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GXC 2025 Online Virtual Conference - Mental Health Without Borders

Perinatal Mental Health: The Most Urgent Public Health Priority You’re Not Talking About

Avril Ferguson, MA, RP 🇨🇦
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Date & Time

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Identify at least three public health outcomes associated with untreated perinatal mental health conditions

  • Analyze the intersection of perinatal mental health with trauma, addiction, and systemic inequities.

  • Evaluate evidence-based interventions for integrating perinatal and parental mental health into healthcare systems.

  • Develop an actionable advocacy strategy to elevate perinatal mental health as a public health priority.

Educational Goal

The educational goal of this session is to deepen understanding of perinatal mental health as a public health priority and its impact across generations. Participants will strengthen their ability to apply population-level frameworks, integrate prevention strategies, and advocate for systemic change within their clinical and organizational practice.

Description

Perinatal and parental mental health is not a narrow clinical concern; it is a public health imperative. The first 1,000 days of life mark the most rapid period of neurological and psychosocial development, shaping outcomes across the entire lifespan. Yet untreated perinatal mental health challenges are still overlooked, with consequences that extend well beyond the mother. They ripple outward to children, families, and communities, fueling intergenerational cycles of trauma, addiction, and chronic disease.

This session will reposition perinatal and parental mental health as a foundational pillar of population health, on par with vaccination, clean water, and safe housing. Participants will gain a critical understanding of how perinatal mental health intersects with trauma, inequity, and systemic barriers. More importantly, they will leave with actionable strategies to integrate this lens into healthcare delivery, training pipelines, and public policy. If public health is truly about prevention, resilience, and community wellbeing, then perinatal mental health is not optional; it is where the conversation must begin.

Target Audience

  • Addiction Professional
  • Counselor
  • Marriage & Family Therapist
  • Nurse
  • Physician
  • Psychologist
  • Social Worker

Presenters

Avril Ferguson, MA, RP 🇨🇦
Avril Ferguson, MA, RP, is a Registered Psychotherapist and the Founder and Clinical Director of an expanding psychotherapy practice in Ontario, Canada. She leads a multidisciplinary team of psychotherapists, counsellors, and graduate students, providing both specialized clinical care and advanced training in women’s and perinatal mental health. Under her leadership, the institute has become a hub for innovation in psychotherapy, supervision, and professional development. Avril holds multiple perinatal certifications (CC-PMH, CC-BRT, CC-PGL, PMH-C) and is dedicated to embedding perinatal competence into ethical, evidence-based practice through teaching, training, and mentorship. She teaches in Laurier University’s Women’s Mental Health Certificate program and speaks nationally on trauma, parenting, and perinatal care. Alongside her clinical and academic roles, she contributes to provincial advocacy efforts to strengthen mental health care systems, with a particular focus on rural and remote communities. In January 2026, she will begin a Doctor of Behavioural Health degree with a focus on perinatal mental health and public health integration.

Financially Sponsored By

  • GXC Events - The Global Exchange Conference