Pregnancy & Postpartum Therapy
The Perinatal Wellness Program
We’re accepting new clients for pregnancy and postpartum therapy in Arlington and Reston, Virginia. Our team supports parents navigating mood and anxiety concerns, changing relationships, and the adjustment to life with a new baby.
Start Here: Connect With a Perinatal Therapist →
On our contact page, select Start Here to complete the intake questionnaire. Our team will contact you within 48 hours about next steps and clinician availability.
Our practice offers a unique specialty of Perinatal Wellness, providing focused attention on the unique challenges women and their partners face around conception, pregnancy and motherhood.
So many women experience difficult emotions before and after having a baby. We (and others) expect ourselves to be glowing and happy after bringing life into the world, but sometimes that’s just not the case. We often hear clients say, “I should be happy, but I’m not”. This can feel not only frustrating but also scary and isolating. It can make some women feel like there is something wrong with them or that they will not be a good mother.
Sage House Therapy is a place to heal in the community. All feelings- worries, grief, fear are accepted here along with the joy and wonderment that comes with parenthood.
Working with a therapist who specializes in the pregnancy journey, from conception to birth, can provide needed support and guidance. We work with you individually to support your feelings, wellness, and in turn, the wellness of your baby. Our therapists are specially trained in perinatal mental health, which includes mood and anxiety disorders in pregnancy as well as the postpartum period. For more information about our clinical training please visit Postpartum Support International.
You Are Not Alone
At Sage House Therapy, we believe it is important for all mothers to know that postpartum mood disorders are more common than society would like us to believe. New mothers and their partners are challenged with the responsibility of keeping another being alive, the weight of this responsibility can result in a full range of emotions. Parenthood may feel both joyous and overwhelming. The first few months of motherhood can be especially trying- sleep deprivation, hormonal changes and the physical recovery from birth are just a few of the most common challenges. Shifts within the relationship with intimate partners and/or other significant supports also take place. All of this change is not easy to handle. Perinatal mental health concerns can include depression, anxiety and OCD. A clinician can help identify the care you need. These symptoms can feel disorienting, scary and confusing. As individuals, we like to think we have all the tools we need to cope. We may feel there is nothing too challenging for us to handle or we can do it on our own. Parenthood is one of the times in life that not trying to do it all on your own is more important than ever. Having a trusted and available “village” is key to promoting your health as well as your baby’s.
A common refrain to expectant parents is, “life will never be the same”. It is hard to really understand what this change will be like until the baby arrives and by then there is no turning back! Mothers who experience mood disorders postpartum often feel too ashamed to seek treatment or believe what they are feeling is “just part of parenthood”. Parents also underestimate how long the perinatal period lasts. We now believe postpartum can last up to two years after the birth of the child. Even after adjusting to hormonal changes, sleep deprivation, and a completely new routine, the changing family dynamics and financial responsibilities continue for years after a child joins the family. All of these things can add up and take a toll. We work with you to build a comprehensive plan that specifically addresses your needs. Our goal is to partner with you to help life feel more manageable and enjoyable again.
To view, a list of the signs and symptoms of postpartum mood disorders click here.
Postpartum OCD & Intrusive Thoughts
Pregnancy and early parenthood can bring unwanted thoughts, images or fears that feel upsetting and out of character. For some parents, these concerns become part of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Perinatal OCD can begin during pregnancy or after a baby arrives, and can affect either parent.
OCD may involve repeated checking, seeking reassurance, reviewing thoughts or avoiding everyday caregiving situations to try to feel certain or safe. These responses can bring brief relief while keeping the cycle going. An unwanted intrusive thought is not, by itself, the same as a wish or intention. Your clinician will take your concerns seriously and help clarify the support you need.
ERP Therapy for Perinatal OCD
Exposure and response prevention (ERP), a form of cognitive behavioral therapy, is an evidence-based treatment for OCD. In ERP, you work collaboratively with a therapist to gradually approach feared thoughts, situations and uncertainty while practicing different responses to compulsive urges. Treatment is planned around your goals and circumstances, with practice between sessions.
Sage House offers OCD counseling and ERP therapy in Reston and Arlington, Virginia, with online therapy available to clients in Virginia. Whether you are pregnant, adjusting to life with a new baby or supporting a partner, contact our team to discuss clinician availability and whether our outpatient care is a fit.
Learn more about OCD & ERP therapy at Sage House.
Connect with a perinatal therapist or learn more about perinatal OCD treatment from the International OCD Foundation.
How Postpartum Therapy Can Help You Heal
Today’s society places a large emphasis on physical wellness during and following the birth of a child. For births in a hospital setting, women are monitored throughout the birthing process to make sure both baby and mom have healthy vitals and are physically doing well. When the baby arrives, doctors and nurses look for strong vital signs and responsiveness and conduct similar checks on mom, limiting evaluation and treatment to physical symptoms. The six-week check-up for most new mothers is when the OB signs off on going back to “life as usual”. Yet we know that even though the physical body may be healed, the emotional adjustment to becoming a new mom (or a mom to a second or third child) can feel anything but a return to normal life.
It may feel like life will never go back to the way it used to be. Some mothers feel like they have lost a part of themselves that they may never again regain. Many new mothers struggle with how long to take maternity leave and if and when to make the transition back to work. Others ask what it means to be a working mother and are challenged with finding a new kind of work-life balance. Parenthood ushers in a novel set of questions about identity as a new parent, while also honoring the pre-baby identity. Many women report struggling to find time for their partners or lack the interest to reengage the intimacy in their relationships. The timeline for bringing intimacy back into a relationship can also be complicated by a traumatic birth experience in which the physical body needs more time than expected to heal or the delivery process has resulted in more long-term physical changes.
Fertility Challenges, Miscarriage and Loss
Some of the most common and yet least discussed perinatal mental health topics are fertility issues, miscarriage, and loss. One in eight couples will experience fertility challenges and one in every three pregnancies will end in miscarriage, according to a National Institute of Environmental Health study. While the prevalence of loss is high there is still a gap in the public awareness surrounding just how common and devastating a loss is for couples. The sadness around the loss of a pregnancy or a baby can be isolating when it feels taboo to talk about. Couples dealing with infertility can also experience intense feelings of grief, frustration and relationship strain. We also know fertility changes over a person’s lifetime, which can cause a couple to successfully have a baby and then struggle to get pregnant again. At Sage House, we understand each person and each couple’s circumstances are unique and deserve attention.
How Therapy Can Help You Grieve
The loss of a child, miscarriage and fertility complications may bring up overwhelming emotions and many complex forms of grief. We have heard our clients say, “My heart feels broken and I just don’t know if it will ever heal”. We are here to support you on the path of grief, meaning-making, and ultimately healing. All feelings are valid here. It can also feel isolating when nobody in your life understands your experience, or you are too ashamed to share how you feel. We listen and provide a space to explore any and all emotions in an accepting, loving, and supportive environment. Fertility challenges and loss present a deep and overwhelming form of grief. For many of us, grief comes from the experience of losing someone in our lives who we may have known for many years. This leaves a large hole in the place this person filled when they were living. For couples facing miscarriage, loss, and infertility, the grief is around the child that has either not yet come into the world or was not given the opportunity to live. Manu couples experience feelings of intense sadness, hopelessness and at times feeling of low self-worth. At Sage House Therapy, we know these are deep and wounding experiences and ones that can cause isolation, anxiety, and depression. Sage House’s perinatal mission is to hear and validate the pain and fertility challenges, miscarriage, and loss.
Looking for Psychological Testing?
Learn more about our adult psychological testing services in Reston and Arlington, VA. Contact our testing team to discuss your questions and next steps.