Perinatal depression is a complex condition affecting pregnant women and new mothers. Unlike the brief “baby blues,” it lasts over 14 days and significantly impacts quality of life. This disorder stems from an intricate interplay of genetic, epigenetic, neuroendocrine, and environmental factors. Strikingly, it’s quite common, affecting 1 in 7-10 pregnant women and 1 in 5-8 postpartum women annually.

Welcoming a new baby is often portrayed as a joyous time. But for many new parents, it can also bring overwhelming anxiety. The perinatal period is a crucial time for women’s mental health. Hormonal fluctuations, sleep deprivation, and lifestyle changes can trigger postpartum anxiety and depression. While these conditions often resolve naturally, many cases require professional intervention. Anxiety during pregnancy and after childbirth is common, but when it hinders self-care or baby care, it’s time to seek help. Untreated anxiety can impact bonding with the baby and even affect the infant’s behavior. As a friend or family member, you might want to support the new parent in your life but struggle to know where to start.

Despite popular narratives about pregnancy being a special and joyful time, for some folks the experience of pregnancy and childbirth can be deeply traumatic. If you’ve endured a difficult pregnancy or birth, you may find yourself struggling with unexpected emotions and challenges long after returning home. While some adjustment is normal, persistent distress can signal a need for professional support. 

As a new mother, you’ve likely heard of postpartum depression, but postpartum anxiety often flies under the radar. Postpartum anxiety is a super common yet often overlooked condition that can affect new mothers alongside or independently of postpartum depression. If you find yourself constantly on edge, unable to relax, or plagued by intrusive thoughts about your baby’s safety, you may be experiencing postpartum anxiety.

Online couples therapy, also known as virtual couples counseling or telehealth, is a modern approach to relationship support that brings the benefits of traditional in-person therapy into the digital age. Telehealth allows couples to access professional help from the comfort of their own homes, using secure internet platforms to connect with therapists. At its core, the answer to how online couples therapy works is pretty simple: it’s a lot like in-person therapy and largely mirrors the structure and goals of traditional face-to-face counseling.

Do you feel like your birth experience left you shaken or struggling? Maybe you’re having nightmares about your delivery, or playing it over and over in your mind. You might be feeling disconnected from your baby, or you just can’t shake the feeling that something’s not right. These could be signs that birth trauma has impacted you. Birth trauma refers to physical or psychological distress experienced during childbirth. It can stem from complications, unexpected interventions, or feeling unsupported or out of control. This trauma may affect both mothers and babies, potentially leading to long-lasting emotional and physical impacts. Recognizing birth trauma is crucial for proper support and healing.

You’ve just had a baby. It should be the happiest time of your life, right? But instead of feeling joyful, you’re overwhelmed with sadness, anxiety, and exhaustion. Despite our cultural narratives about motherhood, this is actually very common. It’s also temporary and treatable. Postpartum depression affects up to 1 in 5 new moms, yet it’s often misunderstood or dismissed. The mix of emotions can leave you feeling lost and isolated, or worried you’re not a good mom. From intense mood swings to crippling self-doubt, the experience is different for every woman. Let’s dive into the complex feelings that come with postpartum depression and shed some light on this common but challenging condition.

Are you and your partner struggling to connect emotionally? Do you find yourselves caught in the same arguments, unable to break free from negative patterns? Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) for couples is a powerful, evidence-based approach to relationship counseling. This method, developed by Dr. Sue Johnson, focuses on strengthening the emotional bond between partners and fostering secure attachment.

Maintaining composure in the face of a child’s tantrum is one of parenting’s greatest challenges. As your little one screams and flails on the floor of the grocery store, you may feel your own emotions spiraling out of control. However, staying calm is crucial for effectively managing the situation and helping your child learn emotional regulation. Understanding the root causes of these emotional outbursts can help you respond more effectively and compassionately.

As a new parent, caring for your newborn can be all-consuming. The constant feedings, diaper changes, and sleep deprivation often leave you feeling overwhelmed and depleted. However, it’s crucial to remember that caring for yourself is as important as tending to your baby’s needs. By prioritizing your well-being, you’ll be better equipped to provide the love and care your little one requires. Here are some practical ways to nurture yourself while navigating the challenges of early parenthood.

Postpartum anxiety is like that overly cautious friend who’s always anticipating the worst. It’s a common mental health condition that can affect new moms (and sometimes dads!) in the weeks and months after having a baby. While it’s normal to have some worries as a new parent, postpartum anxiety takes those concerns to the next level.

As you raise children with your partner, you may sometimes disagree about how to approach parenting. While having different perspectives can seem frustrating, it doesn’t have to damage your relationship. Working through conflicting parenting styles can strengthen your bond and lead to better outcomes for your kids. Raising children is a team effort, but what happens when you and your partner have different ideas about discipline, routines, or expectations? Here’s how couples can navigate these differences and establish a united front.

You and your partner may have your fair share of disagreements and arguments. While some conflict is normal in any relationship, constant fighting can erode the foundation of trust and mutual respect. Understanding the common causes of arguments and learning healthy communication strategies are crucial to keeping your relationship strong. Even the happiest couples fight sometimes. Disagreements are normal, but it’s how you fight that matters. Here are some common reasons couples fight, along with tips for turning those disagreements into productive conversations.

Attachment theory explains these different types of emotional bonds that form between children and their caretakers and how they impact us. According to this theory, how our parents or primary caretakers behave toward us as infants impacts how we connect with others as adults. How we form attachments starts early, and understanding your style can help you make sense of how you relate to others.

If you were abandoned as a child, you likely have trouble trusting others in your adult relationships. Your early experiences taught you that the people closest to you couldn’t be relied upon, so you learned to be wary. Finding security in your current relationship through couples therapy can help heal wounds from the past.

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is a type of couples therapy about understanding and improving the emotional bonds between partners. EFT is based on the idea that people need secure, loving connections with others, and it helps couples move from feeling distant and distressed to feeling close and supported.

Going through pregnancy and the labor and delivery process is far from an easy feat. No matter how many months you spend planning and prepping. Welcoming a child into the world can be a miracle, beautiful, and wonderful. It can also be traumatic, exhausting, and overwhelming, especially if all that hard planning work has to shift at the last minute. The labor and delivery process doesn’t always go exactly as you may have imagined it would. You’re not alone if you’re struggling to deal with how your labor and delivery went.

Whether from friends, family or the internet - we get a lot of messages that having a baby is supposed to be one of the happiest times of your life. But it’s often not that simple. Being a new mom can be an incredibly challenging time as you navigate the lack of sleep, a body that needs to physically recover from birth and the difficulty of trying to take care of a newborn who depends on you for their safety. With all of these changes, postpartum anxiety can also show up.

While ups and downs with self-esteem may be common, struggling with body image to the point of disordered eating shouldn’t be something that you have to deal with day in and day out. Help is available to you. Working with a trained mental health professional or intuitive eating counselor may be exactly what you need to get to the root cause and figure out ways to increase your self-esteem again.