Becoming a mother is a life changing event. It is simultaneously wonderful and stressful. It is completely normal to feel some anxiety or depressive symptoms throughout pregnancy and after your baby arrives. Essentially, if what you are experiencing emotionally is interfering with your ability to care for your baby and yourself, it’s time to talk to a professional. You absolutely do not have to face these emotions alone. Motherhood can be one of the most isolating experiences. Often times, mothers are afraid to share what they are experiencing emotionally, out of fear of judgement from others. However, you cannot pour from an empty cup. While hormones can explain some of the feelings you may be experiencing during pregnancy, and shortly after your delivery, it is important to discern when it might be something more.

Let’s be clear, growing a small human being is a significant change on a woman’s body from the inside, out. Many women experience a change in their mood after delivery. Up to 80% of women, on average, feel postpartum blues, or what’s commonly named ‘the baby blues.’ These feelings usually last for a short period of time after delivery. Symptoms include: low or depressed mood, sudden mood changes, sadness, crying, general irritability, anxiety, lack of concentration, and increased dependency. However, there are many forms of perinatal mood disorders: perinatal depression, postpartum depression & postpartum anxiety. These symptoms last much longer than a few weeks, or can start anywhere from 2-3 months (or longer) after delivery. Some symptoms of PPD (postpartum depression) include: difficulty bonding with your baby, depressed mood or excessive crying, reduced interest in things you used to enjoy, intense anxiety/ rumination/ obsessions (common in PPA), feeling inadequate to care for your infant or cope with having an infant, excessive worry about baby’s death, reduced interest in things you used to enjoy, change in appetite, Fatigue/ insomnia, and having thoughts to harm yourself or the baby. Postpartum Anxiety (PPA) can often coincide with PPD and can include symptoms like: panic attacks, restless sleep, excessive worrying, fear to leave the baby with anyone, and repeated thoughts of something bad happening to baby. It can be extremely hard to discern what it is exactly that you are faced with, especially in the first few weeks after delivering your newborn.

HOW WE CAN HELP

Perinatal mood disorders are treatable. Through individual, one-on-one therapy, we can develop a therapeutic plan together that is tailored to your specific concerns as a mother, experiences, background, culture, and goals. Our therapists are trained in using empirically-based treatment modalities to progressively reveal insights about your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors—and, importantly, how they’re all connected. As you gradually gain more understanding of these connections and how they can permeate your existence, you’ll find that many areas of your life begin to evolve and to heal—and not only your levels of anxiety

We believe in the power of creating a safe, compassionate, non-judgmental environment in which you feel free to fully explore your feelings of anxiety and how they’re affecting the many domains within your social, emotional, creative, and professional life. Through open, friendly, down-to-earth conversation, we can help you to manage and change intrusive, negative thoughts; improve your ability to relax and rest; ease tension; loosen the grip of worry over your daily life; and find your unique path to personal fulfillment and serenity.

There is hope. There is support. We invite you to reach out to us for a free consultation.

Common experiences
 

•  Feelings of sadness or crying a lot
•  Difficulty connecting with baby
•  Loss of interest
• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or incompetence
•  Excessive worry about baby’s health
•  Restless sleep
•  Change in appetite

Therapists

• Deema Soufan, LPC

< Back to Specialties

Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy >