For a lot of people, the journey to becoming parents is not an easy one. You may be questioning whether you even want to become a parent or be worried about how your upbringing or life circumstances will impact your parenting. Perhaps you have experienced difficulties in your journey such as infertility or loss. Maybe your pregnancy or birth wasn’t what you hoped it would be, your baby needed a NICU / SCN stay, or your body has changed in a way you didn’t expect. Maybe it’s been hard bonding with your baby, your relationship with your partner has changed significantly, or you aren’t quite sure who you are anymore. You may be struggling with your mood and feeling far more angry, irritable or sad than you usually do.

No matter what your challenge is, if its related to pregnancy, birth or challenges in the postpartum period I’m here to support you through all of the bumpy bits! Your baby doesn’t come with its own personalised instruction manual, however these days there are a million books, podcasts, instagrams all with conflicting opinions and advice about what to do. I appreciate how overwhelming the role of 'parent’ can be and the huge rollercoaster of emotions that are experienced on this journey. It can be the highest of highs and lowest of lows all wrapped up messily in a sleep deprived bow. I’m here to help you quieten the noise, calm the chaos and support you to tune into what yours and your babies needs are and more importantly how to try and meet them. I draw from attachment research and utilise evidence based therapies to assist you to overcome whatever challenge has brought you to therapy. I’m hoping therapy with me can help you heal from your trauma, build your confidence in your abilities as a parent and regain the joy that may have been temporarily lost due to challenging situations.

Common issues I support people with:

Pregnancy

• Ambivalence about pregnancy

• Hyperemesis gravidarum and other illnesses related to pregnancy

• Managing pain or physical limitations

• Managing depression, anxiety and other mental health concerns

• Prenatal diagnosis of congenital anomaly

• Preparing for birth

• Preparing for becoming a parent (or preparing to expand your family if you have existing children)

Postnatal

• Matrescence (the physical, emotional, hormonal and social transition to becoming a mother)

• Birth trauma

• Birth injury (including prolapse)

• Premature Birth

• NICU / SCN

• Multiple Birth Families

• Breastfeeding challenges (including support for managing D-MER (dysphoric milk ejection reflex)

• Bonding difficulties

• Postnatal Depression, anxiety and other mental health concerns

• Changing family dynamics

• Attachment focused parenting support

I understand how scary it can feel starting therapy and opening up to a stranger about your challenges in the perinatal period. Unfortunately there still is a lot of societal judgement and expectations about how you ‘should’ be feeling and what you ‘should’ be doing. Its really important to me that clients feel safe and comfortable in our sessions so on top of the usual bio about myself as a therapist (here) I have also written a personal bio about me as a person and a mother to assist you with figuring out whether I may be a good fit for you (here)