Pregnancy & Postpartum Counseling
Helping you prepare for and restore emotional health.
Have you been wondering how you will balance all life’s responsibilities now that you are a mom? Sometimes it seems impossible. Impossible to meet the needs of your children, your job, your spouse, and most of all-yourself. You may find you are more irritable, anxious, and sometimes even sad. You may be wondering why this is happening and more importantly, how to feel more like yourself again.
Every day seems so depleting and overstimulating. Often, it’s hard to know the barriers that keep you from feeling better. It sounds so simple on paper: “Stop overthinking”. If it were that simple, you would have done it already! In reality, it takes a lot of insight and prioritization of your needs to figure out how to be the best version of yourself.
Together, I will help you explore the factors leading to overwhelm and what you need in order to feel happy. As a seasoned therapist and mom myself, I understand how hard it is to achieve this desired balance. My therapeutic style is collaborative and incorporates a blend of person centered, solution focused family therapy, cbt, and existential approaches. Below, are specific issues I can help with:
Processing a traumatic birth-even if your healthcare providers deemed your experience as “typical”
There is no way around it: childbirth is painful and taxing on the body. Even when labor is “typical”, a woman may have experiences of immense pain or in which she feels her life is in danger. Even when unintended, sometimes providers are either unable to provide the care a woman anticipates or an unexpected emergency arises.
Therapy will be tailored to providing a safe space to process these emotions. I will help you identify trauma responses, assess for post-traumatic stress disorder, and collaborate about ways to heal the mind and body during recovery.
Coping with complications during pregnancy, postpartum, or with your child
What happens when nothing goes as planned? You wanted to enjoy being pregnant, but instead your nauseous and uncomfortable. You wanted to breastfeed but are struggling with pain, low milk supply, or latch issues. You pictured a calm, sleepy baby but instead your baby seems to constantly be crying and fighting sleep.
It can be incredibly devastating to have expectations not in line with your vision. Sometimes you just need to talk about these things and feel better. Other times, it helps to problem solve. If the problem can’t be solved, there may be interventions to limit your suffering. During our sessions, I will help you figure out what you need and guide you to finding possible solutions. This may include an action or reframing of thoughts related to expectations.
Managing postpartum anger and anxiety, including intrusive thoughts and separation from your child
Postpartum depression or anxiety can start anytime within the first year after childbirth. Anger, anxiety or constant worry, racing thoughts, crying spells, loss of interest, and feelings of guilt, are all common symptoms. Lesser known symptoms include separation anxiety and intrusive thoughts, which are intense thoughts or feelings related to harm of your child or self.
During counseling, I will help you explore potential sources and coping skills for these symptoms. If you are having separation anxiety, I will help you compose a plan which will include discussing your worries and coping skills alongside exposure therapy. If you are having intrusive thoughts, my goal is to help you understand why they are happening and brainstorm what you can do when they happen.
Preparing for childbirth, postpartum period, and transition into motherhood, including processing new identity
As a mom, you need a supportive space to reconnect with you, who you are, and what you need. It can be incredibly easy to let ourselves fall to the wayside when our days are full and so many people depend on us. As long as our loved ones are happy and taken care of, we tell ourselves we will fit in time for ourself somehow. But if we never make time for ourselves and what we need to fill our cups, we will become depleted. And when we become depleted, we become angry, resentful. and exhausted, which effects the whole family.
I would like to help you figure out what you need to fill your cup and how to achieve it so that you can rekindle joy and relaxation. Or maybe feel them for the first time. Together, we can explore the patterns that are leading you to feel stuck. And work on ways to feel more in control of your thoughts through increased awareness and learning reframing strategies.
