Counseling for New Mothers
Is your transition into motherhood more of a strain than you expected?
Do you often find tears welling up in your exhausted eyes? Are you feeling overwhelmed or unable to meet the demands on you?
Or maybe you’d like the support of a compassionate expert to guide you through the early days of motherhood? With a little bit of help, you could be there fully for your child, and connect with yourself and your partner on a deeper level.
Becoming a new mom always changes more about our lives than we expect and counseling is an important means to ensure you receive the support and guidance you need through this intense time.
Statistics show that 21.9% of women experience depression in the year after childbirth. One in seven new parents experience postnatal anxiety.
Then there are the usual stressors and strains of caring for a new child whose behaviors and requirements need to be learnt.
When a woman becomes a mom, a rush of changes occur. These changes include those that directly affect her biology, such as hormonal shifts and a lack of sleep, as well as more social or personal changes, such as relationship shifts and the added pressure of familial, cultural, and societal expectations & commentary.
So whether you’re a new mom for the first time, or already have another child or children, each pregnancy, each birthing, and each baby is different. Counseling can help you cope with the strains that cause your feelings of overwhelm, as well as enhance this wonderful time of life for you.
So if these sound like you…
- I want to feel more fully connected to my child
- I want to increase the chances that new parenthood will bring me and my partner closer
- I think I need to do everything perfectly, but I’m failing
- I wish to thrive in motherhood, but I don’t know if I am
- I would like support and understanding
…Then “new mom” counseling could be for you.
Therapy can help you feel valued, calm, capable, and connected as you begin or continue your motherhood journey. Therapy can help with a wide variety of new parenthood issues, from smaller issues and feelings, to dealing with the major challenges or transitions that you or a partner could be experiencing.
In our non-judgmental, supportive practice we will discuss your wants and needs openly and respectfully. Our evidence-based techniques, therapies, and experience will help pave the way for an enjoyable beginning to your journey through parenthood. If you’re looking for an understanding ear to help you through this time, please contact me today for an appointment.
Couples Counseling
Combining the knowledge and wisdom of nearly forty years of studies and clinical practice, Gottman Method Couples Therapy helps couples break through barriers to achieve greater understanding, connection and intimacy in their relationships. Through research-based interventions and exercises, it is a structured, goal-oriented, scientifically-based therapy. Intervention strategies are based upon empirical data from Dr. Gottman’s study of more than 3,000 couples. This research shows what actually works to help couples achieve a long-term healthy relationship. The Gottman research is extensive and remarkable. It sincerely speaks for itself. Check out www.gottman.com and you will see the remarkability is of this method!
The unique perspective and spin that I bring to Couple’s Therapy is my extensive knowledge (and first hand experience) of the queer community. I have navigated life as a member of the queer community, as a wife, and now as a non-bio mother for many years. I understand how difficult it can be to navigate sexuality, gender identity, family, friends, and community settings as a minority of the population. My personal experiences combined with my extensive clinical experience & training has prepared me to be a unique and skilled counselor for the queer community. I am dedicated to continuing my education and training to be the best that I can be in this burgeoning field.
Click here to be taken directly to my online client portal and scheduling site. https://sarahbrainescounseling.clientsecure.me
EMDR
Have distressing or adverse life events caused anxiety, depression, or disconnection?
Do you need professional help coming to terms with the loss of a loved one?
Do you suffer from trauma related scars, nightmares, or flashbacks?
Do you experience migraine, chronic, or phantom pain?
Are you suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?
You should know you are not alone.
According to a study published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, the prevalence of PTSD is 8.3%, 4.7%, and 3.8% of the population, over a lifetime, the past year, and the past six month period. Add to this those who don’t fit the PTSD criteria yet face health challenges after enduring adverse life events and the numbers are huge.
This means that millions of Americans just like you are suffering from serious, life altering signs and symptoms, and they need help to heal and recover.
