Maternal Mental Health

Anxiety is often heightened postpartum with the responsibility of caring for a new infant. Intrusive thoughts and worries about baby’s health and can interfere with our ability to confidently engage in daily activities. This is magnified when we go through a traumatic event, like birth complications. I provide a supportive and non-judgmental environment where you can explore the barriers that prevent you from engaging in the activities you long to enjoy. Based on your individual needs, we can explore relaxation strategies, nervous system regulation, cognitive behavioural approaches and exposure based strategies to help manage anxiety in everyday life.

I provide an empathic space to express any feelings of sadness, anger, or ambivalence about becoming a mom. Postpartum can sometimes feel lonely and isolating when we’re lacking the compassion and support we need. Caring for a baby can feel all-encompassing and our ability to engage in once meaningful activities can at times feel impossible. My aim is to help you rediscover the activities that are important to you and help establish routines that give you a sense of peace or accomplishment, to help feel like yourself again. Cognitive behavioral strategies, including behavioral activation, self-compassion, sensory based strategies and evocative empathy can be incorporated in your individual therapy.   

Often when a woman becomes a mother, she becomes the default parent who manages most of the needs of the children and the household. Juggling the needs of everyone, while struggling to incorporate meaningful self-care, productivity, or leisure activities can lead to burnout or overwhelm. Occupational Therapists are skilled at analyzing the steps involved in a task and breaking them down into manageable pieces. If you are feeling like the weight of mothering is overshadowing your satisfaction with mothering, we can work together to make lifestyle changes to improve your satisfaction and enjoyment of being a mother.