Approximately 20% of mothers (and 10% of fathers) will experience a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder (PMAD) making it the most common complication of childbirth. If you believe you may be experiencing a PMAD you are not alone. Becoming a parent, whether it's for the first or fifth time, can be a big transition and that can mean big challenges.
While some worry is quite normal (it comes with the territory of parenthood), anxiety is not. Sometimes an experience during your pregnancy, birth, or postpartum (NICU stay, medical complications, etc.) can be traumatizing. Approximately 80% of postpartum women experiences a period (usually lasting about 2 weeks) of feeling particularly exhausted, emotionally uneven, and even a bit mentally foggy.
While some worry is quite normal (it comes with the territory of parenthood), anxiety is not. Sometimes an experience during your pregnancy, birth, or postpartum (NICU stay, medical complications, etc.) can be traumatizing. Approximately 80% of postpartum women experiences a period (usually lasting about 2 weeks) of feeling particularly exhausted, emotionally uneven, and even a bit mentally foggy.
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I LOVE LOVE LOVE the messaging that yes, it's hard, but that's NORMAL. Yet, in doing so you also make sure to balance that with having no expectation about what mothering/parenting might look like for any individual situation. You not only outline how to identify the 'wiggly' feelings, but give suggestions for why they may exist and more importantly, how to roll with them and /use/ those moments.
While some worry is quite normal (it comes with the territory of parenthood), anxiety is not. Anxiety is extremely persistent and often overwhelming. It's scary thoughts that don't subside. Worst of all, anxiety interferes with your day to day life. Counseling can help you develop coping strategies to reduce your anxiety symptoms.
Like most therapists, I'm trained in a variety of approaches; however, I favor some more than others. This is based on both my training and my experiences (with research and clients). I align with feminist psychology perspectives.
I use feminist methodologies frequently when I'm conducting academic research (my dissertation was a feminist ethnography) and as a result of these studies, I firmly believe that both childbirth and care-work are feminist issues.This conclusion certainly has influenced me in my therapeutic practice as well.
I use feminist methodologies frequently when I'm conducting academic research (my dissertation was a feminist ethnography) and as a result of these studies, I firmly believe that both childbirth and care-work are feminist issues.This conclusion certainly has influenced me in my therapeutic practice as well.
I have long been a critic of the standard self-care narrative. Too many mamas, myself included, feel that "taking time for self-care" is considered a "cure-all" and often something they feel that they're not able to fully or appropriately accomplish, which can often leave a mama feeling like it's one more thing she's not doing "right" and that's not good, plain and simple."
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