Support After a Traumatic Birth, NICU Stay, or Pregnancy Complication

If your pregnancy, birth, or postpartum experience was traumatic, you're not overreacting- and you’re not alone.

You may have walked through a medical emergency, an unplanned c-section, a NICU stay, or a delivery that left you feeling terrified and powerless. Maybe you felt dismissed by your providers, or things happened so fast you barely had time to process. Maybe your baby is healthy now, but you’re not. Or maybe your story didn’t end the way you hoped at all.

Perinatal trauma is real- and it deserves to be taken seriously.

You might be struggling with things like:

• Flashbacks, nightmares, or anxiety related to the birth

• Feeling on edge, emotionally numb, or like you're reliving the experience

• Trouble bonding with your baby, or fear of something bad happening

• Guilt, shame, or confusion about what happened

• Anger at the system, your body, or the people who were supposed to help

• Feeling like everyone expects you to just be grateful, when you’re still grieving

These are valid trauma responses. Even if people around you say “all that matters is a healthy baby,” your mental health still matters. What happened to you matters.

What therapy can offer:

In therapy, you get a space that is for you- your story, your emotions, your healing. There’s no rushing to “look on the bright side” or “move on.” Just space to process what happened, how it’s affected you, and what it’s going to take to feel safe again- in your body, your relationships, and your life.

We can work together to:

• Make sense of what happened in a way that feels empowering

• Process trauma symptoms like flashbacks, panic, dissociation, or shame

• Support emotional recovery while parenting or trying again

• Address identity shifts, relationship strain, and fears around the future

• Rebuild trust in your body and your ability to feel safe

How I support people navigating perinatal trauma:

I specialize in working with reproductive grief and trauma, and I use a compassionate, mind-body approach tailored to your needs. This might include:

• EMDR to gently reprocess traumatic memories from your pregnancy, birth, or NICU experience

• IFS (Internal Family Systems) to connect with and care for the overwhelmed, protective, or shut-down parts of you that are just trying to survive

• ACT and CBT to help you manage distressing thoughts and emotions, and reconnect with what matters to you

• Narrative therapy to honor your story and help you reclaim your voice, even if the path didn’t go as expected

Everything we do in therapy happens at your pace. You are in control. I’m here to walk beside you, not push you.

Why I do this work:

I became a therapist to support people navigating the hardest parts of the reproductive journey- including the parts no one talks about. I’ve walked through my own losses and traumatic experiences in this space. I know how isolating it can be to feel like your body, your sense of safety, or your story was taken from you.

You deserve care that acknowledges the depth of what you've lived through- and helps you come home to yourself again.

You're allowed to heal

Perinatal trauma isn’t something you just “get over.” But with support, it is something you can work through. You can begin to feel more grounded, more connected, and more like yourself again.

I offer online counseling throughout Missouri, so you can access support wherever you are- without leaving the safety of your own home. If you're ready, you can schedule a free 15-minute consultation to see if therapy feels like the right next step.

You’re not too much. You’re not broken. And your story deserves to be heard.