He also works with individuals that are experiencing challenges in life hindering their ability to achieve their greatest potential. His work is tailored to his clients’ healing needs, incorporating the language of the body, the expression of energy, the power of the subconscious mind and the wisdom of the soul. He is currently living in Northern California, where he has a full time practice working online with individuals, couples and groups.
Shatia Owsley, BSW, MS, PPNE
Washington DC, USA
Shatia Owsley has a B.S. in Social Work and a Masters in Health Education and Promotion from Maryland University of Integrative Health, where she focused on physical activity during pregnancy with women of color. Shatia has worked in the health care field with local non-profit and hospitals throughout the Washington, DC area, but shifted to holistic and alternative medicine when she believed that healing takes place in the mind, body and spirit. Shatia also serves as co-instructor/ curriculum designer for the annual Medicine Woman apprenticeship in Washington D.C., which empowers women to reclaim their health through ancestral traditions and practices. She contributes to The Gaia Maternal Mental Health Collaborative, serving women and especially women of color as they navigate their maternal mental health. She provides maternal health education and practitioner to clients seeking holistic approaches to postpartum care and maternal mental health.
Shatia’s life vision came full circle in 2013 when she was blessed with the knowledge of being pregnant with her son. Understanding that reproductive, maternal and family health is a spiritual, emotional, mental and physical journey, Shatia decided to dedicate her life to providing families with a supportive, encouraging, and transparent environment that fosters full body healing. As a woman of color, Shatia is dedicated to improving maternal health outcomes with women of color and rebuilding families ONE MOMMY AT a TIME. With that approach in mind, Shatia has decided that in 2020 she will open her own holistic wellness studio in the nation’s capital.
Shatia is credentialed as a Certified Prenatal and Perinatal Educator (PPNE), a Certified INNATE Traditions postpartum Practitioner, a Certified Holistic Full Spectrum Doula, a Preconception and Family Planning Counselor, a Positive Co-Parenting Coach, and several ancestral and maternal health trainings centered around full-body wellness. You can see Shatia's Vlog about the PPNE Program by clicking here.
ACTIVE - Currently not taking new students
Christina Petersen, AHA, Dip CH, NLP, PPNE
Perth, AUSTRALIA
Christina Petersen’s quest in life has always been how to best help people live fulfilling lives. She is passionate about educating and helping families to improve and optimize their pregnancy and birth experience, ideally starting before conception.
Christina is originally from Germany, where she trained as a Physiotherapist in the early 1980’s. After finishing that training, she became more interested in the body/mind/spirit connection, which led her to alternative ways of healing. In the late 1980’s, she became aware of the impact of the time before conception through pregnancy, birth and the first few years on a person’s life. This understanding moved her towards work with couples and improving the experiences of pregnancy and birth, instead of fixing problems later. Her personal journey of self-development over the last 30 years led her towards spirituality and hypnotherapy, culminating in her training as a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Counselor, Hypno-Birthing Practitioner, Reflexologist, and in 2016, the APPPAH PPNE program. Christina is passionate about educating and helping families to improve and optimize their pregnancy and birth experience, ideally starting before conception.
She earned a Diploma in Clinical Hypnotherapy and Counseling, and certificates in HypnoBirthing, the Mongan Method, Reflexology with a specialization in Maternity Reflexology, and as a PPNE educator from APPPAH.
She works in Australia as a therapist in private practice and as a Trainer and Assessor offering national accredited courses for a training organization. She gives private sessions as a Hypnotherapist/ Counselor, specializing in anxiety, fears, previous birth trauma and other emotional issues. As a Reflexologist, she focuses mainly on Maternity Reflexology sessions for pregnant mums, also teaching private and group classes in HypnoBirthing Childbirth Preparation and in Relaxation/Bonding during Pregnancy.
She talks to groups of mums and professionals about prenatal education and birth. On a personal note, Christina has lived in different countries and moved from France, where she lived for 17 years, to Perth in 2008, where she loves the sunshine, the sea and the way of life.
