Whoever said that creating and guiding a family was easy, linear, or simple was way off! There’s certainly no rulebook, map, or list of steps to navigate these issues. No two families are the same, and therefore each family as a whole has different needs.

You might be looking to:

  • Start a family under your own unique conditions
  • Find answers to questions or doubts about parenthood
  • Find the right parenting approaches with your children/teens
  • Work through fertility challenges
  • Understand your experience with pregnancy and birth

Perinatal Mental Health

One area of specialty in the field of mental health is perinatal wellness, which addresses the wellbeing of new parents during and after pregnancy. At New Leaf, Cinthia Ferreira-Miller is a certified perinatal mental health clinician (PMH-C) with PostPartum Support International. Cinthia provides specialized therapeutic services for women and/or new parents who have or are currently experiencing symptoms of perinatal mood disorders, including postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety.

 

Beginning a family, whether planned or not, comes with unique challenges that many people do not anticipate or understand. For instance, adjusting to life as a new parent can bring up feelings of grief, mourning your life prior to having children. These nuanced adjustments, while typical and common, can lead to complications in navigating parenting, prioritizing your own self-care and wellness, and sometimes a lack of adequate support. Due to specific training in recognizing and supporting the unique challenges and needs related to pregnancy, birth, and parenting, we will provide you with proper resources, support, and treatment.

There are a lot of ways parenting and family planning can influence your mental health and well-being, such as:

  • Perinatal or postnatal depression/anxiety
  • Stress over adjustments
  • Relationship difficulties with partner
  • Increased anxiety about future
  • Struggling to set boundaries with loved ones
  • Triggering past trauma

Families take a variety of forms and range in complexity. Blended families, single-parent families, LGBTQ families all face different circumstances yet often similar goals – to feel true connection and to overcome adversity. Families we’re born into or families we create are often at the root of our identities and can serve as an anchor in our lives. Therefore, it’s a reasonable fact that family-related issues are common to the human experience.

If you’ve wondered (or agonized) about how to start a family or how to address difficulties with parenting, perinatal or postnatal experiences, or family dynamics, therapy could be a useful tool and support. Whether you alone, you and your partner(s), or your family as a whole could benefit from therapy, we are here to help support you in setting and reaching your goals.

If you reside in the greater Ventura County area, we can help you connect with a trained professional who will guide you in sorting through your family planning and/or parenting needs.

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