Do More of the Work You'll Love


Discover a relationship-based approach to parenthood - and possibly your most rewarding work ever.


Are you seeking to widen and deepen your understanding of perinatal care?

Do you hope to empower parents on the formative journey of new parenthood?

Are you wanting to make a lasting impact in the lives of new families?

Our unique Becoming Us Relationship training is designed to equip perinatal care professionals with the insights, skills and resources needed to prepare, guide and support parents and partners for the journey through pregnancy, birth and beyond.

Why Perinatal Relationship Training?

The perinatal period is a transformative and vulnerable time for parents and a critical time for partners as they navigate the profound changes, challenges and unknowns of pregnancy, birth and early parenthood. It’s during this tender time that strong, healthy relationships between partners have a significant impact on a child’s lifelong development and wellbeing. As a perinatal care professional, you have the power to positively influence this, helping to nurture a secure and loving environment that will shape the future of the whole family.

And parents need this. Because, according to research, relationship concerns are the single most significant risk factor for antenatal anxiety. In the postnatal period, a whopping 92% of parents report increased conflict and 67% declined relationship satisfaction. Both these things are major contributors to depression and/or anxiety in 1 in 3 new mothers and 1 in 5 new dads.  

Parents need relationship-based preparation, guidance and support through this pivotal phase of their lives.

Through our specialised training, you’ll gain the knowledge, tools and resources necessary to support and strengthen the connection between parents and help them navigate the changes, challenges and unknowns ahead. You'll be able to assist them to lay the groundwork for a healthy and happy growing family and have a pathway to guide them all going forward.

By incorporating Becoming Us perinatal relationship education into your practice, you will be able to:

  1. Have comprehensive understanding. Our program provides in-depth knowledge of the perinatal period, the profound relational, emotional and psychological changes experienced by expecting and new mothers, fathers and parents and the unique challenges they face at this time. With a deeper understanding of the stresses, joys, and vulnerabilities, you'll be better equipped to provide insightful and meaningful care that fosters strong, resilient relationships.

  2. Offer specialised support. Building a solid foundation for parental relationships starts below ground level. Our training equips you to dig below the surface, with proven strategies to facilitate open and empowering dialogues with parents. You will learn what to listen for, be able to ask thought-provoking questions, and have relationship frameworks and tailored interventions to create healthy partnership and family dynamics.

  3. Embrace inclusivity and expand your client base. Attract and retain clients by becoming a specialist in perinatal relationship education and support, a sought-after service in this space. Whilst every family is unique, it’s the bond between parents that forms the foundation for their family and our training emphasizes the importance of fathers and partners in providing comprehensive care. Embrace and celebrate the whole family (even if you work solely with mothers), ensuring that every family member feels included and supported on their parenting journey.

  4. Enhance client outcomes. The emotional wellbeing of parents directly impacts their ability to nurture healthy relationships. Our program emphasises the importance of supporting parents' mental, emotional and relational resilience during the perinatal period. You will learn to identify signs of relational distress, offer support, and connect parents with appropriate resources, empowering them to navigate challenges they may face with confidence.

  5. Building Community and Peer Support. Link in with peers from all over the world who share your passion for nurturing perinatal relationships. Engage in valuable discussions, exchange experiences, and collaborate on best practices. The networking opportunities provided will enrich your personal and professional journey, offering ongoing support, guidance, and inspiration.


We invite you to deepen your understanding, empower yourself and join a community of like-minded professionals embarking on a transformative journey of personal and professional growth. You can make a significant difference in the long-term wellbeing of parents and families.

Partner support is often cited as the most important variable in avoiding perinatal mental health difficulties, and we are well aware of the intergenerational transmission of trauma, but rarely address this. 

We are missing what could be our best opportunity for prevention and early intervention in mental health for the whole family. 

Becoming Us provides a vital missing piece of the perinatal wellbeing puzzle that is too often overlooked and goes unaddressed. I recommend this practical, insightful and transformative professional training.