Website: www.joyousbeginnings.com.au
Joy (Zhouyou) Skinner PPNE, HBCB, HBFC, DFB, Reiki
Beijing, CHINA and Utah, USA
Speaks Chinese and English (Chinese-speaking students preferred)
As the first Hypnobirthing Practitioner in Beijing China, she have taught more than 500 families and contributed to the Gentle Birth Revolution in China. She is the founder of “Joy Birth” focuses on the transformation of birth trauma. Joy is studying psychology in US now and also in the transpersonal psychotherapist training in International Institute for Consciousness Exploration and Psychotherapy (Germany). As one of the earliest childbirth educator in China, She always has passion to empower the mother and baby. (Email: [email protected] )
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Paola Zuazua, PPNE
Munich, GERMANY
Speaks English, Spanish, German and French
Hi my name is Paola Zuazua. 41 years old. Mother, daughter, sister, partner, friend… an epigenetic coach, very much focused on pre & perinatal development and how this sensitive time is an important foundation for the unfolding to come of our health, our wellbeing, of our believes, of our being… being in this world, being within ourselves and being with others.
I train and coach and I am also layer of support not only for men & women, couples, or families; but for everyone gifted by being close to babies and children.
Originally from Mexico but lived and worked all around the Globe. Graduated in Business Administration with large experience in Strategy. I have a life-long interest in consciousness, sentience and being. I have developed particular interest in how our earliest experiences shape who we become and shape how our genes mark and express.
With the time, I start swooping my experience in strategy and experience on coaching managers and directors reach their business goals, to coach individuals on their own consciousness and wellbeing optimization, that slowly brought my into the wonderful science of epigenetics.
None of my previous experiences and expertise prepared me for working within the pre- and perinatal realm. I learned pre- and perinatal psychology and experienced it not only within myself with within my family, with my children, today 5 and 2.
Epigenetics and pre- and perinatal psychology and health interplay and provided me with a broad and multidisciplinary knowledge of our Early Life as significant umbrella for our consciousness, sentience and wellbeing.
Yushi Zhang, Qigong, PPNE
Minnesota, USA
Speaks Chinese and English
Yushi Zhang is one of the pioneers in promoting physiological birth and breastfeeding in China. She contributed to initiating nationwide women's movements demanding rights and care for better birth practice and motherhood justice in society since 2011 and worked with the UNICEF for breastfeeding program implementation. Her initiatives and programs have influenced hundreds of thousands of women and their families in China. The behavioral change approach she took on
the community level has led to systems change and a significant breastfeeding rate increase in the past decade. Her presence and visionary work have inspired countless other maternal & child health programs, initiatives, and projects to establish in China. In past years she has trained many birthworkers, breastfeeding counselors, reproductive justice advocates, as well as young parents and professionals from other disciplines. She also has a strong interest in sex education.
As a long-time student of Qigong (since 9 years old) and Vipassana meditation, she acknowledges the deep connection between the mother and her baby beyond the biological and neuroendocrinological interaction, and among all beings around the mother-baby nexus.
Currently, she is a graduate student at Yale University for Behavioral Science and Evolutionary Physiology, specializing in reproductive health and maternal & child health.
She welcomes students who speak Chinese, are interested in sociocultural influences on maternal-child health, and/or have an interest to influence mothers' and babies' health with large-scale business or nonprofit work.
Ellynne Skove MA, LCAT,BC- DMT, NCC, CBC, RPP, E-RYT
New York, USA
Ellynne is a New York state licensed Movement therapist, nationally certified counselor,yoga teacher, and Polarity therapist. In 2010 Ellynne completed additional graduate studies in Pre and Peri Natal Psychology at The Santa Barbara Graduate Institute. She has worked for over 30 years with pregnant women, parents, babies, children, and adults. Ellynne studied developmental movement/Dynamic Anatomy with the late Nancy Topf for 15 years, Body/Mind Centering, Brain Gym and Yoga for the Special Child. She received her 200 hour yoga teacher certification from OM Yoga and studied PreNatal Yoga with Ma Yoga & Janice Clarfield, Mommy & Me Yoga with Jyohti Larson. She is certified in the H.U.G newborn parenting program, Baby Wearing, and as a Breastfeeding Counselor.
