Mentalizing the Body in Research & Clinical Practice: Parental Embodied Mentalizing Assessment (PEMA™)


Program Location

virtual / in association with the College of Saint Scholastica, Duluth, mn


Program Dates

March 2021 / over three consecutive weeks / two days per week

Week 1
Monday, March 1st / 9am - 12:30pm CST
Tuesday, March 2nd / 9am - 12:30pm CST
Week 2
Monday, March 8th / 9am - 12:30pm CST
Tuesday, March 9th / 9am - 12:30pm CST
Week 3
Monday, March 15th / 9am - 12:30pm CST
Tuesday, March 16th
 / 9am - 12:30pm CST


Program Presenter

Dana Shai, Ph.D., a faculty member at the Academic College Tel Aviv Yaffo, Israel, and the head of the Study of Early Emotional Development (SEED) Center and Lab.

Dr. Shai is a developmental psychology researcher, who developed the PEM™ coding system and the PEM Assessment™ (PEMA™)and has been leading world-wide collaborative research and delivers international talks and training programs on PEM™ and PEMA™ for the last decade.


Program Objectives

  • Introduce the theory and research behind Parental Embodied Mentalizing (PEM™) from its developer, Dr. Dana Shai.

  • Explore and identify the theory and movement language underlying PEMA™

  • Learn step-by-step processes to identify risk and protective factors in parent-child dyads

  • Fulfill pre-requisite requirements for PEMworks™ Reflective Practice and PEMA™ Certification


Program Overview

PEMworks™ promotes positive child development through the facilitation of clinical assessment and intervention programs based on the full-body, nonverbal relationship between parent and child.

PEMworks™ is backed by over a decade of empirical research. Drawing from this evidence-base, this 4-day course orients professionals working with parents and infants to using the Parental Embodied Mentalizing Assessment (PEMA™) in their clinical work.

PEMA™ assess nonverbal risk and protective factors in parent-infant (0-2 years) dyads. The training presents video examples as well as uses experiential means to explore key features of parent-infant nonverbal communication and their significance in child development.

For further information, please contact us..


Program Host

Professor Mary Ann Marchel, College of Saint Scholastica


Duluth, MN (USA)

mmarchel@css.edu


Who Should Attend

This training is suitable for professionals working with young children and their families including: Psychologists, Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists, Mental Health Counselors, Home Visitors, Family Support Workers, Outreach Workers, Nursery Staff, Behavior Support specialists, and anyone providing parenting education and/or counseling to parents of young children.


Program Cost

individual training

$985