Therapy for Postpartum Anxiety & Depression
Specialized Therapy for New Moms Navigating Postpartum Anxiety, Postpartum Depression & the Transition to Motherhood in St. Louis, Missouri and Illinois.
Because motherhood can be beautiful and overwhelming at the same time.
Bringing home your baby can be one of life's most meaningful experiences, but it can also be one of its most emotionally overwhelming. Whether you're experiencing postpartum anxiety, postpartum depression, intrusive thoughts, overwhelming mom guilt, or simply don't feel like yourself anymore, you don't have to navigate this season alone. I provide specialized therapy for new moms throughout Missouri and Illinois, helping women move through the emotional challenges of early motherhood with compassion, understanding, and evidence-based care.
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You love your baby.
But you're exhausted.
Your mind won't slow down.
You constantly worry that something bad will happen.
You feel guilty when someone else holds your baby.
You miss who you were before becoming a mother—and then feel guilty for missing her.
Or perhaps you don't feel sad at all.
You feel anxious.
Overwhelmed.
Irritable.
Emotionally numb.
Like you're surviving each day rather than enjoying it.
Many new moms silently wonder:
"Is this normal?"
"Why does everyone else seem to be handling motherhood better than I am?"
"Will I ever feel like myself again?"
These thoughts are more common than many women realize.
Therapy provides a place where you can finally stop pretending you're okay.
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Postpartum anxiety
Postpartum depression
Intrusive thoughts
Postpartum OCD
Constant worry about your baby's safety
Mom guilt
Feeling overwhelmed as a new mom
Difficulty bonding with your baby
Emotional numbness
Postpartum rage or irritability
Identity changes after becoming a mother
Returning to work after maternity leave
Relationship changes after having a baby
Maternal burnout
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The transition into motherhood deserves specialized care.
My practice is dedicated to women's mental health, including postpartum anxiety, postpartum depression, postpartum OCD, infertility, pregnancy loss, gestational surrogacy, and working motherhood.
I understand that becoming a mother can bring immense love alongside anxiety, grief, identity shifts, self-doubt, and emotional overwhelm.
My goal is to provide a space where you feel understood from the very beginning because I understand how vulnerable the transition into motherhood can be—and how healing it is to have a therapist who truly understands both the emotional and psychological complexities of becoming a new mom.
Common Reasons Moms Seek Support
Postpartum Anxiety
Constant worry, racing thoughts, difficulty relaxing, fear that something bad will happen, and feeling unable to "turn off" your mind.
Postpartum Depression
Persistent sadness, emotional numbness, irritability, hopelessness, guilt, loss of interest, or feeling unlike yourself after having a baby.
Postpartum OCD & Intrusive Thoughts
Unwanted, distressing thoughts about harm coming to your baby, accompanied by checking, reassurance seeking, avoidance, or mental rituals. Specialized ERP therapy is available when appropriate.
Anxiety after Infertility, Pregnancy Loss, or Surrogacy
Pregnancy and postpartum can feel especially vulnerable after infertility, IVF, miscarriage, recurrent pregnancy loss, or gestational surrogacy. Therapy provides space to process both joy and ongoing fear.
Maternal Burnout & Emotional Exhaustion
Feeling emotionally exhausted, overwhelmed, depleted, or like you're constantly pouring from an empty cup while caring for everyone else.
Adjusting to Motherhood
The transition into motherhood often brings profound emotional, relational, and identity changes, including feeling disconnected from who you were before having children.. Therapy helps you navigate this new chapter with greater confidence, self-understanding, and support.
Relationship Changes after Baby
Navigating communication challenges, emotional disconnection, shifting roles, resentment, and changes in intimacy following the transition into parenthood.
Mom Guilt
Feeling like you're never doing enough, questioning every decision, struggling with guilt about returning to work, taking time for yourself, or asking for help.
Common Questions About Postpartum Anxiety & Depression
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Yes. Some worry is a normal part of becoming a parent, but if your anxiety feels constant, keeps you from sleeping, makes it difficult to enjoy your baby, or causes you to avoid situations out of fear, it may be postpartum anxiety.
Therapy can help you understand what you're experiencing and learn effective ways to manage it.
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While both can occur together, postpartum anxiety is often characterized by excessive worry, racing thoughts, physical tension, and difficulty relaxing.
Postpartum depression may involve persistent sadness, hopelessness, emotional numbness, guilt, or losing interest in things you once enjoyed.
A therapist can help determine what you're experiencing and recommend the most appropriate treatment.
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Intrusive thoughts are unwanted, distressing thoughts or mental images that can occur after childbirth. They are often frightening precisely because they are so inconsistent with who you are.
Experiencing intrusive thoughts does not mean you want to act on them. For some women, they are part of postpartum anxiety, while for others they may be a symptom of postpartum OCD.
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Yes. Postpartum anxiety and postpartum depression don't always begin immediately after delivery. Symptoms can develop anytime during the first year after childbirth and, in some cases, even later. If you're noticing changes in your mood or anxiety, it's never too late to seek support.
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You don't have to wait until you're in crisis. If you're feeling overwhelmed, constantly anxious, emotionally disconnected, unusually irritable, or unlike yourself after having a baby, therapy can help.
Early support often makes recovery easier and can improve both your well-being and your relationship with your baby.
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Yes. Many mothers struggle with guilt, whether it's about returning to work, asking for help, needing time for themselves, or feeling like they're not doing enough.
Therapy helps you explore where those feelings come from and develop a more compassionate relationship with yourself.
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Absolutely. Anxiety, sleep deprivation, shifting roles, and the demands of caring for a new baby can create stress within even the strongest relationships.
Therapy can help you process these changes, improve communication, and better understand the emotional impact of this transition.
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Yes. Although intended parents who build their family through gestational surrogacy do not experience the hormonal changes associated with childbirth, they can still experience depression, anxiety, overwhelming stress, and emotional challenges after bringing home their baby.
Years of infertility, pregnancy loss, fertility treatment, and the emotional intensity of the surrogacy journey can all shape the transition into parenthood.
Therapy provides a space to process these experiences, strengthen the parent-child bond, and navigate this new chapter with support and compassion.
REASONS TO BOOK
REASONS TO BOOK
CLINICALLY TRAINED
You’re drawn to therapy that goes beyond symptom relief—a space with a curious, reflective, and empathetic therapist who helps you uncover the unconscious origins of your thoughts, feelings, and relational patterns, and understand how they continue to shape your present experience.
DEEP, INSIGHT-ORIENTED APPROACH
Therapy can be challenging work, and having a skilled, clinically trained therapist by your side makes all the difference. After transforming my own career from attorney to therapist, I completed several years of advanced clinical training at both the St. Louis and Chicago Psychoanalytic Institutes. This depth of training allows me to look beyond symptoms alone, helping you understand the underlying patterns that keep you feeling stuck.
WARM AND APPROACHABLE
Starting therapy can feel vulnerable. My goal is to make the process feel approachable by creating a space where you feel comfortable being yourself, asking difficult questions, and exploring what matters most to you.
