How Therapy During Postpartum Can Help

One of the most challenging things about postpartum is the isolation a mother feels, especially when she is experiencing postpartum depression or anxiety. Postpartum hormones and sleep deprivation can make you feel completely alone in your experience and feel that you are failing. One of the most powerful things that can change the postpartum experience is to be told that you are not alone. 

Just hearing someone else say, “Yes! I went through that too,” is more than enough to lift the mood and realize that what you are experiencing is not crushing failure but part of being human. Therapy can provide validation that your experience is normal and that it is not forever. It can provide tools to help you learn to manage the hard moments and joy to celebrate the good moments.

Therapy also provides a space that is completely your own. A space to have all to yourself while you have given so much to your family. The sessions can be whatever you need in the moment; whether that be an hour of silence, a space to share the thoughts you are afraid to say out loud, or a space to explore and discover your new identity.

The Reality of the Postpartum Experience

There are so many challenges in those first few months, and if you are experiencing them for the first time, it is overwhelming and all-consuming. There’s often an expectation that you will be rocking your newborn, singing them a song, and experiencing “newborn bliss.” And there might be some of that, but there might also be moments that bring lots of tears. 

Tears because the baby wouldn’t latch, and you had to give them a bottle

Tears after a fight with your partner that felt absolutely devastating, and you think your marriage might be over.

Tears when you find yourself wondering how something you wanted so badly can feel so incredibly hard.

This experience may make you feel like there is something wrong with you or that you are failing, when it is in fact an experience that most mothers have. The newborn stage is extremely hard. While there is joy and bliss, there are also moments of complete overwhelm, sadness, and anxiety.

Why Postpartum Can Feel So Overwhelming

Postpartum is an experience that is constantly shifting as the baby grows. As soon as you think you’re finally getting on your feet, a sleep regression occurs, or the baby starts teething, and you wonder, “How can I keep going like this?” 

While you are trying to recover physically, you are also trying to learn who this little person is and how to care for them. This can be a time of significant doubt. It can be hard to trust that you know what you are doing, especially when the baby has been crying for seemingly no reason.

Postpartum is never-ending. You don’t get breaks or the ability to walk away. The fact is, you are forever changed. Even if you try to get a break, there is probably a part of you that is still thinking and wondering about the baby.

Finding time for yourself or to meet your own needs can feel impossible. In the beginning, it can be really hard to imagine that it will get any better.

Therapy Can Provide the Validation You Need

Therapy can be that first step to healing and giving yourself the time that you need.

It can be a space where your experience is met with understanding, not judgment. 

Maybe what you need is just someone to hear what you’re going through and say, “Yes, that sounds really hard.”

Maybe you need some tools to take with you to help you regulate in those moments of overwhelm.

Maybe you and your partner need a place to reconnect. To find a place where you can figure out roles and expectations, and to share the tough moments as a team.

I provide therapy sessions tailored to your needs and as flexible as you need. Whether that be meeting virtually with baby in the room, or in-person walking on a trail. I want to make therapy as accessible and as safe as possible for you.

You Do Not Have to Carry It All On Your Own

You were never meant to carry the emotional weight of motherhood by yourself.

No matter what your experience is, there is support, and there is understanding. There is a light at the end of the tunnel to improve your well-being and your postpartum experience.

Whether you're experiencing postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, relationship challenges, or simply feeling overwhelmed by the transition into parenthood, support is available.

I provide pregnancy and postpartum therapy in Livermore and Pleasanton, as well as virtual therapy throughout California.

To schedule a free consultation to learn more, contact me.