Is Life With Your Baby Not The Exciting Time You Thought It Would Be?
Have pregnancy or postpartum issues left you with a strange and sudden flood of contradictory emotions? Maybe you’re filled with awe, excitement, sadness and loneliness all at once. Even though you’re overcome with joy at this new life with your baby, you may feel a sense of grief and loss at the fact that your old life is gone. As a new mom or pregnant woman, your body may be changing or your obligations piling up—and suddenly you find you don’t have time for the things you once did. For new fathers, too, adjusting to this unfamiliar life with your little one can be overwhelming and rife with anxiety.
What’s more, pregnancy and postpartum are times of life when old emotional wounds are more likely to resurface. If you have a history of trauma, for instance, stressors from the past often come to the fore. This is especially the case for survivors of sexual abuse, since both pregnancy and postpartum involve intense bodily and emotional experiences that have a way of bringing back painful memories. This renewed vulnerability can also trigger feelings of low self-esteem—you may feel like you’re not a good mother or that you’re unable to form an attachment to your infant.
Having a newborn is wildly exciting, and for many, the most meaningful time of their lives. At the same time, pregnancy and postpartum issues can raise questions and create emotions you’ve never had before. If you wish you could just relax, breathe, and enjoy this beautiful new chapter of bonding with your little one, I would be honored to help.
Living With The Baby Blues Makes Most New Parents Feel Emotionally Exhausted
Almost all new mothers experience some form of baby blues. It’s perfectly normal to feel weepy, irritable, panicky, or just plain exhausted in the wake of your child’s birth. You may experience emotions that are alien to you or relive traumatic memories in ways you haven’t before. If you’re a father, you’re not immune to these feelings, either. It’s hard to anticipate how radically the birth of a newborn upends your life. Most mothers and fathers find it hard to cope with all the changes.
One in seven new mothers, however, experience a more long-lasting form of the baby blues called postpartum depression (PPD). This disorder often begins during pregnancy. Living with PPD can throw off your entire daily routine. It often makes it hard to bond with others, yourself, and most of all, your newborn. If left untreated, PPD can last for months—and in some cases, years.
Whether you’re a mother, father, single or married, dealing with the baby blues is not something anyone should have to go through alone. By yourself, you may be tempted to brush your struggles aside and act like you have it all together—after all, you might say, “Having a baby is supposed to be a happy occasion!” But on the inside, most new parents know it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. That’s why I want to provide emotional support for you during this time. I want to help you regulate your thoughts and feelings and, most importantly, be the parent you’ve always wanted to be.
Pregnancy And Postpartum Counseling Can Help You Bond With Your Baby In A New Way
My ultimate goal is to help you be the best possible version of yourself as a new mother or father. Postpartum counseling is a chance for you to overcome trauma, emotional wounds, and negative self-beliefs that prevent you from attaining this goal. I want to empower you to form a deeper, more loving attachment to your baby, your partner, and yourself.
When counseling for pregnancy or postpartum, it’s important to consider the past, present, and future at the same time. In our sessions, we’ll focus on what your childhood was like, current stressors in your life, and potential risk factors in your future. If you experienced abuse in your life, we’ll look at how that may impact your pregnancy or life as a new parent. Or if you suffer from depression, we’ll explore how that could affect any postpartum mental health complications. As part of my support, I offer screenings for various pregnancy and postpartum mood disorders, including PTSD, depression, anxiety, and OCD.
Central to my practice is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a form of treatment that equips you with the tools and resources to deal with negative thoughts and beliefs. For instance, if you find bonding with your little one tough because you feel like a bad parent, CBT can help you examine the core beliefs that led you to feel this way about yourself. In so doing, you can learn to control your thought process and prevent negative thoughts from impacting your ability to bond with your newborn.
No matter how bleak things look right now, pregnancy and postpartum mood disorders are common and highly-treatable. This is why it’s so important to seek treatment early, as soon as the symptoms present themselves. So many women who struggle with PPD and other postpartum-related mood disorders began experiencing symptoms while they were pregnant. But you don’t have to suffer in silence or work through this on your own. By getting to the source of your troubles early, you can help ensure a brighter future for you and your partner and come to love your baby in a new way.
You may have some concerns about pregnancy and postpartum therapy…
Will your sessions be confidential?
Everything you tell me is confidential, unless it poses an emergency risk. This is a place where you can safely and assuredly say anything you want. Most importantly, it’s a time for you to talk about yourself. If you’re hesitant to share your struggles with your spouse, family, or friends, I want postpartum counseling to be a time when you can do so without any fear of judgment.
Are my feelings normal?
No matter how many strange and unfamiliar emotions you feel during pregnancy or postpartum, I can assure you that nothing you’re feeling is abnormal. It’s perfectly normal for new parents to experience racing thoughts, inexplicable feelings of guilt or worthlessness, or even fear at being left alone with your baby. In session together, I’ll seek to normalize these troubles and show you they are not only common, but also highly treatable. I’ll also teach you about some of the risk factors that come with pregnancy and postpartum mood disorders, including:
- Stressful events during pregnancy or postpartum
- Relationship issues or domestic violence
- A history of mental illness in the family
- A history of trauma or abuse
- Grief and loss
Knowing these signs ahead of time can help you mentally and emotionally prepare for any stressors that may come to the fore during this time.
Do these feelings make me a bad mother or father?
The fact that you’re willing to explore your feelings and work through them means you’re a good parent. What’s more, the very act of coming to therapy shows you care. Through your commitment to improve as a parent and my compassionate support for your struggles, you can overcome old emotional wounds and strengthen your attachment to your little one.
No One Should Have To Cope With All The Changes Of Parenthood Alone
If you feel like life with your newborn has turned your world upside down, I want to help you cope with all the changes. To book an appointment, you can call me at 303-905-9154 or fill out the contact form on my website.
I offer a mix of both online and in-person counseling. I’m open to whichever option you prefer and look forward to hearing from you!