Perinatal Mental Health & Birth Trauma
Support for Pregnancy, Postpartum, and the Transition to Parenthood
Pregnancy and parenthood can bring joy and meaning, but they can also bring anxiety, overwhelm, grief, and unexpected challenges.
Whether you're preparing for a baby, adjusting to postpartum life, processing birth trauma, or struggling to recognize yourself in this new chapter, therapy can help you feel more supported and less alone.
Specialized Perinatal Support from a PMH-C Certified Therapist
Before entering private practice, I spent a year and a half working with the DC Mother Baby Wellness Program, supporting individuals and families through pregnancy, postpartum, and the transition to parenthood.
Becoming a Parent Can Change Everything
Parenthood can affect far more than your daily routine. It can change how you see yourself, your relationships, your priorities, and your sense of what life is supposed to look like.
You may be:
Worrying constantly about your baby's well-being or feeling consumed by frightening “what-if” thoughts
Experiencing intense anger, irritability, anxiety, sadness, or emotional numbness
Feeling overwhelmed by the responsibility of caring for someone while struggling to care for yourself
Feeling disconnected from your partner, your baby, or the person you were before parenthood
Wondering why this transition feels harder than you expected—or feeling guilty for not feeling the way you thought you would
You don't have to navigate these feelings alone.
Sometimes the hardest part is grieving the gap between what you imagined and what actually happened.
Perhaps:
Pregnancy has felt more stressful, uncertain, or overwhelming than joyful
Your birth experience was frightening, traumatic, or left you feeling powerless
You're navigating the grief of miscarriage, stillbirth, infertility, or fertility challenges
Recovery or adjusting to parenthood has been harder than you expected
You're struggling with changes in your identity, relationships, or sense of independence
You're grieving parts of life that have changed or been lost through this transition
You find yourself replaying your birth experience or avoiding reminders of what happened
Two things can be true at the same time:
You can deeply love your child and still struggle with this transition.
You can grieve a loss or a traumatic birth while still holding hope for the future.
When the Experience Doesn't Match What You Expected
Therapy Can Help You:
✓ Manage anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and emotional overwhelm
✓ Process a difficult or traumatic birth experience and reduce the impact of distressing memories or medical anxiety
✓ Navigate the complex grief of pregnancy loss, infant loss, or changes in your reproductive journey
✓ Adjust to changes in your identity, roles, relationships, and sense of self
✓ Reduce guilt, perfectionism, and self-criticism while developing a kinder relationship with yourself.
✓ Reconnect with your values and develop practical tools for moving forward with greater confidence and connection
Pregnancy, postpartum, and the transition to parenthood can bring unexpected emotional challenges alongside moments of joy and connection. Whether you're struggling with anxiety, depression, overwhelm, identity changes, relationship stress, or adjusting to life with a new baby, therapy provides a space to process what you're experiencing without judgment.
Together, we'll explore what's contributing to your distress, develop practical coping strategies, and help you move toward a version of parenthood that feels more sustainable, connected, and aligned with your values.
What Therapy With Me Is Like
My Specialized Perinatal Approach
As a Perinatal Mental Health Certified (PMH-C) therapist, I provide evidence-based support tailored to the unique emotional, physical, hormonal, and relational changes that can occur during pregnancy, postpartum, and early parenthood.
I draw from approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and trauma-informed care to help you navigate perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, birth trauma, identity shifts, grief, and the ongoing adjustments that parenthood can bring.
Want to learn more about how I use these methods?
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We will use practical, evidence-based tools from CBT and ACT to help you manage anxiety, navigate difficult emotions, notice unhelpful thought patterns, and respond to uncertainty in ways that align with your values and goals as a parent.
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When pregnancy, birth, or postpartum experiences leave a lasting emotional impact, we will work together to process what happened at a pace that feels manageable. The goal is to help you move forward with greater understanding, self-compassion, and choice.
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Becoming a parent can bring a profound shift in identity. Using ACT, we will make space for the grief or uncertainty that may come with changes in independence, relationships, and sense of self while building a sustainable version of parenthood that feels authentic to you.
Free Perinatal Emotional Wellness Toolkit
Looking for additional support between sessions?
Download my free toolkit featuring reflection prompts, wellness check-ins, and practical strategies designed specifically for pregnancy and postpartum.
Need Help Right Now?
Cardinal Hope and Healing LLC does not provide emergency or crisis services. If you are in immediate danger or unable to keep yourself or your baby safe, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
For free, confidential, 24/7 mental-health support during pregnancy or after birth, call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262).
You can also call or text 988 for crisis support.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Yes, completely normal. Wanting a baby does not protect you from sleep deprivation, massive hormonal shifts, and the erasure of your routine. You can be deeply grateful for your child and simultaneously exhausted, stressed, or grieving your old life. Loving your baby and finding parenthood incredibly difficult can exist at the exact same time.
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Not at all. It makes you human. Becoming a parent is a massive identity shift. It is entirely healthy to miss your independence, your spontaneous time, or the person you were before. Mourning your past self does not mean you love your child any less—it just means you are navigating a profound life transition.
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Yes. If you find yourself replaying your delivery, feeling intense anger, avoiding medical spaces, or feeling disconnected from your birth story, you may be experiencing birth trauma. Trauma is defined by how your nervous system processed the event, not by what a medical chart says. Therapy gives you a safe space to process what happened so the memories lose their painful, overwhelming grip.
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Absolutely. Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADs) are the most common complication of childbirth, and they are highly treatable. Therapy can help you manage terrifying "what-if" thoughts, calm your nervous system, navigate postpartum rage, and break through the heavy, numb cloud of depression so you can feel like yourself again.
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You are still welcome here. The "postpartum" period doesn’t magically expire at the one-year mark. If you are still carrying unresolved birth trauma, identity confusion, or chronic anxiety from the transition into parenthood, we can work through it together. It is never too late to heal.
You Don't Have to Carry This Alone
Parenthood is one of life's biggest transitions, and you don't have to navigate it alone.
Whether you're facing pregnancy challenges, postpartum concerns, birth trauma, or identity changes, support is available.