Perinatal Mental Health Support
The transition to parenthood deserves compassionate support.
The perinatal period, from conception through the first year postpartum, is one of the most significant transitions in a person's life. It's also one where mental health is often overlooked, minimized, or misunderstood.
Postpartum depression and anxiety are the most common complications of childbirth, affecting 1 in 5 new parents. And yet, so many people suffer in silence, feeling like they should just be grateful, or worried that asking for help means they're failing at parenthood. They're not. And neither are you.
What You Might Be Experiencing
Perinatal mental health support may be right for you if you're navigating:
Anxiety and panic symptoms during pregnancy or postpartum
Persistent sadness, numbness, or emotional flatness
Intrusive thoughts that feel frightening or shameful
Birth trauma: feeling unsafe, unheard, or shocked by your birth experience
Grief following pregnancy loss, infertility, or a difficult diagnosis
Difficulty bonding with your baby
Identity shifts, struggling with who you are now that you're a parent
Relationship strain as you and your partner adjust to parenthood
This list is not exhaustive. If something about your emotional life, relationships, or sense of self just doesn't feel right, that's reason enough to seek support.
How We Work Together
Perinatal therapy is specialized. I bring an understanding of the neurobiological changes of the perinatal period, the stigma that surrounds perinatal mental illness, and the specific experiences, including birth trauma, infant loss, and feeding difficulties, that shape this time of life.
Being Fully Heard
Many parents feel they can't speak honestly about their struggles. This is a space where you can say the hard things, without judgment.
Assessment & Education
We'll explore what you're experiencing, differentiate between expected transitions and mental health concerns, and make sense of it all.
Targeted Support
Using evidence-based approaches tailored to perinatal mental health, including parts work, DBT, narrative therapy, somatic tools, and EMDR for birth trauma, we'll address what's most affecting you.
Reconnecting With Yourself
Becoming a parent can bring a profound loss of self alongside the love. We make space for the identity shifts of matrescence, your grief, your needs, and the process of finding your way back to yourself within this new chapter.
Common Questions
Absolutely not. Gratitude and struggle can coexist. The fact that you're struggling doesn't mean you don't love your baby or aren't grateful. It means you're human, and you deserve support.
Prenatal therapy can be incredibly valuable, both for addressing existing concerns and for building the coping tools you'll draw on postpartum. You don't need to wait until you're struggling. Starting before the baby arrives can make a real difference.
Intrusive thoughts are one of the most common, and most distressing, symptoms of perinatal anxiety and OCD, and they are very treatable. They do not mean you are dangerous or a bad parent. Please reach out; you don't have to carry this alone.
Let's Start This Journey Together
I offer a free 15-minute phone or video consultation. No commitment, just a genuine conversation about whether we're a good fit.