Perinatal & Early Motherhood
Counselling for Women in Pregnancy, Postpartum, & the Early Seasons of Motherhood
You thought you'd feel different by now. More capable, more certain, more like yourself. Instead, you're exhausted in ways you didn't know were possible. Your body feels unfamiliar. Your mind won't stop spinning. And everyone keeps asking how the baby is, but no one's asking how you are.
Motherhood can hold both profound love and profound overwhelm at the same time. The sleepless nights, the shifting sense of who you are, the invisible weight of keeping everyone alive and fed and okay. It's tender and it's hard, and both of those things are true.
You don't have to love every moment to be a good parent. And you don't have to navigate this alone.
This is for you if…
You're struggling with anxiety or intrusive thoughts
The what-ifs won't stop. You check the baby's breathing multiple times a night. Your mind goes to the worst-case scenario, and you can't shake the fear that something terrible will happen.
You feel numb, disconnected, or unlike yourself
You're going through the motions, but you're not really here. The joy everyone promised feels distant. You wonder if something's wrong with you because you're not glowing or grateful enough.
The mental load is crushing you
You're managing feeding schedules, sleep routines, doctor appointments, laundry, meal planning, and everyone else's emotions. Meanwhile, your own needs keep getting pushed to the bottom of the list.
Your relationship feels strained
You and your partner are ships passing in the night. The resentment is building. You're both exhausted, and you're not sure how to find each other again through the fog of early parenthood.
You're grieving something that didn't go as planned
Maybe it's pregnancy loss, a traumatic birth, fertility struggles, or the gap between what you imagined and what you're living. The grief is real, even if others don't see it.
You're questioning if you're enough
The guilt, the comparison, the voice that says you should be doing more, doing better, enjoying this more. You're drowning in "shoulds" and losing sight of what you actually need.
What we’ll work on together
Making sense of what feels heavy
Pregnancy, birth, and early motherhood change everything: your body, your identity, your relationships, your sense of time. We'll create space to name what's hard without rushing to fix it or talk you out of how you feel.
You'll begin to understand your stress patterns, what your nervous system is trying to protect you from, and why certain moments feel unbearable while others feel manageable.
Processing what didn't go as planned
Sometimes the path to parenthood includes loss, trauma, or experiences that others struggle to hold. Whether it's pregnancy or infant loss, birth trauma, or the emotional weight of fertility treatments, there's room here for all of it.
We'll gently process what happened, honour the grief and anger and love that coexist, and find a way forward that respects your resilience without rushing your healing.
Reconnecting with yourself
Somewhere between feeding schedules and diaper changes, you lost track of who you are outside of being someone's mother. We'll help you find small ways to come back to yourself, to remember what you need, to rebuild self-trust.
This isn't about adding more to your plate. It's about noticing what actually fills your tank and making micro-moments of space for it.
Strengthening your partnership through the transition
Early parenthood can challenge even the strongest relationships. The exhaustion, the changing roles, the unspoken resentments. Drawing from Bringing Baby Home principles developed by the Gottman Institute, we'll work on strengthening connection, communicating with empathy, and staying grounded in teamwork.
You'll learn how to talk about the hard things without blame, repair after conflict, and build rituals that keep you connected even when you're both running on empty.
What to expect in sessions
Sessions are a blend of gentle reflection and grounded problem-solving. You'll have space to name what's overwhelming, understand your body's stress responses, and leave with one small, doable step that fits your real life.
We'll talk about things like:
Creating boundaries with family and well-meaning advice
Finding sustainable support (because you can't do this alone)
Setting realistic goals around sleep, feeding, and your own rest
Navigating the identity shift from who you were to who you're becoming
Managing anxiety, intrusive thoughts, or emotional numbness
Reconnecting with your partner when you're both depleted
This isn't about being the perfect parent. It's about feeling steadier, more supported, and more at home in yourself again.
My Approach: Compassion, Clarity and Collaboration
I work from a foundation that honours where you are right now, not where you think you should be.
Compassion means there's space here for the messy, complicated feelings: the love and the resentment, the gratitude and the grief, the joy and the rage. All of it belongs.
Clarity helps you understand what's happening in your body and nervous system, so the overwhelm starts to make sense. You're not broken. You're responding to an enormous life change.
Collaboration means we build this together. I'm not handing you a checklist or telling you to practice more self-care. We're finding what actually works for you, your body, your support system, your real life.
I blend practical strategies with mindfulness and nervous-system awareness. My approach is trauma-informed, attachment-based, and rooted in the understanding that your body holds wisdom even when your mind feels chaotic.
Supporting you through it all
Pregnancy
The physical changes, the anxiety about birth, the shifting relationship with your body, the excitement mixed with uncertainty. We'll prepare you not just for labor, but for the emotional landscape of becoming a parent.
Postpartum
The fourth trimester is its own season. You may crying out of nowhere often and wondering if it’s Baby Blues or something more. Your mind may be racing at night, wondering if your baby got enough to eat or checking the baby monitor repeatedly. The days and nights are all blurred into one long span of time and you cannot remember that last time you had more than five minutes to shower.
Whether you're weeks or months in, we'll address anxiety, depression, emotional numbness, identity shifts, and the invisible load of early motherhood.
Fertility struggles and loss
If you're navigating fertility treatments, pregnancy loss, or infant loss, you deserve support that holds the full weight of what you're carrying. We'll honour your grief without rushing it and make space for hope without forcing it. I’ll sit beside you while you process the difficult experiences and validate the daily hurdles you face with support and compassion.
Beyond the baby phase
Even years into parenting, the echoes of those early days can linger. We'll work on burnout, identity, partnership strain, and finding yourself again after giving so much away.
Therapy during this season isn’t about perfection it’s about feeling steadier, more supported, and more at home in yourself.
Together, we create a support plan honoring your values while making sure you have the tools to navigate this challenging phase of life. We discuss topics like creating boundaries with family, seeking help and support and having goals are sleep and feeding. I take a practical approach blended with mindfulness and create space for you to show-up as the messiest version of yourself in this tender life transition.
Ready to Begin?
You don't have to keep carrying all of this alone. Taking the first step toward support doesn't mean you're failing. It means you're listening to what you need.
I offer in-person sessions in Vancouver and virtual counselling across British Columbia. Sessions are a space where you can show up as the messiest, most honest version of yourself without judgment or pressure.