In her work with babies and parents, Ellynne has worked on the staffs of The Motherhood Center, Families First, RealBirth, The Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Birthday Presence, The Battery Park City Conservancy, PreNatal Yoga Center, & Wild Was Mama. She has presented programs in developmental movement, yoga, and polarity therapy for The American Dance Therapy Association, The American Polarity Therapy Association, The Association for Pre & Perinatal Psychology & Health, Biodynamic Cranio-Sacral Therapy Association, Area Yoga, Vira Yoga, Child Light Yoga, Druna, Pentacle, The Open Center Polarity Program, and The Lotus Project’s production of Eve Ensler’s, The Vagina Monologues. Additionally, over the past two decades, Ellynne has served as a consultant and faculty member for numerous New York City schools specializing in early intervention and special education. She supervises graduate students from Pratt, Antioch, and Sarah Lawrence Colleges. Ellynne teaches professional trainings in The Czech Republic as well as the U.S.A. Ellynne has presented at the NYC Museum of Motherhood and has been a guest member of the NGOs, OMEAP, & CEPPS, at the United Nations. Ellynne is a strong proponent of prenatal communication, and conscious parenting. She is available for pregnancy and fertility counseling, as well as prenatal bonding, bodywork, and birth trauma resolution.
ACTIVE - Currently not taking new students
Karen Melton Dip. Humanistic Psychology (U.K.), Certs. Prenatal & Birth Therapy and Cranial-Sacral Work
California, USA
Karen trained in Prenatal & Perinatal Psychology with Dr William Emerson and Ray Castellino, after a background, and practice, in humanistic psychology for 15 years. Her 'real' training began 58 years ago in the womb. Karen became aware of her own prenatal trauma during a spontaneous flashback to the womb at the age of 23. Embracing and healing her own inner Little One has contributed to a deep sense of well-being and integration, and completely eradicated the terror that was once running her life. She has a deep, personal understanding of how early imprinting can profoundly affect one’s life. Karen has offices in San Rafael and Santa Rosa, CA and works with people all over the world by Skype and telephone. Her work is somatic, experiential and hands-on, incorporating cranial work and other modalities. Karen works with babies, children and adults healing early imprints, offering Somatic-Emotional Work, Re-Patterning Attachment for Couples, and Parenting & Attachment support. She is grateful every day to be doing the work that she loves and feels passionate about. See her web site at www.HealYourEarlyImprints.com(link is external) for an expanded bio, to read articles on her blog, and to listen to her being interviewed on the radio.
Florentine Peralta, MA, PPNE
California, USA
Speaks English and German
Since the start of Florentine’s professional path, she has been passionate about the soul’s potential to heal and grow. After completing her Masters degree in education in Vienna, Austria (where she is originally from), she studied various psychological healing methods, which she implemented in her work as a counselor for women.
To gain a deeper, more holistic understanding about the roots of emotional and mental problems, she went to India to study the ancient knowledge of “soul healing” with Sri Kaleshwar. This provided the spiritual dimension she was missing in western approaches. Since then, she’s been integrating eastern wisdom and healing practices into her work.
After her first child was born in 2011, she began working with pregnant women, mothers and babies. That’s when she learned that infants already carry an emotional load from pre- and perinatal life and realized that the potential to heal at this stage of life is most powerful. This sparked her fascination with pre- and perinatal psychology. She began to study Baby Therapy with PPN pioneer Karlton Terry and has been implementing it in her work with families ever since.
With her second child, Florentine experienced first-hand the power and sacredness of prenatal bonding, as well as the importance of soul nourishment for the baby in a conscious pregnancy and birth.
Her highest aim is to support and empower mothers. She helps them heal their own early wounds, so they can reach their highest motherly potential and raise babies who feel loved, nourished, safe and secure. For her, strong and healthy mother-baby bonds are essential to transforming the world.