Professor Bryanne Barnett A.M.

Sept 2023 Early Bird enrollments open NOW!

This is our final Intensive training for 2023. Only 9 spaces available. Please book early to avoid disappointment.

8 weeks of training with 2 convenient self-paced online sessions and one live zoom discussion from Sept - Nov 2023. Dates and times are below.

This unique training includes:

  • Cutting Edge Education

    Emerging research and evidence-based approaches to fill gaps that currently exist in antenatal preparation and postnatal support.

  • User Friendly Resources

    A "map" for anticipatory guidance to steer parents around common risks, find their way and steps to keep them on track.

  • A Relationship Toolkit

    Handouts and resources to prepare and support individual parents, partners and/or families - even if you're short on time.

  • Father & Partner Inclusivity

    Build confidence in engaging fathers and partners and be able to address their hopes, concerns and needs, even if they're not in the room.

  • Whole Family Attachment

    Strengthen parents' relationship with themselves, their partner, their baby, grandparents, wider family, friends and community. Work with best-practice guidelines.

  • Insight and Perspective

    Use a relationship lens to discover opportunities to support parents, partners and babies, both in the short-term and well into a family's future.

  • Prevention and Early Intervention

    Help reduce risks and fallout related to perinatal trauma, PMH conditions, loss and grief and relationship crises including abuse, addictions and infidelity.

  • Personal and Professional Growth

    Opportunities to reflect on your own parenthood journey for further insight and healing. A degree of readiness is needed for this intensive training.

  • Connection

    A group of dedicated and passionate multi-disciplinary perinatal professionals. Find opportunities to build referral pathways and community in your area.

I really love the conversations. The zoom component is motivating me to do the reading and content as opposed to leaving it sitting in my "PDs to do" folder. And there's so much to talk about! Elly's energy for this work is infectious and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to learn directly from her.

Caitlin Sopp - Perinatal Psychologist

This Becoming Us Intensive is designed for:

  • Perinatal psychiatrists and psychologists

  • General psychologists with an interest in the perinatal period

  • Psychotherapists, therapists and counsellors

  • Perinatal professionals with an interest in the intersections between relationships and mental health

What you'll learn:

Level I - Perinatal Relationship Foundations:

  • Three main long-term relationship stages
  • Bonding and attachment (babies and adults)
  • Twelve transitions of parenthood
  • The benefits of relationship-informed work
  • Using neuroplasticity to plant prevention seeds
Level II - A Perinatal Relationship Framework:

  • Preparing expectant parents for life as a new family
  • Postnatal nesting, resting and whole family bonding
  • Adjusting expectations of life, self, partner, baby and others
  • Supporting self-care, partner-care and baby-care
  • Understanding mixed emotions of the perinatal period
  • Supporting self-esteem and new sense of identity
  • Managing communication and conflict to bring couples closer
  • Bonding couples through layers of intimacy
Level III - Extra Support for the Extra Hard Stuff:

  • Minimising risks for intimate partner abuse, addictions and infidelity
  • Growing through PMH issues, trauma, loss and grief
  • Reflecting on your own journey
  • Celebrating all that you bring to your important role

This training was such a pleasure! It opened my mind to a highly intuitive, yet often overlooked, view of the transition into parenting. I particularly appreciated the father-inclusive content throughout each stage of the learning ‘journey’, which is enriching my own clinical practice and way of viewing the mental health challenges of the fathers I work with.

Mathew Aquilina, Psychologist and Supervisor, Wollongong, New South Wales

Included in the Intensive:

  • Fourteen online self-paced educational sessions.

  • Eight weekly small group live zoom discussion and Q&A sessions. Dates and times below.

  • Handouts and resources to use with individual parents, couples and/or groups from Day One.

  • Optional monthly peer support group zoom calls to meet international colleagues, share challenges and have community support.

  • Access to our private facebook group where we post new research to stay updated.

  • Forever access to it all.

