The Village
A 6-month matrescence apprenticeship program for postpartum professionals and others fiercely committed to maternal wellness
The transition to motherhood is a rite of passage.
It’s a process that takes 2-3 years, not six weeks or three months.
And it’s a transformation that is more than about learning how to change diapers and make really strong coffee.
It’s an identity shift.
In times and places long ago and far away, women were ushered through this transformative time with the support of a community of other women, with ritual and ceremony to celebrate their shifting lives.
But modern mothers have lost the “village” that was supposed to help them when this mothering thing got hard.
As a result, the mothers being born today are suffering. They rush to “get back to normal” and often struggle with loneliness, sadness and a sense of feeling lost. Rates of postpartum depression and anxiety are skyrocketing. Everything from social media to social policy denies new mothers the birthing-right of coming undone in motherhood, so that they can be re-made, as Mothers.
It’s time to re-create the Village.
But we can only do that by apprenticing ourselves to the art and science of mothering the mother.
Despite the fact that women have been becoming mothers *literally* since the dawn of human life, the study of matrescence – the transition to motherhood – is a brand new field.
Our current modern, Western understanding of matrescence is THAT it happens. We know that women experience a total identity shift in motherhood. We know that that can be challenging, especially in a culture that doesn’t yet recognize and honour this transformation.
But we don’t know HOW matrescence happens.
And when we don’t know HOW it happens, we simply cannot provide adequate support to mothers at every step along the way.
At least until now.
After working with new mothers as a doula and a coach for over fifteen years, and diving into the research on motherhood, rites of passage theory, and adult development psychology, I have created a model that describes how the process of matrescence unfolds for modern women.
Think of it as a map.
And now, think of yourself as a guide for the journey.
Why The Village?
The Village is a 6-month apprenticeship program for people who work with – or want to work with – women traversing the transition into motherhood.
So, whether you’re a postpartum doula, a yoga teacher, a physician, a therapist, a breastfeeding educator, or another mother who wants to learn how to support the mamas around you better, you are welcome here. You are needed here.
Those who complete the program will become more effective matrescence mentors, with a deeper, evidence-based understanding of how matrescence happens and a richly-appointed toolkit of resources and skills to support new mothers.
“This is the next level of postpartum support”
The Village experience includes evidence-based learning, mentorship, coaching and Village circles interwoven with personal reflection + practice.
Our time together is divided into two 3-month learning journeys:
Apprenticeship and Mastery.
Here’s what you’ll experience as a participant…
Apprenticeship
The first three months of The Village consists of a season of deep apprenticeship + learning, including:
Nine evidence-based learning modules
You’ll journey through nine modules, learning the research-backed, practitioner-proven model of how the transition to motherhood unfolds in a woman’s life. This model is a map to the as-yet uncharted territory of matrescence, and The Village will teach you how to be a guide + mentor for mamas along this often-rocky terrain.
Experiential learning through nine virtual Village circles and ongoing online support
The Village centres experiential learning and mentorship as teaching modalities. Each week, you’ll circle up with the other participants in the program to receive teaching, coaching, and sharing opportunities. You’ll also get access to a private online community to receive support, ask questions, and find inspiration.
Three group mentorship sessions
These sessions are interwoven throughout the program, and are your opportunity to integrate what you’re learning, ask questions, connect with other likeminded practitioners.
Explore the topics of the nine learning modules here
Part One: Introduction to Matrescence
In this module, you’ll learn about matrescence and the identity shift into motherhood. You’ll be introduced to the evidence-based framework for how matrescence unfolds which will guide the duration of the program. You’ll get to meet the likeminded folks who will walk with you through the next six months, and be supported to set your intentions for your participation in the program.
Part Two: A Modern-Day Rite of Passage
In order to support new mothers effectively, you must understand the key modern-day contextual influences on women’s transition to motherhood. You’ll learn about the deep impact of birth technology, social media, the loss of the village, patriarchal norms, and systemic oppression and trauma on modern mothers’ matrescence. We’ll explore the pathologization of postpartum, and how seeing motherhood as a rite of passage is protective of mothers’ mental health.
