Seen, Held & Heard
in-person & online workshop
foundational skills for holistic birth trauma support
WITH ME, CARLA SARGENT - EX MIDWIFE, AUTHOR, EDUCATOR & HEALING BIRTH PRACTITIONER SINCE 2015
I'm travelling New Zealand to work with you in person! My Seen Held & Heard workshop is a 2-day weekend intensive that will equip you with the foundational skills to provide life-changing, holistic birth trauma support.
Group numbers will be an intimate 10 - 14 of you per workshop. This is to ensure I can provide you with individualised support and guidance, and maximise your learning.
What you'll learn & come away with...
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In-depth knowledge of what birth trauma is, what is causing it, how it's impacting women and their families, and the fundamentals of how to guide the healing process
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Understanding the basics of birthing physiology and what frequently interferes with the physiological birth process, leading to trauma, including the roles played by our conditioning, our maternity system, and our 'trauma brain' responses
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Awareness of our own conditioned beliefs and biases, and how to ensure our biases and any potential rescuer mentality don't impede our ability to hold a safe space for women to share their story and find healing
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The art of listening and holding space (including in relation to working with those who experience baby loss) - something we will practice during the workshop
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Helpful responses after someone has shared their birth trauma story, and tools you can offer them for their ongoing healing journey
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18 hours towards Continuing Midwifery Education or Continuing Professional Development for whom it applies
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A certificate of course completion
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Ongoing access to pre-recorded lesson content (3 hours) and a comprehensive workbook
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Access to further training with me at a reduced cost - You can go on to become a certified Healing Birth Practitioner via my signature Healing Birth Practitioner Training programme at a reduced fee
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A 15 minute 1:1 personal 'get to know you' and induction process Zoom call with me prior to your workshop weekend
2026 Workshop Dates
Tauranga - 22 & 23 August
Kāpiti - 19 & 20 September
Investment
Early Bird $377 (or $700 for two people*)
Full Ticket $427
AfterPay available (4 fortnightly payments, zero interest or extra charges)
*contact Carla for discount code before booking
Early bird ends one month before first day of workshop
Where in Aotearoa should I bring this workshop?
Help me decide. Please fill in the short survey below
This training is for you if...
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you are a birth worker/perinatal care provider, or you work in a role where you come across people who have experienced birth trauma, for example, social worker, Rongoā Māori practitioner, counsellor, psychologist, alternative health practitioner, pelvic health physiotherapist, Plunket nurse, Space facilitator
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you experienced birth trauma and that has caused you to want to become 'that person' for others, that you so desperately needed for yourself
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you desire the foundational skills and 'know how' to offer trauma-informed, nuanced support to help guide the healing process for people who experience birth trauma
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you have an open mind, an open heart and are holistically minded when it comes to all aspects of health & wellbeing
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you are open to exploring your own biases, traumas, judgments & beliefs
Workshop Structure
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Once you've registered, you and I will arrange a 15 minute 1:1 introductory Zoom call so that I can prepare for this workshop to be an aligned and supportive experience for you
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You'll gain access to the pre-recorded lesson content - 2 videos (one which covers our Day 1 topics and the other, our Day 2 topics) and workbook.
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In preparation for Day 1 of your workshop, you'll need to watch the first video lesson (90mins). And on Saturday evening, you'll need to watch the second video lesson to prepare for Day 2.
Saturday & Sunday
8.30 - 9am - Arrive at venue for 9am start time
9am - 12pm - Learning, growth, activities & snacks
12 - 1pm - Lunch break & social mingling
1 - 4pm - More learning, growth, activities & snacks
4pm - End of day. Certificates awarded.
Online workshops will follow a similar format to the above.
To register your interest in attending an in-person or online workshop, please contact me and offer any details that might be helpful.
Answering some FAQs
I'm still recovering from my own experience of birth trauma. Is this course appropriate for me?
A lot of people want to do this type of training because they have experienced birth trauma themselves and wish there had been better support available to them. Although we learn self care strategies and tools for healing during the workshop, I highly recommend having an Unravelling Your Trauma session with me, or another Healing Birth practitioner, before you attend. While this is by no means compulsory, I do acknowledge that the workshop content may be triggering and as such, ask that you be discerning as to whether this is the right training for you at this time if you are not going to have an Unravelling Your Trauma session first. You might like to book a free Clarity Call with me to discuss this.
I have never done any birth or trauma related studies before. Will the workshop be suitable for me?
You do not have to have done any birth- or trauma-related study to attend this workshop and follow the content that is taught. I am used to teaching things like 'birthing physiology' and 'the trauma brain' to people with no such educational background. That isn't to say that we won't be doing some deep diving in the workshop! But I'm confident you will end the weekend feeling well equipped to hold a beautiful safe space for people to begin to unpack their traumatic birth with you. This is lives changing stuff!
I don't live near to any of the workshop venues. Would I need to arrange my own accommodation if I travel to attend the workshop?
Yes, you would need to organise your own transport and accommodation. There may be the possibility of another workshop attendee being able to offer accommodation and/or transport, and I could 'put the feelers out' in this regard, but I cannot guarantee that anything will come of that. There will also be the option of joining an online version of the workshop.
Will these Workshops be held in other parts of NZ in the future? What about in Australia?
That's the plan! If you'd like to be updated when new Workshop dates and locations are published, contact me to subscribe to my Healing Birth newsletter. I also welcome your location and venue suggestions, and expressions of interest! Click here to contact me.
What are my payment options?
Payment is via Stripe and occurs upon registration. AfterPay is available (a 'buy now, pay later' option of four fortnightly payments with no interest charged or additional costs). Early Bird pricing is for those who register at least one month in advance of the Workshop date, and will be $377. Those who register within one month of the Workshop will pay $427. If you have a colleague or friend who is also interested in attending, contact me to receive a discount code for both to use when you register - you'll pay just $350 each.
Are there any scholarships available for this course?
Sorry, no, not at this stage. I will likely revisit this question after evaluating the uptake for the first couple of Workshops.
What's different about this Seen, Held & Heard Workshop compared to the Healing Birth Practitioner Training (HBPT) course?
Apart from the Workshop being in-person and therefore more interactive and 'hands on', the main difference is that the Workshop is a foundational birth trauma support training, whereas HBPT (run over 10 weeks) is a lot more in-depth. The HBPT course is designed so that graduates are fully equipped to work as a certified Healing Birth practitioner, offering in-depth, detailed 1:1 birth trauma support. Students learn all my 'tools of the trade' and are given templates of the documents and resources that I use in my own Healing Birth work. The Seen, Held & Heard Workshop teaches the foundations of holistic birth trauma support, focussing on how to hold a truly safe space for someone who is sharing their story of birth trauma, and helpful reflections, responses and tools that can be offered afterwards.
What if I decide I want to do the more advanced Healing Birth Practitioner Training course after this one? Is any of it cross-credited?
Although there are definitely some overlaps between the Workshop content and the Healing Birth Practitioner Training (HBPT) content, the HBPT course goes into a lot more depth, especially regarding birthing physiology and the impacts of common interventions, as well as tools for healing, and how to run full Unravelling Your Trauma and Planning Your Healing Birth sessions, and provides you with a comprehensive tool kit of templates and the like, to set yourself up as a practicing and certified Healing Birth practitioner. None of the Workshop content is cross-credited - if you do the HBPT course you will still be required to do all the homework etc related to aspects of the training that are similar to the Workshop. However, as a Workshop attendee you will be entitled to a $150 discount on the HBPT course fee if you decide to do it!
Still have questions? Let's have a chat
