Perinatal and Postpartum Therapy
As a PMH-C therapist, I provide specialized perinatal mental health therapy in Nashville and throughout Tennessee via telehealth, supporting individuals navigating pregnancy, postpartum mental health concerns, infertility, pregnancy loss, and the transition to parenthood.
Regardless of your reproductive experiences, it’s hard to find support for the parts no one talks about. Therapy offers space to integrate these experiences with your identity so that they can become a meaningful part of your story. As a certified perinatal therapist, I offer a non-judgmental refuge for a range of perinatal and reproductive concerns including:
Therapy for Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders
Therapy for Birth Trauma
Therapy after Miscarriage
Therapy for Infertility
Therapy following Termination
Therapy for Anger or Irritability
Therapy for Pregnancy, Postpartum, and Reproductive Concerns
Postpartum depression and anxiety don't always look like sadness or worry. Sometimes they show up as irritability, anger, resentment, feeling constantly overstimulated, or having very little patience for the people around you. You may feel overwhelmed by the needs of others, disconnected from yourself, or frustrated by the gap between how you think you should feel and how you're actually feeling. Therapy offers an opportunity to better understand these experiences, explore what's contributing to your distress, and develop more compassion for yourself along the way. In therapy I offer space to build a different relationship with difficult thoughts and emotions, and to care for yourself amid the demands of parenthood. You don't have to feel grateful for every moment or hold everything together to be a good parent. There is room to acknowledge what's hard while finding your way back to yourself.
Postpartum Depression and Anxiety Therapy
Infertility and pregnancy loss can challenge your sense of hope, identity, and the future you imagined for yourself. There may be grief, uncertainty, anger, or an ongoing pressure to stay hopeful when you're feeling anything but. In therapy, we'll make room for the complexity of these experiences while exploring ways to care for yourself through the uncertainty. My approach incorporates Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), psychoeducation, and supportive exploration to help you understand your emotional responses, reconnect with what matters to you, and recognize the resilience it takes to navigate a path you didn't expect. The goal isn't to find a silver lining or move past your grief, but to develop a relationship with yourself that allows room for both loss and hope.
Therapy for Infertility or Loss
A difficult or traumatic birth experience can have an emotional impact that lasts long after pregnancy and delivery. You may find yourself replaying what happened, feeling disconnected from your birth experience, struggling with anger or hypervigilance, or having difficulty making sense of emotions during a time that you expected to feel joy. Therapy offers an opportunity to process your experience, explore how it has shaped the way you feel about yourself and your transition to parenthood, and begin to make room for healing. You don't have to minimize what happened or feel grateful simply because you and your baby are okay.
Therapy for Birth Trauma
Therapy for Postpartum Intrusive Thoughts
Postpartum intrusive thoughts can be frightening, confusing, and difficult to talk about, especially when they involve unwanted images or fears about your baby's safety. Therapy can help you understand why these thoughts occur, reduce the anxiety and shame surrounding them, and change the patterns of avoidance, checking, and reassurance-seeking that can keep them going. When intrusive thoughts are related to postpartum OCD, Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and ACT therapy can help you develop a different relationship with uncertainty and regain confidence in your ability to care for yourself and your baby.