This is the VIDEO version of Confronting Ableism in Reproductive Mental Health Providers: Strengthening Treatment of Disabled Birthers and Non-Gestational Parents.

This course is for you if:

• You’re committed to inclusive care but realize your grad school never mentioned disabled birthers or non-gestational parents.

• You want to do more than just "accommodate"—you want to advocate, affirm, and actually show up in a way that honors your clients' full experiences.

• You’re a therapist who loves a good gut-check and is ready to examine your own biases (yep, even the unconscious ones) without spiraling into shame.

• You’re looking for real, grounded, clinically useful strategies—not just buzzwords—to better support disabled parents navigating fertility, pregnancy, birth, loss, or postpartum.

• You’ve seen how systems fail people with disabilities, and you’re not here for performative inclusion.

• You’re ready to help make reproductive mental health care a place where disabled folks are not just included—but centered and respected.

Course Description:

Ableism is deeply embedded in reproductive healthcare, often resulting in significant barriers for individuals with disabilities seeking fertility services, pregnancy care, birth support, and postpartum mental health treatment. This course critically examines how ableist attitudes and systemic biases impact disabled birthers and non-gestational parents, shaping their mental health outcomes and overall reproductive experiences.

Clinicians will gain practical tools to strengthen their therapeutic approaches through:

• Identifying personal and systemic biases and understanding their impact on perinatal mental health.

• Applying inclusive, trauma-informed treatment models tailored to disabled individuals.

• Addressing barriers in reproductive healthcare and advocating for systemic change.

• Utilizing case vignettes to refine clinical decision-making.

Through self-assessments, guided reflections, and interactive case vignettes, participants will leave with actionable strategies to improve care for disabled parents, ultimately advancing equity and inclusion in reproductive mental health.

Learning Objectives:

• Assess ableist biases and practices within reproductive healthcare and explore their impact on disabled birthers and disabled non-gestational parents.

• Identify best therapeutic treatment approaches utilizing a trauma-responsive, inclusive lens specific to the experience of the individual.

• Evaluate potential barriers to treating the reproductive mental health of individuals with disabilities as well as opportunities to advance the experience of mental health care for this population across the domains of reproductive care.