Helping Mothers, Helping Babies

""This beautifully written and deeply informative book is infused with palpable compassion and expertise borne of Dr. Costello's decades of work with the perinatal population. Throughout this practical and accessible guide, the author seamlessly integrates somatic, body-based approaches with relatable vignettes and insights from decades of experience as a perinatal therapist. In creating this guide for clinicians and other helping professionals in the perinatal sphere, Dr. Costello continues to offer invaluable support for mothers navigating the profound physical, emotional, and psychological shifts of motherhood. Filled with immediately usable, intuitive somatic tools, this guide is grounded in a deep understanding of trauma-informed care. It presents accessible, research-backed techniques that feel natural and are proven to be highly effective in clinical practice. The book itself is thoughtfully structured, making it easy to navigate and integrate into therapy sessions. Insightful, empowering, and deeply practical, this book is an invaluable resource for any clinician committed to supporting mothers in a holistic, embodied way. An essential addition to every therapist's bookshelf!"" - Jaimee Folkins, MEd, CCC, LCT, PMH-C, owner and psychotherapist at Balanced Beginnings Counselling Therapy ""Helping Mothers, Helping Babies is a vital contribution to the emerging and direly needed field of somatically informed perinatal mental health. Costello brings a depth of clinical wisdom, research, and embodied understanding to the realities of the perinatal journey-offering a much-needed shift from a 'baby-first' lens to a mother-centered, integrative approach. With clarity and compassion, she weaves somatic interventions into the therapeutic process, making this book an invaluable resource for clinicians seeking to support mothers in their full complexity. Costello's work resonates deeply with the timely emphasis on maternal embodied healing as foundational to perinatal care on both individual, family, and community levels. This book is a must-read for any practitioner committed to bridging the gap between psychology and the lived, felt experience of the maternal body."" - Helena Vissing, PsyD, SEP, PMH-C, Associate Professor at CIIS, author of Somatic Maternal Healing: Psychodynamic and Somatic Trauma Treatment for Perinatal Mental Health