Spring 2022 Health Professional Conference

Dr. Kendall-Tackett is a health psychologist and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, and the Owner and Editor-in-Chief of Praeclarus Press, a small press specializing in women's health. Dr. Kendall-Tackett is Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Psychological Trauma and was Founding Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Lactation, a position she held for 11 years. She is Fellow of the American Psychological Association in Health and Trauma Psychology, Past President of the APA Division of Trauma Psychology, and a member of APA’s Publications and Communications Board.

Dr. Kendall-Tackett specializes in women's-health research including breastfeeding, depression, trauma, and health psychology, and has won many awards for her work including the 2019 President’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Trauma Psychology from the American Psychological Association. Dr. Kendall-Tackett has authored more than 470 articles or chapters and is author or editor of 39 books. Her most recent books include Depression in New Mothers, 3rd Edition (2017, Routledge UK), Women’s Mental Health Across the Lifespan (2017, Routledge US, with Lesia Ruglass), and The Phantom of the Opera: A Social History of the World’s Most Popular Musical (2018, Praeclarus). Her forthcoming book is called Breastfeeding Doesn’t Have to Suck (in press, American Psychological Association).

Roxanne Francis is an award-winning psychotherapist, registered social worker, consultant and international speaker, who has been helping people access tools to change their lives for over 12 years.

She is the CEO of Francis Psychotherapy Consulting Services, where she is the lead therapist in her group therapy practice, coaches other therapists, and provides consultation to various organizations addressing topics such as mental health in the workplace, diversity equity & inclusion, burnout, and women’s issues.

Roxanne is an adjunct professor at the Factor Inwentash School of Social Work Program at the University of Toronto, and in 2020 she was recognized as one of Canada’s 100 Black Women to Watch. She is a sought-after podcast guest who also writes for print/online publications such as Today’s Parent Magazine and The Huffington Post and shares her mental health expertise on multiple media outlets including CBCNews The National, CP24, CTVNews, Breakfast Television and CTV: Your Morning.

You can follow Roxanne on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and on her website www.francispsychotherapy.com.

During her MA and PhD studies on women's writing, Jo-Anne Elder (she, elle) began teaching languages and women's studies. This led to her research interests and activities in intersectional feminism and collaborative learning. As a mother to 7 adults and grandmother to 5, a Communication Skills Facilitator with La Leche League Canada, a writer, an educator, and a community worker, she continues to do her self-work and tries to help others do the same.

Hannah (M.Ed) is a mother of two little humans (1 and 3). She is passionate about communication, community and creation. As a LLL leader, educator, birth doula and artist she blends together her love for life and is on a path of continual learning. Through her own breastfeeding struggles she discovered the beautiful world of breastfeeding and what true breastfeeding support looks like. She has an undergraduate degree in curatorial practice and art criticism from OCADU (Toronto) and a masters degree in Art Education from Concordia University (Montréal).

Wendy Jolliffe has been a volunteer La Leche League Leader since 2011, and has been facilitating Communication Skills Development (CSD) courses for Leaders for the past 2 years. She has a keen interest in language, working as a published report writer in her professional life with the Canadian Federal Government.

9:00 Opening

9:15 Burnout, Compassion Fatigue, and Moral Injury in Members of the Perinatal Health Team
Presented by Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, PhD, IBCLC, FAPA
Working in perinatal care can be deeply rewarding. It can also lead to job-related burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and moral injury. Secondary traumatic stress (compassion fatigue), or moral injury, can occur when witnessing traumatic events in the workplace. This can occur when witnessing infant death or traumatic births, or when there is too much work, or work that doesn’t seem to make a difference, and little institutional support. Unfortunately, this is remarkably common among caregivers for perinatal women. Burnout, compassion fatigue, and moral injury can lead to physical and mental health sequelae for care providers and have a negative effect on the care they provider. Self-care is essential for being able to provide care to others. In this presentation, participants will learn about the causes and consequences of burnout, compassion fatigue, and moral injury. Fortunately, there is hope for recovery. Participants will learn some specific strategies for integrating self-care into their care for others.

10:30 Coping Strategies During Virtual Times: Screen Saturation and Your Mental Health
Presented by Roxanne Francis, MSW, RSW
Two years ago the vast majority of us were sent home to curb the spread of Covid-19. As a result, almost all of our work and communication became heavily dependent on technology and screens. Between Face-Time and Zoom calls “you’re on mute” was likely the most popular phrase in recent times. But how has this screen dependency impacted our mental wellness? While technology has allowed many of us to do our work somewhat effectively, it has resulted in a reduction in meaningful connections. Communication beyond meetings has dropped significantly, leaving people without the social currency that created some emotional balance for our jobs. There has been increased anxiety, reduced sleep, and worsening depression all thanks in part to our increased screen usage. As our society looks towards “re-opening” it is possible to mitigate the negative effects that screens have had on our mental health.

1:00 Beyond Empathy
Presented by Jo-Anne Elder, PhD and LLLC Leader
Professionals and peer supporters strive to communicate about breastfeeding and chestfeeding in an empowering, non-judgmental, warm, and respectful manner. Communication skill courses emphasize techniques to develop empathy and exercises to identify and reflect feelings and reasons for feelings. In this session, Jo-Anne Elder, Ph.D., invites us to move beyond empathy to compassion, beyond identification of feelings to understanding, and beyond reflection statements to healing words. Together, we'll explore our thoughts and feelings and learn to apply our insights to our interactions with parents and families. By engaging parents in a process of reflective practice and helping them reframe their experiences and beliefs, our compassionate interactions can provide emotional support and contribute to healing.

2:30 The Words We Use Matter! How the language used by HCPs impacts infant feeding.
Presented by Hannah Zanovello, M.Ed and LLLC Leader and Wendy Jolliffe, B.Sc, B.Tech La Leche League Leaders, will examine the language commonly used in providing information about human milk and health care support for families expecting a baby or babies. If feeding a newborn human milk (whether by breastfeeding, chest feeding, body feeding, pumping, or feeding expressed milk) is a straightforward health issue, why do the words we use matter? The words health care providers use are powerful - this session will critique common language used when we provide information and support with a specific focus on the impact of language in pre and post natal support. Alternative language will be presented for consideration.

3:45 Closing

We would like to thank our Sponsors.