Part Three: A Changing Life
You’ll learn a powerful but deceptively simple way to support new mothers to deeply explore the changes to their lives, their relationships, and themselves that motherhood has brought, and how they feel about them. This module will form the groundwork of your work with women during the transition to motherhood.
Part Four: Navigating grief + surrender in motherhood
In this module, you’ll learn about aspects of matrescence that often get overlooked: loss, grief, and surrender. As the women you work with navigate their new motherhood identity, they’re also leaving behind many aspects of themselves and their former lives. You’ll explore how to support women through the normal experience of grief through holding space, practical exercises, and meaningful ritual.
Part Five: Self-care, Rest + Liminal Space
You will learn how to support women in the discomfort of liminal space – the natural part of every life transition when we are no longer who we were, but have not fully stepped into who we’re becoming. This is when mothers have the exquisite opportunity to learn how to tend to their own needs and to rest. In this module, you’ll learn the attachment theory-based paradigm of “self-tending” so that you can more meaningfully support your clients to learn how to mother themselves well too.
Part Six: A Shifting Identity
In this module, you’ll learn how you can support the new mothers you work with to begin to explore who they’re becoming. This work is rooted in evidence-based methods of supporting sustainable change: there are no goals, to-do lists, behaviour modifications or affirmations here. This is about deep, lasting and meaningful transformation.
Part Seven: The MotherPowers
We often focus on the sacrifices and challenges that come with motherhood, and forget about the gifts it offers. The “MotherPowers” are a set of seven key skills and capacities that motherhood allows women to unlock. And the MotherPowers don’t just support women to thrive in motherhood: they’re exactly what the world needs right now. In this module, you’ll learn about the MotherPowers + how to support your clients to cultivate them. This is empowered motherhood.
Part Eight: Honouring Mothers through Meaningful Ritual
Ritual is an essential ingredient in traversing any major life transition. It helps us integrate change, release grief, honour the journey we’ve been on, and celebrate who we’re becoming. In this module, you’ll learn how to co-create (not culturally appropriate) meaningful ritual to support your clients’ transition to motherhood.
Part Nine: Supporting new mothers to find community + integrate what they’ve learned
The final phase of any rite of passage is often known as incorporation, where you integrate what you’ve learned along your journey, and return to or re-create your community of support. This is often the most challenging phase of a rite of passage. In this module, you will learn how to help women to complete their rite of passage into motherhood, and build your clients’ capacity to create a Village of their own.
Mastery
The second three months of The Village consists of a season of integration, mentorship + coaching.
Our Village group will gather twice a month to support you to bring this work to life in your own unique way, whether you’re starting a new business, creating a support circle for new mothers, or incorporating this knowledge into your already-existing practise.
These sessions include topics such as:
> Honouring the cycles and seasons in your work life, sustainable business practices, and how to balance business and your own caregiving roles
> Social media, visibility + platform growth
> Ethical, feminist marketing and pricing
> Powerful group facilitation skills
> Peer “supervision” and support for client or group quandaries that naturally occur when working with other humans!
> Ongoing accountability + mentorship for the ways you want to establish and/or deepen your practice
Also included in the Village experience:
Intimate group size + a network of support
The Village is an intimate group of practitioners and others committed to new mothers’ wellbeing, and each Village circle is carefully designed to foster a sense of community. You’ll hone the craft of holding space for the new mothers you work with by holding space for and with your fellow Village members. You will complete the program with not just a new body of knowledge and skill, but with an expanded network of likehearted professionals who are all passionate about re-creating the village of support that today’s new mamas desperately need.
BONUS one year membership to Chrysalis
You’ll also receive a one-year membership to Chrysalis, my online gathering space for women traversing radical life transformations and other rites of passage. For the next year, you’ll be able to attend monthly workshops, women’s circles, seasonal circles and ritual design co-labs.
Plus three BONUS live sessions with our special guest teachers
Dr. Sophie Brock, Motherhood Studies Sociologist
Sophie Brock, PhD, will be leading a session on the cultural and social constructions of motherhood that profoundly impact mothers’ wellbeing. This session will support you to more deeply understand and empower mothers within the contextual challenges of modern-day matrescence.
