Postpartum Counseling

in Denver

Are you experiencing anxiety, depression or feelings of overwhelm during postpartum or pregnancy?

Lately you’ve been having a hard time feeling “enough” as a mom. You’ve been constantly worrying about whether your baby is eating enough, made endless changes to get their sleep schedule “just right,” and spent hours looking up the safest carseats and toys. Maybe you just haven’t been feeling like yourself since you’ve had a baby, or you and your partner aren’t seeing eye to eye. You feel alone, unsupported and can’t seem to connect to the things that brought your joy in your pre-baby life. The new pressures (and hormones!) are making you feel all over the place, and sometimes you wonder who you even are anymore. Everything feels so heavy and overwhelming, and you want to rely on your partner for help but they are in-over-their-head, just like you.

All you want is to be present and enjoy this special time in your life.

But no matter what you try, you feel consumed with worry and feelings of inadequacy.

You don’t have to live like this. Postpartum counseling can help.

Are you a new mom struggling to enjoy this time with your new child? Do you feel anxious and overwhelmed? Postpartum counseling can help. You don’t have to let postpartum anxiety take over. Reach out to start therapy in Denver and Boulder.

What is a Perinatal Anxiety

and Mood Disorder (PMAD?)

Perinatal mood and anxiety disorder (PMAD) is an anxiety, depressive or mood disorder that occurs during pregnancy or within 1 year postpartum (the “perinatal period”).  Mental health disorders during this time period are extremely common, and can present whether or not you had a mental health condition prior to pregnancy.  It is estimated that 15-21% of pregnant women experience moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety and depression, approximately 21% of women experience postpartum depression, and 11% of women experience perinatal panic disorder or OCD.  Onset of these conditions can be triggered by hormonal changes during pregnancy or post-childbirth, and can also be impacted by pressures as a new parent, lack of sleep and challenges adjusting to a new role.  Having support during this time is critical, and research shows that screening and early intervention through counseling can protect the wellbeing of you, your baby and your entire family.  

Common symptoms of postpartum depression and anxiety can look like:

  • Constant worry about yourself or your baby’s wellbeing

  • Intrusive thoughts or images, otten centering around your baby’s safety

  • Being kept up at night by racing thoughts, even when the baby is sleeping

  • Avoiding certain activities or people that feel overwhelming, like visiting with friends and family or going outside

  • Feeling like if you don’t do everything perfectly, there will be catastrophic outcomes

  • Difficulty finding joy or happiness since your baby has been born

  • Feeling guilty a lot of the time, or inadequate as a parent

  • Difficulty bonding or feeling connected to your baby

  • Low energy that doesn’t improve with sleep

Are you a new mom struggling to enjoy this precious time in your life? Are you struggling with perfectionism and anxiety? Postpartum counseling in Colorado can help overwhelmed moms feel like themselves again.

In addition to clinical perinatal mental health conditions, there are many challenges that most people face as they adapt to being new parents.  These can look like:

  • Struggling to connect with your partner or get on the same page

  • Struggling to navigate dynamics with your own or your partner’s families as roles shift

  • Feeling like unresolved issues from your childhood are getting in the way of being the parent or partner you want to be

  • Worrying that if you ask for help, others will assume that you “can’t handle” motherhood

  • Pushing yourself to prioritize your partner and the baby over your own needs

  • Feeling guilty for having to pull back from other relationships since becoming a parent

Postpartum Therapy Can Help

There are so many pressures put on new moms in our culture - it is not your fault that you feel this way! Healing from these feelings of inadequacy and overwhelm is possible. Through postpartum counseling, I help new moms to feel calmer, more present and more joyful as they transition to parenthood.  I will help you to navigate this role transition to stay true to yourself while finding balance with your values and identity as a mother.  Together in therapy, we will:

  • Help you develop tools to cope with stress and overwhelm and make time for a self-care routine to physically calm down your nervous system and reconnect to your sense of self

  • Assist you in identifying your natural strengths that can be drawn from in parenting

  • Help you to process experiences and memories from your own childhood that may be coming as you take on this new challenge, and understand how these experiences may shape your values and choices as a mother utilizing concepts from psychodynamic psychotherapy

  • Teach communication techniques that can help you and your partner better manage the impact of stress on your relationship

  • Help you experience less overthinking and anxiety spirals, so that you can have more mental clarity to be present for this special time with your new baby utilizing tools from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) to h

  • Validate and help you find acceptance for your unique experience of parenthood

  • Feel more confident in how you respond to new challenges through mindfulness-based strategies including learning tools to feel more present in your life, be kinder to yourself and accept yourself for who you are.

