Perinatal Mental Health

The journey of the perinatal period is a wild path and it is likely to impact our mental health. Perinatal mental health is inclusive of trying to conceive, pregnancy experiences, postpartum depression and anxiety, perinatal trauma (trying to conceive, pregnancy, birth, postpartum), fertility, NICU stays, birth injuries, perinatal loss and grief. It can also last much longer than just those 9 months of pregnancy or a year postpartum. This can impact the person who gave birth and also their partner or support person. Unexpected twists and turns shape and change us in ways that are often incredibly transformative. As a mother myself, I fully recognize and have experienced first hand the challenges that come when we open ourselves up to the vulnerability of the reproductive process. This process is one that forever changes us and who we are. There can be a loss of identity and so often we feel alone in our experiences and what we are going through.

• You are working so hard to be excited about this pregnancy, but deep down you just can’t wait for it to be over.

• Silently you grieve another month of not being pregnant, a perinatal loss, the loss of yourself, the loss of your life before all of this.

• You’re exhausted, crying, staring at the chaos of your house, staring at this new helpless baby, wishing for a break, relief, help!

• Scheduling feeding and sleep is helping, but when it doesn’t work you just feel rage.

• As a partner or support person, you are struggling to navigate loss/transition/grief/your own perinatal mental health struggles.

• Another person posts a picture of their “perfect” birth experience and you fight being triggered again.

• You fight being triggered again and the disappointment flashbacks, or overwhelming emotion comes up.

• Your birth was all planned out and you ended up with what you didn’t expect with a baby in the NICU and/or experienced other medical challenges.

• The thoughts about yourself, your baby, someone else feel too big and scary to actually share with anyone.

• You sustained a birth injury and are struggling mentally with the impact on your body, physical abilities, and life.

• This new body does not feel like it’s yours and maybe part of that is the birth injury you experienced.

• You feel alone and like no one else will understand what you have been through.

You are in the right place to find some of the support you need and finally have someone else to be in this with you. Counselling offers a space where you can find rest and relief, hope and healing. I want this to be a sanctuary for you; a safe place where you can come and be cared for. Therapy will be tailored to be the right fit for you. I have specific training and experience in the are of perinatal mental health so that you can feel confident in the care you can receive. If you have a baby I do not what this to hinder you accessing services and is why I offer online appointments. While it can be helpful to have someone to provide childcare during your session, I also welcome babies to be a part of our sessions if needed. Also offering therapy options for trauma and grief outside of the perinatal period for individuals or perinatal health practitioners or early parent coaching.

Reproductive Mental Health

Reproductive mental health beyond the perinatal period is often something that is ignored or not even recognized, but you are here because you are suffering and know how real it is. Whether you are dealing with PMDD, PCOS, Endometriosis, or other reproductive experiences you know the toll that these things can take on your mental health.

Therapy can help you to find ways to cope and begin to manage some of the mental health symptoms that come with reproductive mental health. One of the evidence based treatments that we can utilize is EMDR. EMDR is a well researched therapy that was developed for trauma treatment, but we now know is also highly effective for other distressing events. Whether you are dealing with trauma from your reproductive experiences or other distress, EMDR therapy may be the right fit for you. If pain is something that has been impacting you through your reproductive experiences we can engage in a specific pain protocol through EMDR to help you better manage your symptoms and reduce the distress. We can also take a collaborative approach to your treatment and can connect and work together with other medical professionals to create the right plan for you to find the relief that you need.

Therapy can address the symptoms of depression and anxiety that often accompanying reproductive mental health challenges. Coping skills will be developed to deal with the specific symptoms that you are struggling with to find some relief. Compassion focussed therapy and mindfulness techniques can be utilized to cope with some of the thoughts and feelings that are coming up for you. The stress that accompanies reproductive mental health issues can be high and often exacerbate symptoms that are coming up for you. By reducing this stress, we can help to manage some of the mental and physical symptoms. Grief therapy might also be helpful as you may struggle with infertility, coping with your diagnosis, the lack of control, or the transition and change of identity as you struggle to understand who you are in the midst of changes to your body.