Reproductive Mental Health Therapy

When this chapter doesn’t match the picture you had in mind

Becoming a parent, or deciding if you want to, can bring up some of life’s deepest questions. For many, this season is filled with uncertainty, pressure, and unexpected grief. Maybe you thought it would be easier. Maybe you’ve been caught off guard by how heavy, lonely, or overwhelming it feels.

You don’t have to go through it alone.

What Reproductive Mental Health Includes

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The journey through fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, and parenthood can bring both joy and heartache. For some, it’s marked by grief, anxiety, or trauma. For others, it’s the quieter weight of feeling unlike yourself, straining under new responsibilities, or facing pressures you never expected, from how quickly you “bounce back” to how well you hold it all together. These experiences can be overwhelming, but they are also deeply human.

Reproductive, or perinatal, mental health can touch many parts of life, including:

  • Fertility challenges and loss.

  • Pregnancy and postpartum mental health.

  • The impact of birth experiences.

  • Shifts in identity, relationships, and body image.

How Therapy Can Support You

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  • Trying to conceive or grieving a loss can feel isolating and overwhelming. Therapy can provide a space to process grief, hold onto hope, and navigate the ups and downs of this season.

  • You may feel joy and excitement, but also worry, sadness, or fear. Therapy helps you untangle these emotions and find steadier ground.

  • A difficult or traumatic birth can leave lingering feelings of fear, shame, or grief. In therapy, we create a safe place to process what happened so you don’t have to carry it alone.

  • Infertility can bring a deep sense of betrayal from your own body — like it isn’t doing what it should. Therapy offers a compassionate space to hold this grief and rebuild trust with yourself.

  • Becoming a parent often changes your sense of self. Therapy offers space to grieve what’s been lost, embrace what’s new, and reconnect with who you are beyond caregiving.

  • Pregnancy and postpartum bring big changes to your body, and society adds pressure to “bounce back.” Therapy helps you navigate body image with compassion and let go of unrealistic expectations.

  • For survivors of abuse, the changes of pregnancy or the thought of becoming a parent can stir up old fears and anxiety. Therapy provides a safe, grounding place to process these experiences so you don’t have to face them alone.

  • During pregnancy and postpartum, it can feel like everyone online has advice about what you “should” be doing. While some guidance can be useful, the constant stream of conflicting expert opinions often leaves people feeling more anxious, inadequate, or disconnected from their own instincts. Therapy can help you quiet the noise and reconnect with your own inner wisdom.

  • Partnerships, friendships, and family dynamics often shift during this time. Therapy can support clearer communication, healthier boundaries, and more connection.

What Our Work Together Might Look Like

Therapy in this season isn’t about me giving you parenting advice or telling you how you “should” feel. It’s about creating space for the complexity of your experience, the joy and the grief, the love and the exhaustion, the pride and the doubt.

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  • The Weight of Birth Trauma

    You: “I can’t stop replaying my birth. It feels like my body betrayed me.”

    Me:“Let’s slow down with the part of you that’s carrying this memory. What does it need you to know about how it’s feeling right now?”

    Often, people find that these parts are holding onto fear, grief, or shame from the birth experience, not to harm, but to keep them alert and safe. Therapy helps soften that weight so the story doesn’t have to run on repeat.

  • The Sleepless Nights of Anxiety

    You:“Everyone says, ‘sleep when the baby sleeps,’ but I just lie awake, worrying about everything that could go wrong.”

    Me:“It sounds like an anxious part of you is standing guard, trying to protect you and your baby. Can we check in with what it fears might happen if it lets you rest?”

    Many parents discover that this part is rooted in vigilance working overtime to keep loved ones safe. In therapy, these parts learn they don’t have to carry the burden alone, opening space for more rest and peace.

  • The Pressure to Be the ‘Perfect Parent’

    You:“Everyone keeps telling me to enjoy this time, but I just feel anxious and tired.”

    Me:“It sounds like there’s a part of you that feels pressured to perform parenthood in a certain way. Can we check in with what it’s afraid might happen if you don’t live up to that?”

    Many parents discover that this pressure is rooted in old patterns of perfectionism or people-pleasing. In therapy, these parts get compassion and perspective, rather than criticism, so you can show up more authentically.

  • The Silence of Infertility

    You: “My body won’t do the one thing it’s supposed to. I feel broken.”

    Me: “That sounds so heavy. Can we pause with the part of you that feels betrayed by your body and hear what it needs right now?”

    Infertility often creates a deep disconnect from the body and a sense of isolation. Therapy can offer space to process grief, rebuild self-trust, and feel less alone in the journey.

  • The Question of Ambivalence

    You: “Part of me isn’t sure I want to be a parent, but another part is scared I’ll regret it if I don’t.”

    Me: “Let’s sit with both of those parts and hear what each is trying to protect or offer you. Neither has to be silenced here.”

    Ambivalence about parenthood is more common than most people realize. Therapy makes space for these conflicting feelings without judgment, helping you explore them with clarity and compassion.

These experiences aren’t a sign that you’re failing, they’re signs of how much you’ve been carrying. In therapy, we make space for the grief, worry, and pressure that often go unspoken. Together, we’ll honor your story, ease the weight where we can, and reconnect you with the parts of yourself that know how to heal.

Pastel clouds and airplane contrail in a blue sky, representing growth, change, and life transitions in therapy.

You Don’t Have to Carry This Alone

I work with caring, capable adults who find themselves overwhelmed by the unexpected challenges of fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, or parenthood. From the outside, it may look like you’re managing well, but inside you might feel stretched thin, lost, or grieving the gap between what you imagined and what is.

My role isn’t to give you a script for how to parent or how to feel. It’s to sit with you in the complexity, to offer space for all the emotions that come with this season, and to help you reconnect with your own wisdom and sense of self.

Even if a part of you feels unsure, reaching out is a powerful first step.