  • Suggest relevant books, articles and tools that can help you to get a deeper understanding of your experience and make progress in between sessions

I will help you to get out of your head so that you can be more present with your baby.  I will help you to stop beating yourself up so that you can feel confident in your abilities as a new mom.  I will help you to clarify your values so that you feel more confident setting boundaries and putting your nuclear family first.  I will help you to care for and love yourself so that you can model the same for your child. 

You don’t have to live with constant anxiety, sadness or overwhelming thoughts.  You can find a way to feel good about yourself as a mom and feel proud of the life you are building for your family.  Therapy can help you to be more present in your life, get out of your head and make space to enjoy these precious days as a new parent. 

Through postpartum counseling, you can feel as joyful as this happy mom and her baby. If you are struggling with anxiety, depression or overwhelm, postpartum therapy can help. Reach out to start postpartum counseling in Denver and Longmont today.

Postpartum Counseling FAQs

  • A perinatal therapist has special knowledge and training in perinatal mental health, or mental health conditions and specific stressors that occur during pregnancy through the first year after giving birth.  This includes challenges with pregnancy loss or infertility. 

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy is shown to be very effective in treatment of postpartum anxiety and depression, and learning mindfulness-based strategies can be a game changer in learning to accept feelings of uncertainty and doubt that can come up during the adjustment to motherhood.  Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is best practice for coping with intrusive thoughts related to postpartum OCD. 

  • Despite what social media (and regular media!) would have you believe, the postpartum period is challenging in some way for most women.  What varies from person to person is how challenging.  Your hormones are all over the place, you’re coping with the physical healing process (and a strong desire to get your pre-baby body back ASAP), and all of a sudden you are now responsible for keeping another human being alive with no rulebook provided.  You want to lean on your partner, but they seem just as clueless and overwhelmed as you do.  Of course you’re struggling!  But just because it’s normal doesn’t mean you have to keep feeling like this.  Postpartum counseling can help you make sense of all these new challenges and start to feel like yourself again. 

  • Because the perinatal period lasts up to 1 year after childbirth, meaning it can take your hormones up to that long to stabilize (and potentially longer if you continue to breastfeed), postpartum depression or anxiety can last that long too.  That’s talking about anxiety or depression impacted by your hormones, but mental health challenges related to the stress of parenting can last much longer!  It might seem tempting to “wait it out”, but this period is also a crucial time that you will want to be present with your new baby.  Issues that go unaddressed during the postpartum period can have a bigger impact on your child and family in the long run.  Contact me to get started with help. 

Postpartum counseling isn’t the only service I provide at my Denver-based therapy practice.  Other mental health services at Root to Rise Therapy include Therapy for Anxiety, Therapy for Perfectionism, Therapy for People-Pleasing, ADHD Therapy and Cultural Identity Counseling. I see clients located in Colorado, New York and New Jersey. Contact me to learn more about how I can help you overcome anxiety and reclaim your life!

Postpartum Therapy Resources

I am trained in Perinatal Mental Health through Postpartum Support International (PSI), which has many great resources and support groups for new moms. They also run a HelpLine that you can contact for additional information and support.

Adapting to pregnancy and coping with postpartum stress can be so challenging. You don’t have to deal with anxiety and overwhelm related to pregnancy alone. Reach out to start postpartum counseling in Denver, Boulder and Longmont.

Questions before getting started? Get in touch.

My Denver-based therapy practice specializes in treating high-achieving women dealing with anxiety, perfectionism and people-pleasing.  To start your counseling journey, follow these simple steps

Step 1

Contact Victoria

Step 2

Meet with Victoria for an intake session

Step 3

Get started on your journey towards healing emotionally and becoming the mom you want to be!