Mara Glatzel, Intuitive Coach, Author + Podcast Host
Mara Glatzel, author of the book “Needy: How to advocate for your needs and reclaim your sovereignty,” will be joining us to talk about how to support mamas to offer themselves – and ask for – the support they need and engage in self-care that actually works.
Becca Piastrelli, Community Builder, Ritualist, Author + Mama
Becca Piastrellli is the author of the book Root + Ritual, host of the Belonging Podcast and a MotherSHIFT alumni. Becca will be sharing with us how we can support mamas to build community, find belonging, and revillage their lives.
“I am feeling so grateful to be a part of this Village – I learn so much every week. I love the format of our online learning, I take so many notes each week and also really appreciate learning from the wise friends who are present. The online space has also been really rich with support, resources and on-going connection.”
“This program is the highlight of my week. It gives me a sense of belonging and is helping me find new purpose in my work. I love the weaving of personal & professional support that this program offers. Jessie, you created a container that is nurturing, supportive, inspiring and real, and also your refined execution of the topics made me feel like I was in a high quality learning environment.”
“In the end, the biggest growth was probably on a personal front, in my own matrescence journey. I loved the community we built, and I loved the guest speakers, and being able to find a global online network of folks supporting matrescence. And none of that would have been possible without the beautiful space held by Jessie.”
Registration for the 2023 Season of The Village will open in early Fall.
Please complete the contact form to be one of the first to find out when registration opens, and get access to an awesome early bird discount!
“Through The Village, Jessie has provided a profound learning experience and held space to unite a community of like-minded practitioners. I feel like a different woman, mother and coach from engaging in such rich discovery and examination of a mothers’ rite of passage. I am even more curious about matrescence and connected to my purpose and wanting to be of service to mothers traversing this incredible time of transition. This program is incredible, a gift you can offer yourself to deepen your support of the women you serve.”
“My world exploded during The Village – I can’t really verbalize how much it changed me and my work I do with moms. I am now SO thirsty to learn everything about matresence. I now feel at ease with motherhood experience and I know can hold a better space for the mothers I serve. Thank you Jessie, you are so incredible. I am now standing on the shoulder of a giant.”
“This entire course exceeded my expectations. Jessie is the perfect mix of evidence-based, funny, well-articulated, and filled with down-to-earth ritual wisdom. From the journal prompts, to the powerful quotes and cited research this course had so many layers that I feel I will be re-listening to these recordings for years to come. But I have to say what really made this mentorship transformational and powerful were the 1-1 private coaching calls I had with her. Every single call we were on together had me pivoting my life in a more wholesome and sustainable way. My career, my family life and my experience of motherhood has been forever changed.”
Hi, I’m Jessie.
I have been supporting women through the transition into motherhood for over fifteen years.
I am a certified doula and breastfeeding educator, and I hold a degree in Neuroscience, a Masters of Health Promotion, and I’m a certified professional life coach.
I am the founder of MotherSHIFT, the internationally acclaimed program that supports women through the identity shift into motherhood, and the author of the upcoming book Mothershift: Reclaiming Motherhood as a Rite of Passage. My work and writing on matrescence has been featured in Green Parent Magazine, Today’s Parent, Mother.ly, Expectful, International Doula Magazine and more.
I am committed to expanding our collective understanding of the rite of passage into motherhood, growing richer, evidence-based and lived experience-informed discourse and practice that truly supports new mothers through this radically transformative time in their lives.
“The Village breathed life back into my vocation. Jesse’s leadership, wisdom, and the overall sense of community with like-minded professionals filled my dry inner-well at a time when I was oh-so-ready to receive it. When I registered for this program, I was lost, stuck, and unsure regarding where I was headed with my professional offerings. The weekly online gatherings around our virtual fires were orienting, invigorating, and clarifying. Even though I could only participate via recordings, I was able to get so much from this program and apply what I was learning to my own life in real time as we trekked through the program.”
