Mothers
I am profoundly passionate about supporting mothers as a way to foster mental health in future generations. My background includes work in a Perinatal Mental Health team, research/examination of the experiences of therapy of mothers who suffered postpartum depression, and ongoing training and conferences in maternal mental health. I offer the following services to mothers and mothers-to- be:
Individual Therapy: Becoming a mother entails a major psychological shift in the mother's identity and role in society. Often mothers experience a sense of loss of their previous selves. The narratives of motherhood present in Western society create stressful and. unrealistic expectations on mothers, and are often detrimental to mothers' sense of power and identity. Additionally, the transition to motherhood often brings to awareness unprocessed early, sometimes inter-generational, trauma. Talking through these difficult psychological challenge can promote mental health in the mother and in the baby, and prevent inter-generational transmission of trauma. Couple Therapy: When present, a healthy couple relationship can protect the mother from developing depression or anxiety. I work with couples before or after the birth of their babies to make the partners aware of the specific psychological challenges that they will face in the transition to parenthood. I help couple develop strong communication skills and intimacy, which can support them through the extraordinary changes of parenthood. Parent-and-Infant Psychotherapy (Watch, Wait and Wonder): a child-led psychotherapeutic approach that specifically and directly uses the infant’s spontaneous activity in a free play format to enhance parental sensitivity and responsiveness, the child’s sense of self and self-efficacy, emotion regulation, and the child-parent attachment relationship. This intervention is suitable for babies from three months old to toddlers, and young children up to three years old. In the session, I will record the parent and child interactions on the parent's phone, which allows the parent the opportunity to purposely reflect on their interactions with their children. This leads to spontaneous re-alignment of their parenting. Watch, Wait and Wonder can be integrated in individual long-term therapy, or be used on its own, for parents who specifically present with attachment difficulties with their babies or toddlers. If used on its own, the typical length of treatment is eight sessions. Support Group: A circle of mothers can best support each other and normalize each other's difficulties through the 0-3 baby year. I run an hour-long support of group for mothers on Wednesdays from 12 to 1 o'clock. The cost of the group is $30. Before joining the group, we will have an individual session at a cost of $75, to make sure the group can be helpful to you. I encourage the mothers to stay in the group as long as they need. Before joining the group mothers will need to sign a group contract, whereby they commit to confidentiality of what is said in the group, and availability to be open and honest about their feelings. SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION TODAY |