It all started when…
In 2011 the first edition of Becoming Us is published by Harper Collins in Australia and New Zealand. Elly becomes known as a relationship and parenthood expert and starts writing a column in Australia’s #1 parenting magazine, Practical Parenting.
In 2014 Elly presents her relationship based approach to parenthood at conferences in Australia, the USA and the UK, and is approached by professionals wanting to learn more about her work, insights and the groundbreaking Becoming Us™ family-centred model.
In 2015 Becoming Us Professional Online Training is launched with 40 brave early adopters embarking on 14 sessions of online and live video training, culminating in a closing ceremony video call for our Village Elders. Graduates were invited to choose an object to represent their Becoming Us training journey. One of our Canadian facilitators bowing with real set of deer antlers is especially memorable (no deers were harmed, they shed their antlers naturally)!
In 2016 Barb Suarez, our very first Becoming Us Certified Facilitator pilots our Becoming Us Before Baby Course for expecting parents through Legacy Hospital in Portland, Oregon. Originally scheduled for one year, the course proves so popular it ends up running for three years and is expanded into a Becoming Us After Baby Course for new parents too.
In 2017 Australian perinatal mental health organisation Peach Tree integrates the Becoming Us stages into their formally evaluated Sunshine Parenting Program, which shows significantly improved levels of postnatal anxiety, depression and bonding for mothers. In North America, Becoming Us becomes required reading for CAPPA’s (the Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association) New Parent Educators and Postpartum Doulas.
In 2018 two of our Australian Becoming Us Facilitators successfully obtained government funding to run our first Australian Becoming Us course pilots in Melbourne.
In 2019 the Becoming Us Professional Online Training has evolved into a 3-Level training program, with an additional mentoring stream to become a Becoming Us Course Facilitator. Over two thousand professionals, including childbirth, healthcare, therapists, mental health and allied practitioners around the world have attended our live workshops and online training. Barb Suarez steps up to become our very first Becoming Us Course Mentor for those wishing to run our courses for expecting and new parents.
Postpartum Support International approves Becoming Us live online training as an alternative option in their advanced training.
In 2020 the world ground to a halt with the virus crisis. All live Becoming Us events, including training the first whole hospital team, is on hold for now. Elly continues to present Becoming Us at virtual conferences around the world and in her homeland, Australia. Because Becoming Us has always been about preparing and supporting parents through the “unknowns” of parenthood, we realise our resourced for parents are more needed than ever! Barb pivots to delivering our parents’ courses online and is able to mentor other facilitators through this process. Phew!
In 2021 The long-awaited results of our initial quality pilot study are presented at the Marce Australasian conference in Sydney in September. And an updated edition of the award-winning book is published to prepare and guide parents through a world of challenges.
In 2022, Southern Sydney Local Area Health received funding for community and professional capacity building and early intervention. Interagency representatives were surveyed to identify on-the-ground gaps in knowledge and service delivery and a working party reviewed existing programs. Becoming Us was chosen and two hospital and community teams were trained to deliver Becoming Us Nest Building Sessions, which are now integrated into antenatal education at two southern Sydney public hospitals. This was a giant full-circle moment for Elly, as these are the two hospitals where her three children were born.
And we have some more exciting things on the horizon…
Our Lessons and Challenges...
Expecting parents don’t know what they don’t know. Most don’t realise this until they’re right in the thick of it - and then can’t see which way is up. We hope to get them the map before they need it.
Silo healthcare systems create barriers for parents trying to access help. Some are slow to adopt father/partner inclusive “whole family” approaches and learn the all-round benefits of this.
Beta test everything. Every link. Every time.
Some changes on the horizon…
After the success of our initial Becoming Us Intensives, we hope to offer this training several times per year.
Kelly, our trusty tech support person has been with us since the beginning. She’s finally moved on to greener pastures and Rica has stepped in to take over all the behind the scenes stuff that keep things running.
We have created some new, shorter courses and interventions for parents.
And some even bigger opportunities…
Several pilots and a QI assurance study have been conducted, the evidence is in and we are incredibly proud of the results we are achieving. We are actively looking to partner with organisations and universities to build the research base for Becoming Us.
A collaboration with the Society for Pre and Post Natal Services (SPANS) in Zimbabwe is creating a world first training for health and mental health professionals in Africa and beyond: Diploma in Family Systems Theory and Developmental Family Counselling in Maternal, Paternal and Child Mental Health.