In the birth world, we anecdotally say the burnout rate for doulas is 2-3 years. Megan and I have collectively been in doula community together since 2012, working full and part time through these last 13 years. We’ve held each other through our own births and family deaths, and we’ve said goodbye to a lot of our friends who left or retired from birth work after many years of beautiful contribution to the Calgary doula community. Having quality reliable back-up is a critical part of being a full-time working doula, and equally as important is building a foundation of resilience.

We walk alongside birth and encourage our clients that they can do really hard things. In the face of all birth work asks of us, how do we maintain the ability to do the same? What contributes to doula burn out? What do we do with the outcomes we help our clients to hold? How do we continue to show up in neutrality when we witness ‘trespass against wisdom’ in our client’s experiences? How do we hold our client’s traumas as well as our own? A life on call is not for the weak. How do we do doula work sustainably?

We cultivate resiliency and we commiftedly do this work in community. When we hone this skillset for ourselves and our practice we bring this wisdom In The Birth Room for our clients to also call upon. With a grounded practice of resiliency, we can hold the big work of birth and transformation in sacred space with our clients - no matter how hard the job feels. Doulas need space to connect with each other to integrate the work we do. This is why community is critical to being able to do this with longevity.

Our community has been asking for this. We are excited to share this with you.

Jen Reddish is a Registered Master Therapeutic Counsellor with over 15 years of experience. She specializes in supporting women through the perinatal period and various stages of motherhood. Jen helps women understand the root of their triggers and guides them in moving through their trauma, empowering them to heal so they are no longer relying on moment-to-moment coping skills, but can truly move past the challenges they face. Jen has also facilitated numerous Resiliency Workshops for Birthworkers over the past 8 years using skills and knowledge she's learned on this topic as a therapist. With a deep respect for birthworkers, rooted in her understanding of just how impactful their role is—not just for the birth itself, but for the story they help create for the birthing family, a story that is carried forever. This understanding is shaped by her own birth experiences and by the birth processing work she does with her clients, helping them to process, integrate and heal from their birth experiences. Jen is passionate about supporting birthworkers in overcoming and preventing burnout, as well as processing their own experiences of trauma and vicarious traumatization. She is committed to supporting birth workers build the tools they need for self-care, ensuring they can show up as the best possible version of themselves for the people they serve during life’s most pivotal and transformative moments.

On April 12 from 10:00am-4:30pm at the beautiful Yoga Spirit in Bragg Creek, Megan and Christine are hosting Jen Reddish for Resiliency for Doulas. In this full day workshop, Jen will be masterfully leading attendees in an exploration of recognizing our own grief, burnout, and compassion fatigue. Through Jen’s guidance, we will deeply explore resiliency skill building together. Our deep dive will prioritize the following topics in our. morning session:

• Preventing your own bias, personal experiences & past professional
  experiences from interfering with the birth process/how you support your
  client.

• Managing power dynamics & politics in the birth room.

• What REAL self care looks like before, during and after a birth.

• Creating safety for yourself, your nervous system, parts of yourself that are
  likely to become triggered (getting back to baseline).

• Detaching from outcomes. 

In the afternoon we integrate our stories together and share our experiences In The Birth Room. We incorporate all we have learned about resilience skill building and we will collectively, with Jen’s guidance use therapeutic tools to give our stories and ourselves what we need to feel whole and complete. Our day together spent in community will culminate in an optional dinner date where we will gather for dinner in Bragg Creek at a nearby restaurant.

Cost to attend is $225.00.

Receipts and certificates of attendance will be issued to each attendee. Third party health benefit providers offering coverage under, ‘Clinical Counselling’, ‘Counselling’, or ‘Psychotherapy’ may use Jen’s receipt for insurance reimbursement.

Resiliency for Doulas promises to be a foundational gift to yourself and your doula practice, where you will be deeply seen, heard, and held and will deepen your skillset for how to bring this to your client’s experience In The Birth Room.

We are so looking forward to this event, and hope to see you there!

~ Christine & Megan