The Coping with Perinatal Loss Treatment Program at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University

Program Description

The Coping with Perinatal Loss Program is a free, coping-skills based intervention research program designed to facilitate validation, support, and processing for women who have experienced a perinatal loss within the last 4-12 weeks and are experiencing distressing and/or interfering symptoms of grief, sadness, anxiety, and/or depression.

For an appointment and further information call Shannon Bennett, M.A., Program Director, at 617-353-9610 (Monday through Thursday between 8:30am and 7:30pm, and Friday between 8:30am and 5pm) or send an email anytime to smbennet@bu.edu .

For more information about the program, read below.

What is a perinatal loss?

A perinatal loss is defined in Massachusetts as fetal death beyond 20-weeks gestation through infant death 1-month post-partum. The Coping with Perinatal loss Program is a research study designed to improve the scientific understanding of and clinical care for psychological distress following a perinatal loss.

What can I expect if I participate in this treatment research program?

If you agree to participate in this program, you will receive free therapy aimed at processing the perinatal loss experience and restoring day-to-day functioning. The intervention consists of eight one-hour weekly sessions of therapy with the principal investigator of this study who is an advanced clinical psychology doctoral student specializing in the research and treatment of perinatal loss, and is supervised by licensed clinical psychologists at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University.

The research part of the program involves participating in basic assessments, comprised of interview and questionnaire materials. The first assessment (taking about 2.5 hours) will take place upon entering the program. Following the initial assessment, before the start of the intervention program, you will be randomly assigned to a 2-, 4-, or 6-week waiting period during which time you will meet with your therapist for about 30 minutes per week to monitor your grief and related symptoms. After the brief wait period, there will be another full assessment before beginning the 8-session intervention program. The full assessment will also be completed just after the completion of the intervention program and again 6-weeks after the completion of the intervention program. You will be offered $25 to complete each of the final two assessments. You will be asked to fill out brief questionnaires (taking about 10 min.) on a weekly basis during the waitlist and active intervention periods. If you are currently taking psychiatric medication you will be asked to hold the dosage constant and not start any new psychiatric medication unless medically necessary, and you will be asked to suspend other therapies, for the duration of your participation in this study.

How can the program help?

The Coping with Perinatal Loss Program is a cognitive-behavioral treatment targeting acute grief and related symptoms or other types of functional impairment in women who have experienced a perinatal loss. The intervention in this research program is composed of therapy techniques designed to facilitate adaptive coping, accessing supports, validation, and processing of your loss experience. Initial research suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy is effective in reducing impairment and symptoms related to grief, anxiety, and depression, and in processing the loss of an important attachment for adults.  

Treatment may help you better understand the distress and day-to-day difficulties you are experiencing and is designed to help you overcome or reduce the severity of distress and difficulties associated with grief and bereavement. The therapy program may result in positive side-effects in other areas of your life that may not be directly related to the main problems associated with perinatal loss, including increased ability to use positive coping skills to manage emotional distress and functional impairment related to other stressful or upsetting situations. In addition, you will be providing information that will be helpful in expanding scientific knowledge about the nature and treatment of psychological and/or day-to-day difficulties related to perinatal grief which may improve the understanding and therapeutic care of these problems for other women.

When is this treatment research program not the appropriate mental health treatment?

Following the first assessment, women for whom this intervention study is not considered appropriate may be referred for treatment elsewhere, including women who are experiencing acute psychotic processes, severe substance abuse, acute history of mania, ongoing spousal or partner abuse, cognitive impairment and/or active suicidal or homicidal ideation.