The Parental Brain for Professionals
During parenthood, the brain undergoes the biggest changes of its adult life.
Learning how the parental brain works is essential for anyone supporting families.
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What you will learn
- Types of neuroplastic changes in the parental brain
- What happens to the brain during pregnancy
- How the networks in the parental brain support caregiving
- The sensitive period and experiences that can shape the wiring of the parental brain
- The role of biobehavioral synchrony in the parental and infant brain
- How oxytocin wires the parental brain
- How the emotion regulation and empathy networks allow to parent in challenging conditions
- How the parental brain sets the blueprint for the infant’s socio-emotional development
- How intergenerational parenting practices influence the parental brain
- The brain of alloparents and the importance of a community of care
- How to apply all of the above to your practice
About the Facilitator
Hello!
I’m Rocío (pronounced Roseeo).
I am a mom and a neuroscientist with a passion for the brain and parenting. For more on my education, read here.
Blending my two passions has given rise to the parental brain professional certification, which I am very excited to share with you!
I genuinely believe bringing awareness about the parental brain workings can illuminate the journey of many parents so that they confidently do exactly what they are meant to!
The knowledge in this course will allow you to use this powerful science to bring your practice to the next level!
Are you ready to join me?!
This course is perfect for you if
- You work with families with infants (0-3 years old)
- You work with pregnant and birthing persons
- You are curious and open to new information
- You love science and are fascinated by our brains
- You are looking for evidence-based resources to support parents
The certification format
Six live classes
These will be classes of 1 hour. We will meet once a week. You can't attend in person or want to re-watch the classes? You will have LIFETIME access to recordings.
Two discussion sessions
These will be sessions of 1 hour. We will meet once in the middle of the course and once at the end. In these sessions you can ask further questions, ask for mentoring advice, share experiences in supporting families and learn from each other!
Manuals for each topic
You will receive a PDF manual accompanying each topic. The classes are structured around the nine principles that I derived from the parental brain science and come with a complete list of references.
Practical resources
You will receive over 15 PDFs with practical resources to use with your clients. They apply the parental brain principles to real life.
Online community
You will have access to a private Facebook group where we can discuss parental brain science and find support while supporting parents.
This course is Different from any other because
It is focused on the parent´s brain and the massive transformation that is going through.
Understanding how this huge transformation is here to serve parents is something that you will not find in other professional certifications.
You benefit from me doing the research for you.
I read hundreds of scientific papers not easily accessible or understandable to derive the parental brain principles and course content. I translated complicated scientific language to everyday language so that science serves its ultimate purpose of making life –in this case, parenting—meaningful, joyful, and easier for your clients!
What´s inside?
Type of changes in the parental brain, anatomy of the parental brain and a model of how it works.
Brain areas that change during pregnancy and its importance.
The parental caregiving network and its sub-networks. Function of each sub-network (motivation, vigilance, emotion regulation and empathy networks). How the human parental brain differs from the rest of the mammals. The brains of mothers and fathers.
How experiences during labor, birth, the golden hour, and mode of feeding the infant influence the parental brain. Time dependent plasticity in the parental brain.
How infants and parents coordinate their physiology and behavior. Importance of biobehavioral synchrony and how it develops over time.
How oxytocin functions during the sensitive periods. Oxytocin pulsatility and imprinting of experiences. Oxytocin and the calm and connection system. Intergenerational transmission of oxytocin functionality.
Role of the emotion regulation network and how to fine-tune it. Importance of co-regulation. Role of the empathy network and how to fine-tune it. Parental reflective function: how it works. Mindful parenting.
Attachment and hidden regulators. Attachment formation and implicit memory. The role of the right hemisphere and limbic system in the parental brain. How right hemisphere communication shapes the infant brain.
Epigenetics and how it shapes the brain. Intergenerational transmission of attachment styles. Attachment styles in the parental brain. Adult attachment stance and its influence on caregiving.
The cooperative breeding hypothesis. Cooperative breeding and the brain.
- Bonding with your unborn baby
- Preparing for labor and birth
- Your parenting values
- A commitment to your baby
- Feeding your baby
- The importance of touch
- Mindfulness of emotion
- The parental brain method
- Developing your parental reflective functioning capacity
- Top-down emotion regulation
- Bottom-up emotion regulation
- Examining your childhood
- Examining your attachment figures
- Your infant’s memories
- Create your attachment environment
Class schedule
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Live Classes every Tuesday at 2:30 pm Central European Time:
April 5th, April 12th (NO CLASS), April 19th, April 26th, May 3rd, May 10th and May 17th -
Discussion sessions on Fridays at 6:00 pm Central European Time:
April 29th and May 20th