Women's Health
With many of the unique issues you face as a woman it can be easy to feel disconnected from others and stuck in a spiral of perfectionism, never feeling good enough, and people pleasing. With changes in health or infertility, you may also feel betrayed by your own body. Any of these experiences can lead to you losing joy and the hope that things can improve. Often, feelings of stress may set in, leading you to feel overwhelmed and stuck. Therapy can help you get to a place of self-confidence, where you can feel authentic and connected with others.
Learning to be gentle with yourself and treating yourself as you would a good friend can help you let go of a people pleasing mentality and empower you to be the best version of yourself. Learning to believe in your inherent sense of worthiness and freeing yourself from unhelpful or unrealistic expectations is an important step in creating a life of meaning and value. I have an expertise in this area and have focused my experiences and training on working with women since graduate school.
Maternal Mental Health
Whether it is your first child or an additional child, pregnancy and the postpartum period can be challenging for many women. While up to 80% of mothers experience the "baby blues", as many as 1 in 7 also develop depression and/or anxiety. If you are noticing feelings of helplessness, overwhelming sadness, constant worrying about the baby to the point of difficulty concentrating, guilt, shame, or loss of interest in life and these things last longer than 2 weeks, this is a good sign you should seek help. These experiences may begin during pregnancy or up to a year after the birth of your baby. They may be new to you or perhaps you may have struggled with these issues previously. Therapy can be very helpful in learning new coping skills for these unhelpful thoughts and feelings, as well as help you adjust to being a new mother and the addition to your family. It is possible to become the mother you want to be. I have received my certificate of completion for Postpartum Support International's Maternal Mental Health Training. An excellent read for new mom's is "What No One Tells You: A Guide to Your Emotions from Pregnancy to Motherhood" by Drs. Alexandra Sacks & Catherine Birndof