She is the co-founder of the Maheshwari Center for Family Healing - Holistic counseling and healing for conscious pregnancy, birth, and parenting: maheshwaricenter.or
Active - Max with Students
Christianna Deichmann, RCST®, PPNE, LMT, Inner Child Process Practitioner APPPAH Director of Education & Programs
Virginia, USA
English Speaking
Christianna Deichmann integrates craniosacral therapy, massage, and prenatal and perinatal psychology into her psychosomatic therapy practice based in Charlottesville, Virginia and online. Her work embraces today’s movement towards Consciousness and the merging of science and spirituality. She comes to APPPAH to continue growing the education team and program offerings. Her own experiences birthing her two children sparked her interest in educating parents and professionals about birth psychology and how the earliest experiences in life are so foundational to defining human potential. Her undergraduate studies in biology and ADHD in the Behavioral Medicine department at UVA Med School coupled with her personal experience with behavioral disorders, suffering, and the quest for health led her to pursue the energetic healing arts in service to humanity. She strives to make it easier for people to navigate the invisible realms of their nervous system, psyche, and soul, so they can make decisions that will drive connection to themselves and the world.
Noemi Solano, Directora Academica
English, Spanish, and German
Espana
Noemí Solano is an expert on early language acquisition, holds a First Degree in Arts in English Philology, an advanced degree in German, a teacher training certificate and is specialized in the fields of Hearing and Language. Her first working experiences have been closely linked to multicultural settings and multinational corporations in charge of top management positions. In addition, last fifteen years she has led her professional career public and private teaching institutions from childhood to university education at a national and international level.
Since 2012 she has served as president, co-founder and Director on Education Based-Innovation Programs of the Fundación Instituto de la Inteligencia Libre (www.inteligencialibre.org/). Noemí Solano is a certified prenatal & perinatal educator (PPNE). Through lectures and specialized training courses, she makes parents, childhood and primary teachers and the global citizenship aware of giving transcendental relevance to the gestation in that the mother’s physical, emotional and mental state, as well as her environment, will influence the developing unborn child’s present and future.
As an early language acquisition consultant, she is a national speaker on how the environmental, emotional and motivational factors influence on the early language acquisition. She is passionate about how our first early language acquisition starts emerging from prenatal up to her first 7 years of life, a critical period of development that develops in close connection with the building of the child ́s true essence. Since 2014 Noemí Solano also fosters in collaboration with national and international universities an undergraduate annual program specialized in Neuroscience and Early Leadership.
For the outreach and teachers training on early learning and childhood development, she also coordinates workshops, lectures, specialized training courses organized in public educational centers and institutions such as universities, centers for educational innovation, teacher training centers, research and scientific culture and education departments, language-learning centers and public education centers around Spain.
As an expert & consultant on early care, she leads the coordination and tutorship of families that help promote the child’s well-being and emotional self-regulation (pregnancy to 7 years), as well as the influence of the environment and the establishment of bondings, that ensure the child ́s socio-affective and behavioral balance, and how prenatal bonding impacts deeply the child ́s interpersonal relationships and her learning processes during childhood stages. Through this organization, she is also in charge of the international relations department through which she promotes passionately partnerships agreements with worldwide organizations that pursue common aims that help turn our societies into a co-responsible and sustainable planet from early life.
Since 2017 the Fundación Instituto de la Inteligencia Libre and Apppah have a partnership agreement. Both institutions work closely to promote a holistic education aimed at the child ́s well-being and self-realization from the beginning of life.
Laurie Anne Briere, PPNE, TTP, NA-#6583
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Speaks: English & French
Laurie Anne is a licensed naturotherapist, somatic practitioner, Transforming Touch® Therapist, and pre- and perinatal educator. Her mission is to support others in reconnecting with the body’s primary language, the language of sensation and emotion, so they can expand their nervous system capacity, cultivate a felt sense of safety, and experience more joy and presence. She trusts that given the right space, time, support, and permission, our bodies can complete the responses that might have been thwarted. After studying birth psychology, childbirth education, interpersonal neurobiology, primitive reflex integration, and Somatic Experiencing®, Laurie Anne now specializes in working somatically with folks who experienced pre- and perinatal trauma to support the healing of our earliest imprints. Her approach is trauma-informed, strength-based, and attachment-based.
