High school health class led you to believe getting pregnant would be easy. You never considered the unexpectedly hard journey that awaited you as you struggled to start a family. Feelings of grief and loss come with stressors related to infertility and family planning as well as the transition to parenthood. In sessions, we can practice using skills to help you cope with the impossibility of waiting. “Breathe deeply and hold your heart with gentle hands.”

If anyone had been honest with you about how hard it is to care for your newborn, you would have given this more thought. The first few weeks and months at home with your new baby can bring feelings of grief and loss, anxiety, anger and desperation you didn’t know you could feel. These are what we refer to as perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. In session, we can address how you prioritize your own needs while making sure your baby is thriving.

Our world is full of stressors. Sometimes it's the news. Sometimes it's politics. Your job. Balancing it all. Sometimes it's the way your body works, or the way you feel about it. Do you carry the brunt of invisible labor at home? It’s too much to manage. Let’s look at your situation from a feminist framework to address ways in which you haven’t been taught to demand what you deserve. And from there, we can practice using your skills and learn new ones so you feel confident responding to any stressor.

Can’t fall asleep? Can’t stay asleep? Feel like your body is tense and buzzing more often than not? Anxiety tells us our worst fears and catastrophes are guaranteed to occur. In our sessions, we can explore the ways in which your body responds to anxiety, better understand the function of your worry, and implement the parasympathetic nervous system response so you feel confident responding to any stressor.

This can feel like you’re in a deep dark hole you didn't anticipate. Or maybe, just as you climb your way out, you fall back down. Or, you may not even be able to see to the top. In our sessions, we can explore the events you have experienced and how you've responded in ways that have been helpful or maladaptive. And from there, we can practice using your skills and learn new ones so you feel confident responding to any stressor.

Fast-paced, high stress, high paycheck career? Making the decisions, working after bedtime, telling yourself "It's the busy season", and hearing email pings on vacation? How often did you find yourself implementing "work life integration" instead of "work life balance" during the pandemic? It's the American Dream, except, it sometimes feels like a nightmare. Burnout is a corporate word we use to describe being run down and "over it." But we aren't over it, and unlike the embers of a waning fire, burnout does not extinguish itself. We need to recognize the risks of measuring worth by career productivity, and how these risks affect our immediate health, but ultimately, our life expectancy. We work together to identify career related pain points, instill confidence in having difficult boundary-setting conversations, and understand more intuitively how our bodies tell us we are burning out (before we get there) so we can make real and lasting change. Change for our jobs, for our families and for our health.

Burnout is a buzz word these days. In our post-pandemic world, caregivers and front line mental health workers have continued to bear the brunt of unpredictable and ceaseless waves of stressors. How does this affect you as a provider? Sympathetic nervous system activation, adrenal fatigue, chronic stress, resentment, and for some, leaving this profession. We say we need to “make space”, but we really need to “make time” for our healing. Let’s work together to make that happen.