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“MotherWoman groups provide a safe environment for growth: growth of the mother, the group and the community. The MotherWoman vision is dedicated to breaking through the myths that separate women and building the bonds of connection.”
Peggy H. Kaufman, M.Ed., LICSW is Founder and Director of The Center for Early Relationship Support at Jewish Family and Children’s Service. In 1989 Peggy founded the award winning Visiting Moms program, a nationally and internationally replicated program providing support for new mothers struggling with the postpartum adjustment. Seven years later she co-founded Early Connections, a clinical treatment intervention for mothers suffering from postpartum depression and their babies. She has participated in research evaluations of both programs. Peggy is on the graduate faculty at The Infant-Parent Training Institute at Jewish Family and Children’s Service where she created a course in Maternal Mental Health and worked with others to build a two year fellowship in infant-parent mental health. Previous teaching positions include Wheelock College, Lesley College, Pine Manor College and Bank Street College of Education. With a background in child development and social work, Peggy has directed the Child Study Center at Pine Manor College and served as the child development specialist on a National Institute of Mental Health Grant at Harvard Medical School. Along with her work at JF&CS, Peggy has spent the past thirty-five years leading workshops, publishing articles, and training locally and nationally in the areas of perinatal emotional health, postpartum mood disorders, parenting and parenting education. Peggy also has a private practice with a clinical specialty in women’s emotional health. Peggy is on several professional boards including The Boston Institute for the Development of Infants and Parents (BIDIP), the Massachusetts Chapter of PSI International, the Massachusetts Association of Infant Mental Health, MotherWoman Advisory Board, The Department of Public Health Perinatal Connections Advisory Board, the Massachusetts Children’s Trust Fund Program Committee and served on the Statewide Task Force on Postpartum Depression. Peggy has won many awards for her distinguished service distinguished work with families. In 2008, she was recognized by the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Massachusetts and Partners in Perinatal Health for her years of service and advancement of the knowledge and practice of maternal and infant mental health. She also received the Partners in Excellence Award from Partners Health Care for Outstanding Performance and Commitment to Excellence. BIDIP, the Parenting Education Network of Massachusetts, the Boston Parents Paper, and the Children’s Trust Fund have also honored Peggy for her leadership in the field of parent support. |