Aleksandar Babić, OB/GYN, PPNE
Serbia, Novi Sad
Speaks: Serbian, English
An OB/GYN practitioner who, in contact with numerous pregnant women, realized how pregnancy can be beautiful, but sometimes also a stressful, lonely, misunderstood, challenging, and uncertain period. This inspired him to look for an additional way in which he could provide better care for future mothers and parents, using a more complete, empathic, holistic approach to practice. That's why he got certified as an Educator of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology, wanting to complement the care of pregnant women by taking care of the psychological aspects of the prenatal and perinatal period, in addition to the standard, professional examination of pregnant women and pregnancy management.
Santhija G, MA- Psychology, PPNE,MBCLWEP ™ -Mindfulness Based Counseling and Listening With Embodied Presence Practitioner, Ashtanga Yoga Practitioner, Traditional Indian Baby Massage and Oil bath Expert, Vaastu Shastra Consultant.
Resides in Kerala, India
English Speaking, also speaks Indian languages Hindi and Malayalam.
Santhija G is a seasoned construction planning engineer and Vaastu Shastra Consultant who has made a career transition to psychology, with a special focus on Mindfulness-based counseling and Listening With Embodied Presence.
She strongly believes in gaining knowledge through firsthand experiences rather than relying solely on theoretical understanding. She holds a certification as a PPNE from APPPAH.
With her engineering background, Santhija thrives on applying her knowledge to practical, experiential practices. She has a policy of only imparting knowledge and skills that she has personally experienced and validated.
Santhija developed ASHTANGA – Ashtanga Yoga Inspired Bonding Practices for Pregnant Women, an 8-week program that combines mindfulness and bonding practices for pregnant women.
ASHTANGA emerged from Santhija's quest for practical and structured techniques that could be taught to pregnant women who may not be familiar with spirituality, mindfulness, meditation, and self-exploration. As a dedicated mindfulness practitioner and eager student of Eastern philosophies, she strives to integrate ancient wisdom with modern, evidence-based practices for the benefit of her clients. Additionally, due to her love for working with babies, she has become a Traditional Indian Baby Massage and Oil Bath Instructor.
Teaching is a passion for Santhija as she enjoys sharing her knowledge with her students. Moreover, she considers each student to be a valuable learning opportunity for herself. She embraces the teaching strategies of the great teacher Gautama Buddha (Lord Buddha), where the teacher adapts to the unique requirements of each student, avoiding the creation of clones and granting complete freedom in the mode of learning. This empowering approach allows students to explore their full potential.
Outside of her professional pursuits, Santhija is a proud parent to two delightful children. She wholeheartedly embraces "Intuitive Parenting" and raises her children using her intuitive approach, instilling in them the values of understanding and empathy from a young age.
Ultimately, Santhija is driven by real-life experiences, unwavering curiosity, and a deep passion to share her wisdom with others.
www.sacredcocoon.in
[email protected]
Katrien den Dekker: Midwife, massage therapist, PPNE
Languages: Dutch, English, French
location in België
From the age of seven Katrien knew she was going to become a midwife. Even though at that age she did not really knew what that meant, several years later in 2015 she graduated as a midwife. From that day on she has been wondering what called her into this devotion and how she interprets this beautiful work.
In 2020 and 2021 she became mother of a daughter and a son after having lost a first baby son early in pregnancy. Just like she always knew she would be a midwife, so too did she knew her journey of finding her real devotion as a midwife would start at motherhood. And it did. The experience of becoming a mother confirmed what she was feeling al along. Babies are conscious beings even before conception.
After completing her midwifery studies at Artevelde (2015), she completed an advanced bachelor Global Citizenship and Development at the University College Leuven Limburg (UCCL)(2016) and is currently taking her Masters in Social and Cultural Anthropology at the Catholic University in Leuven (KUL) Belgium. She graduated from the PPNE program in 2023 and in currently involved in the course Integrative Pre and Perinatal Trauma therapy (IPPT)
by Max Peschek (https://therapie-bremen.eu/).
