Motherhood in the Face of Trauma: Pathways Towards Healing and Growth

249 Pages·2018·3.057 MB·English

by  Maria Muzik, Katherine Lisa Rosenblum (eds.)

Integrating Psychiatry and Primary Care
Series Editors: Dinesh Bhugra · Michelle B. Riba
Maria Muzik
Katherine Lisa Rosenblum Editors
Motherhood
in the Face
of Trauma
Pathways Towards Healing and Growth
WORLD PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION
Integrating Psychiatry and Primary Care
Series Editors
Dinesh Bhugra
Institute of Psychiatry
King's College London
London, United Kingdom
Michelle B. Riba
Department of Psychiatry
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
This series of books will serve to provide models of clinical care; transfer research
advances and evidence-based practices into practical applications for mental health
providers and primary care providers; and increase knowledge about this field. Both
editors are strongly associated with the World Psychiatry Association, one of the
world’s largest medical organizations, which together with its partners provides
services to help bring new information and findings to clinicians in many disciplines,
who are caring for patients and families. This series brings together well known
editors and authors to develop important topics in primary care psychiatry.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13818
Maria Muzik • Katherine Lisa Rosenblum
Editors
Motherhood in the Face of
Trauma
Pathways Towards Healing and Growth
Editors
Maria Muzik Katherine Lisa Rosenblum
Department of Psychiatry Department of Psychiatry
University of Michigan University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
ISSN: 2522-5693 ISSN: 2522-5707 (electronic)
Integrating Psychiatry and Primary Care
ISBN 978-3-319-65722-6 ISBN 978-3-319-65724-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65724-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017960207
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
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Preface
The transition to motherhood is evocative, filled with anticipation and expectation.
For mothers who have experienced trauma, this transition may evoke both hope and
joy, yet simultaneously serve as a stirring reminder of past hurts, worries, and feel-
ings of vulnerability. The uniqueness of this period includes it’s place within a mul-
tigenerational line, with opportunities to maintin or alter intergenerational patterns.
That this perinatal period is so richly filled with unknowns, fears, and positive
expectations makes it a particularly powerful moment for intervention, and at this
unique and special time all therapeutic interventions can be considered to represent
a “two-generation” approach.
While many women worry that a history of trauma is determinative and hold
fears that prior experiences leave them vulnerable to the repetition of past tragedies,
clinical and research data tell a different story—one that leaves great hope for heal-
ing, recovery, and resilience. Early experiences are not determinative, and clinical
wisdom and research data both confirm that while prior adversity conveys risks,
there is great potential for interrupting intergenerational transmission of risk and for
positive growth in mother and child.
The women we have had the privilege to work with over the past years—both
clinically and in our research—have taught us much about strength and resilience.
We have heard from mothers who have faced significant adversities, from child
abuse to domestic violence, traumatic birth, loss, sexual violence, community vio-
lence, and/or war. These mothers have taught us about the importance of acknowl-
edging the struggle—recognizing the prevalence of traumatic experiences in
women’s lives and the impact these experiences have as women face motherhood.
Yet these mothers have also taught us about the capacity to find the strength, to
recognize the struggle, and to heal and thrive. Many of these women have carried
forward a passion and commitment to “do better” for their own daughters and sons,
and remind us that suffering and pain can lay fertile soil for great insight, strength,
and power.
Importantly, what we note anecdotally is that those who make this shift often
share a common thread related to this resilience, that of having experienced healing
relationships. These healing relationships come in many forms—with a romantic
partner, a parent, a midwife, a good friend, or a therapist. These relationships create
is a sense of hope for a different way of being, a way of being without violence, of
the potential for safety, and a positive vision for self-in-relationship with others.
v
vi Preface
We chose to write this book to honor women who face adversity—to recognize
the prevalence of trauma, to validate their struggle, and to document the impact of
these experiences. In the chapters that follow we learn about the potential impact on
women’s biology and psychology, chronicle their stories and experiences, and impor-
