Individual Therapy Services
01.
If you're here because you're feeling down or depressed after giving birth or bringing home your baby, find yourself worrying excessively or fearing that something bad is going to happen, are struggling to connect or find joy in the little moments, or are feeling irritable or angry, you're in the right place.
The phrase "postpartum depression and anxiety" is often used, but really this includes all perinatal (pregnancy and postpartum) mood and anxiety disorders, including but not limited to: PPD (postpartum depression), PPA (postpartum anxiety), PP-PTSD (postpartum posttraumatic stress disorder), PPP (postpartum psychosis) and PP-OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder).
There are reasons you're feeling the way you're feeling. So, no, that doesn't mean you're going crazy or you don't love your baby. We'll work together to validate your experience, identify coping strategies, supports, and resources, and get you to a place where you feel more balanced and connected and not overtaken by mood shifts or anxieties.
02.
Becoming a parent, whether it's your first child or your fifth child, and whatever route you took to get there, is certainly a journey to say the least. The sleep deprivation combined with feeding stresses, new mental and physical load, shift of responsibilities and identities, and navigation of the expected and unexpected challenges are a breeding ground for overwhelm and possibly self-doubt or resentment.
This can be a process, but with encouragement, normalization, identification of your needs and values, understanding of your own upbringing, and tools to help you through the adjustment, you can move through this time with a greater sense of perspective, self-compassion, and enjoyment.
03.
We don't all approach or enter parenthood in the same ways. If you've struggled with infertility or used assisted reproductive technology (IVF, etc.) for other reasons, you've encountered a unique set of difficulties. There can be so much grief associated with the loss of hopes, dreams, and expectations we had for how and when we grow our families. Grief, of course, is also experienced through the loss of a pregnancy or a child.
With uncertainty and grief come many emotions and reactions. We'll make space for any and all of that processing in the timing that feels right for you. Coping skills specific to navigation of infertility or loss will help you continue to move forward in healing while honoring the feelings that persist.
04.
The intersection of being a parent and being a helping professional is a unique one. There are many factors that can complicate the convergence of these two worlds, including identity and roles, time and pursuits. Some seek out help with the insight that they will be helped by working with another professional who specializes in what they need, some judge themselves for knowing how to help others and feeling inadequate that they haven't quite figured out how to best help themselves, some approach therapy neutrally, and some worry about what it "means" to struggle with new or worsening mental health symptoms especially as someone who is used to being the helper in a situation.
Helping professionals includes therapists, healthcare providers, teachers, and any other career that involves helping or educating other humans. Together, we'll work to understand your hang-ups, identify coping strategies that play to your strengths and established skills, and help find meaning in the merging of these identities.