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Becoming a family is not always how you imagined it would be. Sometimes, it feels impossible to get it right. Know that how you are feeling is okay. Though you are struggling, we can work together to manage the difficult emotions and changes that come with life as a family and becoming a parent.
Do you feel like you have lost a part of yourself in this parenting journey? Are you overwhelmed by emotions like sadness or anger? You are not alone. I have also been on a wonderful and challenging parenting journey. The difficulties are real. Like you, I have first-hand experience facing unexpected and difficult family circumstances.
The journey from fertility through, pregnancy, birth, postpartum and infancy is not easy. Depression and anxiety, rage, and self-doubt show up without an invitation. Sometimes everything goes according to a birth plan, and sometimes not. Nursing & feeding are not always beautiful. You are sleep deprived, up to your eyeballs in poops, and balancing on a precipice. You aren’t alone. You don’t have to do this on your own. Reach out to family, friends and local resources, if you can! And let me know how I can help too.
Families become and exist in a plethora of arrangements. Fertility, surrogacy, and adoption each have their own challenges. Friends can choose to be parents together, families can have two moms, two dads, or non-binary parents. Aunts, uncles, grandparents and others take on parenting and caregiving roles. Anyone can become overwhelmed and everyone deserves support.
Whether you are struggling to create a family, or you are already knee-deep in the reality of babies, toddlers and teenagers, my work as a therapist is based on our connection and meeting you where you are right now. I offer acceptance and safety. Our therapeutic relationship is where you can work through your issues, find your strengths, and feel more like yourself.
Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Friends, Fosters, Nannies, Teachers, Nurses, Caregivers…
Parenting isn’t always straightforward, and who ends up in a parenting role isn’t either. Whether or not you expected to be in this role, whether you parent full time or part time, it’s important to be able to process the feelings and experiences that rise up, so you can do your very best, and even grow your own sense of self through this parenting experience.
Areas of distress often include birth experiences, infant feeding, lack of sleep, relationship problems, schooling, homeschool, daycare, and health problems you or your child live with, such as food allergies or chronic pain.
Changing the realities of situations can sometimes help, but sometimes those options are out of reach. Sometimes what you need right now is a place to breath, to feel safe, to be heard. Making new meaning leads to new ways of experiencing the same circumstances, and can lead to feeling better within your current life, or just provide slightly more capacity to get through this season. Sometimes new insights engender the resources necessary to make important changes as well.
My job is to help you discover what you need from yourself, others and your environment to thrive more, to help you make sense of what feels like an insurmountable mountain of puzzle pieces and lost identity. By looking at your mindbody experience of emotions, felt-sense, thoughts, beliefs and patterns, we can do that. We can put the puzzle pieces together, change their arrangement and paint them new colours! This can mean working through pain points using a person-centered approach, where I tie in other modalities such as Pain Reprocessing Therapy, IFS-informed (Internal Family Systems) activities, and bottom up body based strategies. I use a variety of psycho-educational tools and therapeutic strategies to help you get there.
Learning that your child has life-threatening food allergies is a shock. And so are all the stressful, anxiety provoking things that come with allergies. If your emotional reality is anxiety and worry bleeding into other areas of life, in ways you don’t want, you doubt your ability to keep your child safe, you don’t feel like you are living according to your own values, life and joy have been overtaken by overwhelm, stress, hopelessness, and endless thinking… There is a way to begin to feel more in control, and to feel better. Let’s talk.
Homeschooling and Unschooling can mean beautiful opportunities for connection and learning. Whether you came to it by choice, philosophy, or just kind of landed on it as a best option, homeschool can also be a rough ride, with few breaks. I get it, as a fellow homeschooling parent. The balancing act is an extreme sport! And oh so rewarding. But if you feel like you are drowning… it’s time to evaluate what’s working and what isn’t. I help parents look for their family’s best path forward.
There’s nothing like parenting to bring out… all the things, in new ways. All the feelings, old patterns, beliefs, habits. The overwhelm is real. The challenges are real too. Maybe you want to get off the roller coaster so you can thrive with your family. Let’s talk about it.