tantly, recognize the potential for resilience and posttraumatic growth. We highlight
programs and interventions that are making a positive difference for women and their
families, potentiating healing across generations. It is our hope that readers will share
our deep appreciation for the struggles many women face, while also finding inspira-
tion in the opportunities for promoting positive growth and resilience.
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Maria Muzik
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Katherine Lisa Rosenblum
Contents
Part I Introduction
1 Mental Health Problems Among Childbearing Women: Historical
Perspectives and Social Determinants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Jane Fisher, Catherine Acton, and Heather Rowe
Part II Trauma and Consequences for Mother and Child
2 Childhood Maltreatment and Motherhood: Implications
for Maternal Well-Being and Mothering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Diana Morelen, Katherine Lisa Rosenblum, and Maria Muzik
3 The Effects of Intimate Partner Violence on the Early
Caregiving System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Alytia A. Levendosky, G. Anne Bogat, Nicola Bernard,
and Antonia Garcia
4 The Slippery Slope of Birth Trauma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Cheryl Tatano Beck
5 Reproductive Loss and Its Impact on the Next Pregnancy . . . . . . . . . . 69
Irving G. Leon
Part III The Biological Impact of Maternal Trauma
6 Trauma Exposure: Consequences to Maternal
and Offspring Stress Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Cecilia Martinez-Torteya, Julie D’Amico, and Michelle Gilchrist
7 Maternal Trauma and Related Psychopathology: Consequences
to Parental Brain Functioning Associated with Caregiving . . . . . . . . . 99
Virginie C. Perizzolo Pointet, Dominik A. Moser, Francesca Suardi,
Molly Rothenberg, Sandra Rusconi Serpa, and Daniel S. Schechter
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viii Contents
Part IV Healing and Recovery
8 Resilience, Recovery, and Therapeutic Interventions
for Peripartum Women with Histories of Trauma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Minden B. Sexton, Diana C. Bennett, Maria Muzik,
and Katherine L. Rosenblum
9 Parenting in the Context of Trauma: Dyadic Interventions
for Trauma-Exposed Parents and Their Young Children . . . . . . . . . . 131
Megan M. Julian, Maria Muzik, and Katherine Lisa Rosenblum
10 Enhancing Emotion Regulation: The TARGET Approach
to Therapy with Traumatized Young Mothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Julian D. Ford and Judith G. Ford
11 Mom Power: A Parenting Group Intervention for Mothers
with Trauma Histories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Jamie M. Lawler, Katherine Lisa Rosenblum, Melisa Schuster,
and Maria Muzik
12 Project BRIGHT: An Attachment-Based Intervention for Mothers
with Substance Use Disorders and Their Young Children . . . . . . . . . 181
Ruth Paris, Amy Sommer, and Beth Marron
13 Survivor Mom’s Companion: A Population-Level Program
for Pregnant Women Who Are Survivors of Childhood
Maltreatment: The Need for a Public Health Approach
to Addressing Unresolved Maternal Trauma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Michelle Sperlich and Julia Seng
14 Military Moms: Deployment and Reintegration Challenges
to Motherhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Tova B. Walsh and Bethsaida Nieves
15 Maternal Experience of Neonatal Intensive Care
Unit Hospitalization: Trauma Exposure and 
Psychosocial Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Pamela A. Geller, Alexa Bonacquisti, and Chavis A. Patterson
Contributors
Catherine Acton Gender and Women’s Health Unit, Melbourne School of
Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
Cheryl Tatano Beck School of Nursing, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
Diana C. Bennett Ann Arbor Veterans Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MIUSA
Nicola Bernard Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East
Lansing, MI, USA
G. Anne Bogat Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing,
MI, USA
Alexa Bonacquisti Department of Psychology, Drexel University, Philadelphia,
PA, USA
Julie D’Amico Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA
Jane Fisher Jean Hailes Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive
Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Judith G. Ford Advanced Trauma Solutions, Inc., Farmington, CT, USA
Julian D. Ford University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA
Antonia Garcia Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East
Lansing, MI, USA
Pamela A. Geller Department of Psychology, Drexel University, Philadelphia,
PA, USA
Michelle Gilchrist Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago,
IL, USA
Megan M. Julian Center for Human Growth and Development, University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Jamie M. Lawler Department of Psychology, Eastern Michigan University,
Ypsilanti, MI, USA
ix