Beyond the Fourth Trimester: The Science and Psychology of Early Parenthood
A GROUNDBREAKING COURSE FOR PARENTS AND PROFESSIONALS WHO WANT TO NURTURE BOTH THE BABY’S BIOLOGY AND THE PARENT’S MENTAL HEALTH IN THE FIRST MONTHS AFTER BIRTH.
The months following birth are a time of profound neurological, emotional, and relational transformation — not just for your baby, but for you. Yet, our culture rarely names or supports this extended period of adjustment, leaving parents anxious, depleted, and unsure what’s “normal.”
Beyond the Fourth Trimester brings together science and compassion to support both baby and parent through the early months of growth and adaptation.
Bringing together world-leading insights from neuroscience, developmental psychology, and evolutionary anthropology, this course helps you navigate the early months of parenthood with confidence, connection, and self-compassion.
Grounded in the Science of Nurture
Drawing on decades of research, this program reframes the postpartum months through the lens of attachment, nervous-system regulation, and the mental health of both parent and baby.
You’ll learn how your baby’s developing brain and body are wired for connection and how your own mind and nervous system adapt in response. Together, you’ll discover how to create rhythms of rest, recovery, and relationship that support long-term wellbeing.
Course Highlights
Protecting Parental Mental Health
Practical, science-backed strategies to soothe overwhelm, manage exhaustion, ease intrusive or anxious thoughts, and rediscover moments of calm and confidence in the chaos of new parenthood.
The Parent–Infant Connection
Discover the neuroscience of bonding and co-regulation - how your presence shapes your baby’s brain and how your baby shapes yours.
Biologically Normal Infant Sleep
Understand how infant sleep develops across the first months - what truly supports rest and regulation — and how to protect your mental health while supporting your baby’s natural rhythms.
Baby Temperament & Parental Sensitivity
Discover how to read your baby’s cues and temperament, so you can meet their needs with calm and confidence - without getting lost in comparison or second-guessing yourself.
Bridging the Gap Between Biology & Culture
Explore how cultural pressures and perfectionism shape the early parenting experience - and how to tune out unrealistic expectations while tuning in to what your family really needs.
WHO THIS COURSE IS FOR:
Expectant or new parents navigating the first months after birth
Birth professionals, midwives, and psychologists seeking an integrated, evidence-based framework
Anyone ready to move beyond “quick fixes” and toward a relationship-centred model of early care
The Program Facilitators
AOIFE DURCAN
Dr. Aoife Durcan is a Chartered Senior Counselling Psychologist, supervisor-trainer, and specialist on high sensitivity in children, teenagers, and adults. She has dedicated her career to supporting individuals and families to navigate the deep feelings, empathy, and emotional intensity that come with sensitivity, helping them harness its unique strengths.
Aoife works with children, adolescents, and adults in both clinical and educational settings. She is Clinical Lead for a psychology group within a mental health hospital, where she works as part of a wider multidisciplinary team supporting people through complex emotional and psychological challenges. She also provides training to medical and psychology practitioners internationally.
Author of Your Highly Sensitive Child (Gill Books), Aoife combines her clinical expertise with lived insight as a highly sensitive person herself. She is known for her warm, family-centred approach and is a sought-after international speaker on sensitivity, parenting, and mental health, frequently appearing in the media.
RACHEL SAMSON
Rachel Samson, M.Psych (Clin), is an Australian clinical psychologist, author, lecturer, and speaker known for relationships and parenting expertise. With 15 years’ clinical experience, she supports highly sensitive children, adults, and families, and shares evidence-based guidance as @australianpsychologist.
Her practice is neurodiversity-affirming, developmental, and relationship-focused, applying attachment and temperament science. She trained in attachment assessment with Alan Sroufe and Elizabeth Carlson (Minnesota), in maternal sensitivity with Marian Bakermans-Kranenburg (Cambridge), and in the NDC “Possums” approach to infant sleep and cry-fuss.
Rachel holds advanced international certification in Schema Therapy (trainer-supervisor; ISST) and co-developed an expanded Schema Therapy model for highly sensitive people with Dr Jeffrey Young and Dr George Lockwood. She is co-author of Beyond Difficult with Dr Jessie Stern (Affirm Press/Simon & Schuster).