1 Hour / 1 CE

On Demand | Self-Paced Professional Training

This on-demand professional training program on Prenatal Toxic Stress and Trauma Exposure: Implications for Mood, Behavior, Cognition, and Criminality is presented by Jerrod Brown, PhD.

This badge-earning program can be shared digitally on platforms like LinkedIn or your resume and counts towards a certificate. Enroll in this program to earn credit towards the Integrated Behavioral Health Certificate and share your new digital credentials with prospective employers and colleagues.

Prenatal exposure to toxic stress and trauma can contribute to poor behavioral health outcomes across the lifespan. Designed for professionals, this program provides attendees with a working understanding of the causes, consequences, and interventions associated with the impact prenatal toxic stress and trauma exposure have on client-based populations across the lifespan. This program is perfect for those who work in healthcare, education, or social services.

The program explores things like stress overload, how stress can upset the body's balance, cause inflammation, and even pass on issues from one generation to the next. Participants learn about the importance of a mother's relationship with her baby during early life and how a mom's stress during pregnancy can affect this relationship.

Other related topics that are discussed include:

  • Allostatic load
  • Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation
  • Inflammation
  • Intergenerational transmission of self-regulation
  • Maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)
  • Maternal prenatal stress
  • Mother-infant attachment patterns
  • Pandemic-related stress
  • Prenatal air pollution exposure
  • Prenatal exposure to disaster-related traumatic stress
  • Prenatal intimate partner violence exposure

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:

  • 1 Describe prenatal toxic stress and trauma exposure and other related topics
  • 2 Describe the implications of prenatal toxic stress and trauma exposure have on clients seeking services from behavioral health providers
  • 3 Describe the impact prenatal toxic stress and trauma exposure has on mood, behavior, cognition, and criminality
  • 4 Describe screening and intervention considerations through a behavioral health lens
  • 5 Describe relevant and up-to-date research findings

  • Intended Audience

    This training is designed for professionals in healthcare, education, and social services who seek to deepen their understanding of how prenatal toxic stress and trauma affect behavioral health throughout life. The program is appropriate for practitioners at any career stage, including psychologists, social workers, and counselors. It explores the causes and consequences of prenatal stress, its physiological and intergenerational impacts, and evidence-based interventions. Special emphasis is placed on the early mother-infant relationship and strategies to reduce long-term negative behavioral health outcomes.

  • Experience Level

    This training is applicable for all career stages: entry-level, mid-career, and experienced professionals.

    • Suitable for all experience levels, including:
    • Early-career professionals
    • Mid-career practitioners
    • Experienced/advanced professionals seeking updated knowledge and practical tools

  • Practice Setting

    • Psychologists
    • Social Workers
    • Counselors
    • Healthcare professionals (e.g., nurses, physicians, midwives)
    • Educators (teachers, school counselors, administrators)
    • Community-based service providers

Presented By

Jerrod Brown, PhD

Jerrod Brown, PhD, is the Treatment Director for Pathways Counseling Center, Inc., the lead developer of an online Master of Arts degree in Human Services with an emphasis in Forensic Behavioral Health from Concordia University, St. Paul, Minnesota, the founder and CEO of the American Institute for the Advancement of Forensic Studies (AIAFS), and the Editor-in-Chief of Forensic Scholars Today (FST) and the Journal of Special Populations (JSP).

View More Programs from this Presenter
Jerrod Brown, PhD

Training Outline

Key topics covered in this training include:

  • Prenatal toxic stress and trauma exposure

  • Implications of prenatal toxic stress and trauma

  • Impact of prenatal toxic stress and exposure

  • Screening and intervention considerations

Earning a Certificate

This is a badge-earning program, which means it will help you earn a certificate that can be showcased on digital platforms like LinkedIn.
View Certificates

CE Sponsorship Information

Palo Alto University, Continuing & Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by, recognized by, or maintains sponsorship provider status with the following boards and agencies. We maintain responsibility for all content in our CE/CPD programs. For more information, visit here. 

  1. American Psychological Association (APA): Approved sponsor of continuing education for psychologists.

  2. Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB): Approved continuing education provider (ACE program, Provider #1480), 11/22/2023–11/22/2026.

  3. Canadian Psychological Association (CPA): Approved to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.

  4. National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC): Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP No. 7190).



Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0356 and the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0073. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6811. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CONCEPT Professional Training, #1480, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. CONCEPT Professional Training maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 11/22/23-11/22/26. Social workers completing this course receive (clinical or social work ethics) continuing education credits.