And as overwhelming and complex as trauma can feel, recovery is possible. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) has been shown to be effective for issues like those mentioned above, and more.
As an article published in The Permanente Journal says, “EMDR therapy provides…an efficient approach to address psychological and physiologic symptoms stemming from adverse life experiences. ” (1)
So if these describe you…
- You struggle with anxiety or depression
- You relive traumatic events with accompanying unwanted memories, vivid images, palpitations, panic attacks
- You are easily startled, feel on edge or are often irritable
- You have trouble experiencing joy, love or other positive emotions
- Chronic pain is negatively impacting on your life
- You’d like professional help to better cope with previous trauma
- You wish to create an easier, happier, more connected life
…Then eye movement desensitization and reprocessing could be the right therapeutic approach for you.
EMDR is a powerful psychotherapeutic approach that helps lessen, even eliminate, the painful mental and physical responses raised by the memory of traumatic events and seeks to create new healthier patterns in your brain.
In EMDR we work with you through eight critical phases to safely identify the distressing memory or memories and those situations that bring emotional and physical suffering, desensitize your body and brain to harmful responses, and aim for rapid and positive therapeutic change. We teach you techniques to manage stress on your own and enable optimal therapy.
Success with EMDR results in relief from emotional and mental distress, adjusts and redefines beliefs, and contributes to a relaxed and calmer mind and body. If you’d like me to show you how EMDR can help you find new peace, please contact me today for an appointment.
Family Therapy
Family therapy or family counseling is designed to address specific issues that affect the psychological health of the family, such as major life transitions or mental health conditions. It may be used as the primary mode of treatment or as a complementary approach.
Families can benefit from therapy when they experience any stressful event that may strain family relationships, such as financial hardship, divorce, or the death of a loved one. In addition, it can be effective in treating mental health concerns that impact the family as a whole, such as depression, substance abuse, chronic illness, and food issues, or everyday concerns, like communication problems, interpersonal conflict, or behavioral problems in children and adolescents.
Family counseling aims to promote understanding and collaboration among family members in order to solve the problems of one or more individuals. For example, if a child is having social and academic problems, therapy will focus on the family patterns that may contribute to the child’s acting out, rather than evaluating the child’s behavior alone. As the family uncovers the source of the problem, they can learn to support the child and other family members and work proactively on minimizing or altering the conditions that contribute to the child’s unwanted behavior.
Click here to be taken directly to my online client portal and scheduling site. https://sarahbrainescounseling.clientsecure.me
Group Therapy
Group Therapy involves one or more therapists who lead a group of roughly five to 15 patients. Groups can act as a support network and a sounding board. Other members of the group often help you come up with specific ideas for improving a difficult situation or life challenge, and hold you accountable along the way.
Group therapy is a shared therapeutic experience that involves the presence of a trained professional and others who are working through similar issues. This collaborative form of healing can focus on interpersonal relationships or on particular concerns shared by group members. There are numerous psychological and emotional issues that are treated in group therapy, ranging from addiction and abuse to anxiety and depression.
Group therapy is offered to help you address a variety of issues and reach a range of therapeutic goals. Some of the topics addressed include substance abuse and other addictions, domestic violence, divorce, childhood abuse, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and issues surrounding eating and body image.
Some people choose to join group therapy to supplement primary therapy, to access additional support, or to serve as the sole component of healing work. Participants in group sessions find discussing their problems with those who can offer genuine empathy gives them a sense of belonging and encouragement. Additionally, group therapy members provide support and direction for others struggling with the same issues they have faced in the past.
What actually happens in the group depends largely on who attends, what is being discussed, and any specific modalities the therapist uses in group. No matter the focus of the group, change occurs as you move through various stages of development. As you get to know yourself and the other members on a deeper level, perhaps working through conflicts as they come up, your experiences in the group become increasingly restorative.
Click here to be taken directly to my online client portal and scheduling site. https://sarahbrainescounseling.clientsecure.me