Perinatal, Postpartum & Birth Trauma Therapy for Mothers & Birthing People
Pregnancy, birth, and early parenthood can be some of the most transformative experiences of a lifetime. They can also be overwhelming, tender, disorienting, and deeply vulnerable.
Whether you are pregnant, newly postpartum, or parenting through the early years, you deserve support that honors the profound transition you are moving through.
I offer therapy for birthing people and mothers navigating the perinatal, postpartum, and early parenting years, including those healing from birth trauma, experiencing postpartum anxiety, or moving through the complex emotional landscape of matrescence.
You don’t have to navigate all of this alone. Reach out here to see how I can support you.
Honoring the Transition of Matrescence
The transition into motherhood often called matrescence is not simply a life change. It is a profound identity shift that affects your body, nervous system, relationships, sense of self, and place in the world.
You may be experiencing:
A loss of your previous identity
Heightened emotional sensitivity
Overwhelm or anxiety
Grief around your birth experience and/or postpartum period
Difficulty adjusting to the demands of parenting
A sense that no one prepared you for how intense this transition would be
All of these experiences are valid.
This work creates space to process, integrate, and make meaning of this transition, so you can move through motherhood feeling more grounded, resourced, and connected to yourself and your family.
Healing Birth Trauma
Birth experiences stay in the body and nervous system long after the event itself.
Even when everything seemed “okay” on the surface, a birth experience can still leave lasting emotional imprints if it involved:
Loss of control
Fear for your or your baby's safety
Feeling unheard or dismissed
Unexpected medical interventions
Emergency or traumatic events
Separation from your baby
Overwhelming pain or fear
When trauma from birth is not processed, it can show up as:
Intrusive memories of the birth
Panic or anxiety
Avoidance of reminders of the birth
Difficulty bonding or feeling present
Hypervigilance around your baby's safety
Postpartum anxiety or distress
Short-Term Birth Trauma Healing
Bilateral Stimulation Resourcing Therapy
I offer short-term therapy focused on healing birth trauma using bilateral stimulation and resourcing techniques. This work follows the birth trauma healing model developed by Gena McCarthy, RN, MFT, which integrates bilateral stimulation, resourcing practices, and perinatal trauma-informed care.
This approach helps the nervous system safely process overwhelming experiences while building internal resources for regulation and resilience.
In this work we focus on:
Gently processing the birth experience
Reducing the intensity of traumatic memories
Restoring a sense of safety in your body
Strengthening nervous system regulation
Reconnecting with your sense of agency and trust
Honoring the entirety of your birthing experience and story
Many parents find that targeted trauma work can bring meaningful relief and integration in a relatively short period of time.
Expressive Arts & Embodied Healing
Not all healing happens through words.
Pregnancy, birth, and early parenthood are deeply embodied experiences, and the emotions connected to them are often held not only in the mind, but also in the body.
For some parents, creative and body-based practices can open pathways to healing that feel more intuitive and supportive than traditional talk therapy alone.
When it feels helpful, our work may include expressive arts and embodied practices that allow space for emotions, memories, and sensations to be explored in gentle and non-verbal ways.
These practices might include:
drawing, painting, or visual expression
guided imagery or visualization
Safe, supported ways to express and release anger or built-up emotion (like using your voice, pushing against something stable, or releasing energy into a pillow)
movement or body awareness practices
breath and nervous system regulation
symbolic or creative exploration of your birth experience or transition into parenthood
For example, some parents find it helpful to explore parts of their birth story through gentle movement or embodied expression. This can create space to process moments that felt overwhelming or unresolved, and sometimes allows parents to reconnect with their voice, agency, or the response they wish they had been able to express at the time which can feel very empowering.
Through these experiential approaches, parents often find new ways of making meaning, reclaiming their experience, and integrating what happened.
When experiences that once felt overwhelming can be revisited with support, safety, and creativity, many parents discover new ways of reclaiming their voice, their agency, and their relationship to their story.
Expressive and embodied work is always offered as an invitation, not a requirement, and we move at a pace that feels supportive and safe for you.
You deserve support & care.
If you are moving through pregnancy, postpartum recovery, or early parenthood and feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or impacted by your birth experience, you are not alone.
Healing and integration are possible.
Therapy can offer a space to process, integrate, and reconnect with yourself while navigating this profound life transition.
Reach out to learn how I can best support you on your journey into parenthood.