What’s Happening: KCWM Workshop with Moriah Barr, LMFTA

Welcome to my “News and Events” Blog! As a doula and childbirth educator, an amazing part of my job is to not only provide my clients with the information needed for them to make informed decisions, but to connect them with professionals with the skills and knowledge to make those decisions a reality. I am incredibly passionate about my own continued education and spend a lot of time attending webinars, classes, and other birth working events! There are so many, extremely unique, and wonderful people filled with passion for every step of your birth journey hosting amazing events, both virtual and in-person, for pregnant persons and birth workers to connect and learn! Today, I would like to introduce you to one of them, Moriah Barr, LMFTA.

Life is full of events and circumstances that can be really hard to experience, especially in a healthy way. This statement is particularly true when it comes to the both amazing and challenging process of bringing a child into the world. For pregnant people, their partners, and their birth teams, there are many instances where this beautiful process can bring both joy and trauma.

“I like to say, you either work hard healing for a short time or work hard coping forever,” Moriah Barr writes. “Life can be so hard, and there is no reason to struggle more than you have to.”

Moriah is the happy wife of high school English teacher David Barr and the mother of an adorable fur baby named Zoey. She grew up with three sisters, two of which are currently studying to become naturopathic doctors and the third a doula and childbirth educator. You might be thinking, “Hey, you are a doula and childbirth educator!” and you would be correct. You probably guessed it, Moriah is one of my amazing sisters! According to Psychology Today, Moriah Barr graduated from Texas Woman’s University and is a member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. She is also the creator and presenter of “Secondary Trauma and Compassion Fatigue”, a presentation specially written to give doulas the tools needed to keep our mental health while being present in possibly traumatic situations.

With two sisters highly involved in the birth world, Moriah has a unique understanding required for writing this incredibly unique workshop. “I first became interested in the birthing world when my two older sisters started having babies,” Moriah writes, “They had me watch a documentary about the challenges of hospital births and how the system is bent toward fast deliveries. Since then, I have learned so much through their journeys.” Moriah has a passion for mental health, with a history of working with sexual abuse survivors and their families as well as domestic violence survivors. She is trained in trauma informed practices and specializes in anxiety, depression, and trauma, all of which are far too common in the field of birth work. She also specialized in couples therapy.

Doula “burnout” is a well-known phrase to many birth-workers. A quick internet search shows hundreds of blogs giving tips to doulas facing exhaustion. Doulas are essential. We bring much needed support to our clients and their birth teams. We cannot continue to burn out at the rates that we are. As birth doulas, we are in the thick of the birth space, experiencing the extraordinary and the horrifying. We tell our clients to take care of themselves while running on empty. If you walk into a birth space while carrying trauma, that negative energy and exhaustion comes with you.

In her workshop, Moriah will be discussing the possible effects of continued exposure to high stress birthing situations. She will explore how to cope with traumatic births and how to begin healing when burnout occurs. In a recent video interview, Moriah explained that she wants her attendees to leave her workshop with practical tools to keep from absorbing trauma in the first place. To paraphrase, Moriah wants to teach doulas how to be actively supportive of our clients in the thick of a potentially traumatic situation while absorbing as little of that trauma ourselves as possible.

You, dear doula, are important. You deserve the same peace and energy you give so freely to your clients.

If you are want to learn more, check out KC Women’s Ministry’s blog for more information! If you live in Texas and are interested in scheduling an appointment with Moriah, she offers virtual and in-person appointments!

As always, thank you for reading and God Bless!