“The Village was an incredible deep dive into matrescence, and woven through was a unique perspective of the elements we traverse through any major transformation. It was an honour to receive Jessie’s depth of wisdom, knowledge, unique perspectives and her experience working with mothers. Her poetic, grounding, story-telling ways brought such joy each week. I have walked away with tools to support myself and mothers through their matrescence journey. I highly recommend this program.”
When I read about the Village program it was like the sales page was written for me. I registered the first day it was open. I came into the program looking to ‘figure it out.’ I was on a quest for certainty. What I found was sisterhood where I could actually ground deeply in my inner knowing while simultaneously being in the depths of uncertainty. I have seen and felt the glimmers of what wholehearted motherhood looks like, about what it means to be fully human while parenting. Now rather than vague feelings and lots of questions – I have a framework to make sense of this quest we are all on. My personal experience as a mother has been greatly enriched and professionally I feel equipped to support mothers in a deeper and more profound way.
Questions you may have about The Village…
Who can participate in The Village?
Participation in The Village is open to anyone who works with or wants to work with new mothers. This includes but is not limited to doulas, midwives, physicians, psychologists and counsellors, coaches, lactation consultants, pre- and post-natal yoga instructors, bodyworkers, pre- and post-natal educators, and community support providers.
There are no prerequisite qualifications other than your deep committment to supporting women through the identity shift into motherhood! If you are new to this work, rest assured that this program will offer you plenty of opportunities to explore how you want to bring your new knowledge in service to the world.
Is this a certification program? Can I receive CEUs for it?
At this time, The Village is not a certification program. The Village is an apprenticeship program that supports people working with new mothers to deepen their capacity to support their clients.
Currently, The Village is not a licensure program, and while the program content is inspired by the MotherSHIFT program, The Village does not permit graduates to offer MotherSHIFT or to use any of the proprietary practises within it. Instead, participants are given extensive professional support through the course of the program to help them apply what they have learned within their own practises.
Currently, The Village does not offer any CEUs. This may change in the future, and I will happily support you to approach your professional organization to see if they will count your time in The Village toward continuing education credits.
After completing a brief final assignment, graduates will receive a certificate stating that they have completed participation in The Village, a six-month intensive matrescence apprenticeship program. So yes, you can absolutely put this on your website 🙂
How long is the program? When does it start and finish? What does it entail?
The exact dates and circle times of the 2023 Season of The Village are TBA, but the Apprenticeship portion of the program will begin in late September and proceed until mid-December. After a break over the holidays, the Mastery portion of the program will begin and complete at the end of March. The Apprenticeship portion of the program consists of nine modules, and these are supported by nine virtual mentorship circles over the course of twelve weeks. The three weeks that we do not have circles are used to integrate the material and hold FAQ + professional support sessions. The three guest speaker sessions are also held during the first three months of the program. The Mastery portion of the program consists of twice-monthly circles.
Overall, you can expect to spend 2-3 hours per week on the program, including the 90-minute circles, reading each week’s module content, connecting with other group members in our Facebook group, and considering how to implement what you’re learning into your own practice.
What if I can't make it to one of the live mentorship circles?
Every year, there are folks, because of time zone differences and life, cannot attend some or even all of the life mentorship circles. Rest assured, these folks have powerfully integrated the program material and created amazing results, even when they haven’t been able to attend live. Each of the circles will be recorded and emailed to you shortly afterward. You can catch up anytime you wish.
What do I require to complete this program?
You need a computer hooked up to the internet to complete the bulk of the program material.
I have another question…
Registration for the 2023 Season of The Village will open in early Fall.
Please complete the contact form to be one of the first to find out when registration opens, and get access to an awesome early bird discount!
The MotherSHIFT Edition of The Becoming Podcast
Learn more about matrescence + the transition to motherhood and get the inside scoop on some of what we cover in The Village program by listening to the MotherSHIFT special edition of The Becoming Podcast, with four powerful episodes to engage and inform you. Also, check out my powerful interview with leading matrescence researcher Aurélie Athan!