Beyond “the blues,” maybe feelings of depression have shaded your life, making the experience of parenthood something you weren’t expecting. You’re left wondering – is this life now? Can I really bond with my baby? Will this be forever?

Maybe your mood is fine – so you can’t have postpartum depression, right? – but worries and intrusive thoughts have made it so that anxiety makes it difficult to get through your day.

Postpartum mood and anxiety disorders (or PMADs) are common, but they don’t have to be something you suffer through alone. They are treatable, and therapy is one of the best tools in making your life closer in line with your expectations of parenthood.

There can be complex things that impact a PMAD. Maybe you experienced birth trauma. Maybe your new baby had or has a stay in the NICU, or is medically fragile. Maybe becoming a parent yourself is dragging up your own developmental trauma from your own childhood. Or perhaps this whole parenting thing is putting a strain on your relationship with your partner you didn’t expect. Therapy is a safe space to explore these delicate and distressing factors.

Please schedule a free 15 minute phone consultation with me, and let's chat about how I can help.

If you are experiencing fertility issues or were impacted by pregnancy loss, you deserve to have someone walk with you. Someone who won’t use the phrases “at least” or “have you tried xyz?” Not a friend who’s going through her own journey, or a partner experiencing their own narrative of your situation, or a parent who forgets what it’s really like. In therapy, I will be there to support you where you are, listen empathetically and witness as you sort out your feelings in this complicated part of life you never expected.

Please schedule a 15 minute minute phone consultation — let’s talk about how I can support you now.

Many parents spend a lot of time thinking and planning for birth. But then what? Maybe you’re not experiencing mood and anxiety symptoms during pregnancy, but you’re concerned about your risk of developing a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder after giving birth. Meet with me for 2-3 sessions in your third trimester to discuss factors you can control to reduce the risk of a PMAD and what you and your partner can look out for in the vulnerable postpartum period. Schedule a free 15 minute phone consultation to see if postpartum planning sessions would be helpful for you.

Why might a new grandmother benefit from seeing a perinatal mental health therapist? Deepened understanding of perinatal mental health issues is a recent development. Grandma may need the opportunity to process her own experiences from a generation ago. She may also need someone from her child’s generation to share and discuss about the current parenting climate. Having a neutral third party in form of a therapist may also be helpful. Family structure and boundaries will shift and change when a grandchild joins the family and a child becomes a parent. Grandma having someone to discuss the new changes with who is not in the family may be helpful.

I am a perinatal mental health therapist and work primarily with new moms. Relationships with mothers and mother-in-laws are recurring themes for most of my clients.

As for me, I became a mom after my own mother died and never had to navigate this change with her. I find that gives me an advantage in my work with clients — I don’t have my own baggage (also known as countertransference). The countertransference I DO have is that this relationship is irreplaceable, and I care about helping clients reach a point of peace with the generation above. I would love to support this “from the other side!”

Through my Brainspotting Phase I training with perinatal specialist Jana Glass, I am able to help you approach your trauma processing in a unique and effective way. Unlike its older cousin EMDR, Brainspotting is a gentler way to access emotions and memories stored in the subcortical brain. I will be there to set up and guide you, but you take the reins. We may use Brainspotting intertwined with your regular sessions. Or if you are already working with another therapist and think this might be a good technique for you, I can work as an adjunct to your mental health team. Talk about this option with your current therapist. If they concur, we will need some paperwork signed so we can consult for your best care. Schedule a free 15 minute phone consultation to see if this would be right for you.

Music therapy is an allied healthcare profession in which a trained music therapist uses music to help clients address their non-musical goals. I have had the privilege of working with a variety of populations from babies to nursing home residents, and in diverse settings from schools to hospitals. My current career path is to work in perinatal mental health counseling private practice, but my roots in music therapy are strong.

Sometime in the future, I plan to add music therapy as an offer of Fermata Counseling. Stay tuned (pun absolutely intended).

If you are a fellow healthcare professional and are looking for contract music therapy services for a special group or a possible collaboration, please schedule a phone consultation!