Speaker: Lita Simanis LCSW, PMH-C

This professional training explores perinatal mood and anxiety disorders including the intrusive fears and hypervigilance many parents experience during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Participants will learn to recognize how anxiety can present as constant checking, catastrophic thinking and sleep disruption—often mistaken for “normal new-parent worry’” as well as the despondency, self-doubt and difficulty with attachment that may permeate depression, sometimes labeled as “the baby blues.” The session provides clinically grounded, compassionate strategies for assessment, psychoeducation, and support, equipping professionals to respond effectively, reduce stigma, and promote early intervention for perinatal mental health concerns.