Katrien works as an independent midwife in French speaking Belgium. She intends to workwith people even before they are pregnant to help raise awareness on the importance of the journey of conception, pregnancy, birth and early childhood. She also can be sought as a pre- and perinatal therapist for (expecting) parents and babies. In her therapy sessions Katrien combines verbal therapy with massage therapy and movement.
Katrien has a training program for parents based on the principals of haptonomy to help establish a bond between parents and baby prenatally. And she also facilitates group therapy around the loss of babies during pregnancy and the pregnancies following loss based on the knowledge of Joann O’Leary.
It is Katrien’s mission to help parents raise awareness on the impact of the journey through conception, pregnancy, birth and early childhood. She stands by their sides through all these different phases in which she combines her knowledge as a midwife, therapist and mother.
Lakshmi Om, LMBT NC #2765, PMH-C, PPNE, C-IAYT, ERYT 500, YACEP
Language: English
U.S.A.
Lakshmi Om has been in the field of the healing arts since 1997 when she received her first Reiki attunement while studying Modern Dance performance and choreography at the University of Illinois. It was here that her passion for movement, anatomy, and therapy became ignited. Every step along the path of her life has informed her work and has added tools to her unique variety of skills. She has over 2,000 hours of continuing education in massage therapy, yoga teaching, functional yoga therapy, and trauma informed yoga therapy.
Lakshmi became a certified massage therapist in 1999. Over her 20+ years in practice, she specialized in myofascial massage, craniosacral therapy, visceral manipulation, massage for cancer, injury rehabilitation, structural work, stress reduction, autonomic nervous system balance, and pre/post-natal massage. Lakshmi took her first yoga class in college in 1994 and felt she had found her home. She became a certified yoga teacher in 2003 and studied and taught intensively for 17 years. In 2008, Lakshmi began practicing yoga therapy, using her vast knowledge of anatomy, movement and yogic techniques to help students to restore balance to their bodies and minds, and heal various injuries and issues. Most recently, Lakshmi has been certified as a Trauma Informed Yoga Therapist and a Certified Professional Clinical Facilitator helping people overcome anxiety, depression and PTSD. She has shifted her massage therapy practice to also focus on trauma recovery. Lakshmi is also certified by the International Association of Yoga Therapists and the Association of Massage and Bodywork Professionals. She is working towards her Masters in Social Work at Widener University and certification in Somatic Experiencing and Perinatal Mental Health, and plans to integrate counseling with bodywork and yoga therapy.
Lakshmi believes her purpose for being on this planet is to educate, love and empower people to know themselves, to heal themselves and to serve others. She takes all of her life experience and education and uses them to help lift others up and find their own strength, health, happiness and wisdom.
She married her husband Ganesh Om in 2021 after being friends for 16 years.
Alyssa Levy M.S. CCC-SLP, PPNE, PNE
Alyssa holds a Masters of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders and is a practicing medical Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) working in a level II trauma hospital in Southern California. She is a PPNE graduate and prenatal and perinatal educator, parenting coach and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)-trained infant feeding, swallowing and communication specialist. She is a certified somatic practitioner (PNE PsychoNeuroEnergetics) and has extensive training in Myofascial Release (MFR).
Alyssa’s fascination with the body and mind started with her psychology classes in high school and has grown throughout her 24 years as a medical SLP. Trauma, how it is held in the body and mind and how we release and heal through this trauma, at any age, is an area of interest and passion. Taking the PPNE certification course was expansive for Alyssa and served to deepen and broaden how she approaches each patient and client and their individual path to healing. She sees PPNE and understanding our earliest experiences as the missing piece to the puzzle of much of what is practiced in Western Medicine.
Alyssa is a mother of 2 teenage boys who has taught her more than she could have ever anticipated about herself and life. What a beautiful gift they are to her.
Alyssa works with all ages, pre-birth through the end of life, and guides her patients and clients in gently exploring their minds and bodies to uncover and heal through their wounds into light.