Sep - Nov 2023 Dates and Times

Each week of this Intensive contains two self-paced online sessions followed by a live zoom discussion and Q&A call at the end of each week. Times below.

Becoming Us Level I:

  • Week 1 starts Sep 9th
  • Week 2 starts Sep 16th


Becoming Us Level II:

  • Week 3 starts Sep 23rd
  • Week 4 starts Sep 30th

BREAK

  • Week 5 starts Sep 21st
  • Week 6 starts Oct 28th


Becoming Us Level III:

  • Week 7 starts Nov 4th
  • Week 8 starts Nov 11th


Live zoom discussion calls are on Fridays at 10.00am Sydney Time (Thursday afternoons/evenings in the U.S. and Canada). Please check this time zone converter for your local date and time. Please also adjust your calendar for any seasonal time changes.

Meet your Facilitators

Elly Taylor

Elly Taylor is a perinatal relationship expert, multi award-winning author and founder of Becoming Us. As a relationship counsellor, Elly began studying the transition into parenthood when she became aware of both the unique challenges and opportunities for parents and families at this time. Based on the stories of hundreds of mothers, fathers and parents and research in adult attachment, Elly created Becoming Us, a relationship-developmental approach to pregnancy and early parenthood.

Elly has served as a subject matter expert for Monash University, The Australian Catholic University, Newcastle University (SMS4DADS) and Columbia University research projects and has been invited to speak at conferences and events internationally.

Elly's passion is sharing the benefits of relationship-informed care for parents, families, providers and communities. She is excited to be working currently with NSW Health to implement Becoming Us courses in her local area, including in the two hospitals where her three children were born.

Carla Anderson

Carla Anderson is a clinical psychologist, working in private practice since 2005, with a special interest in working with families within the perinatal period. Carla’s passion for this began as a volunteer postnatal depression peer support worker, whilst completing her psychology degree and becoming a mother herself.

Carla has been involved in numerous perinatal projects, including grief counsellor and honorary national trainer with a focus on perinatal loss for Bonnie Babes Foundation, co-ordinating postnatal disorders support groups and training peer support volunteers, as well as providing training to professionals and parents on a range of perinatal topics. Recently, Carla co-collaborated with the Centre of Perinatal Psychology on a training program; "Bearing the Unbearable; Perinatal Loss” and was published in the Australian Psychologist Journal for her research on Pregnancy-related Anxiety.

Carla works from an attachment and relational framework and is passionate about providing early interventions and supports to reduce challenges experienced by families and so is excited to be co-facilitating the Becoming Us intensive training with Elly.

Some final considerations

This intensive training is designed for personal and professional development. Participants will be invited to reflect on their own journey of parenthood. This intensive training is not suitable for individuals who are currently or recently experiencing relationship crises. Please see the enrol any time, self-paced training options as alternatives.

Please allow around 60-90 mins for each session. Please also be prepared to allow for reflection, processing, practice and integration time in between sessions eg. a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule is ideal.

The Becoming Us Intensive is approved by Postpartum Support International (PSI) as an alternative track for advanced training. Attendance at all live zoom sessions is mandatory for this. The Becoming Us self-paced training is approved for PSI PMH-C re-certification and 22 CEUs.

Please note: PRICES ARE IN US DOLLARS. We are proudly based in Australia but provide training internationally. Please check your local currency conversion before committing. 

Finally, for organisational and group enrollment discounts, please email [email protected].


Can you say a training is beautiful? Because this training is beautiful!

Diane Speier PhD., Birth Professional and Psychotherapist, Manchester, UK

REGISTRATIONS CLOSE IN:

Only 7 spaces available. Please book early to avoid disappointment.

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Becoming Us Perinatal Relationship Training is approved by:

Extra Early Bird Pricing options:

Please Note: Prices are in US dollars

  • $1,200.00

    Becoming Us Sep 23 PMH Professional Intensive

    ENROL NOW
  • 3 x $400.00

    Becoming Us Sep 23 PMH Professional Intensive

    ENROL NOW