Birth Trauma Therapy
What Was Supposed to Be One of the Best Days of Your Life Was One of the Worst
You’re struggling with the emotional aftermath of a traumatic birth experience. Maybe your anxiety, flashbacks, nightmares, and overwhelming sense of loss seems to cloud every moment, making it difficult to find joy in your new role as a parent. Perhaps you don’t feel as bonded with your baby as you’d like and worry that your chance at secure attachment is gone. It could be that you feel easily triggered or on high alert all the time or find yourself avoiding the hospital and other reminders of your birth experience. Maybe you blame yourself for what happened, feeling as though you failed in some way.
You may be experiencing:
Intense flashbacks
Overwhelming anxiety
Emotional numbness
Disconnection from baby
Guilt and shame
Physical ailments
Hypervigilance
Sleep disturbance
Your feelings about your birth matter.
What Is Birth Trauma?
One in three individuals report their birth experience as traumatic.* Birth trauma refers to the psychological and emotional distress experienced by mothers, fathers, and families because of a difficult, distressing, or unexpected birth experience. If you’re wondering whether your experience can truly be classified as “traumatic”, know that birth trauma is subjective. Meaning, if you experienced distress during the birth experience, you have the right to name it as such.
The good news is that with the help of a supportive, trained therapist, you can reduce or even eliminate your current birth trauma PTSD symptoms and shift your internal birth narrative.
How Birth Trauma Therapy Works
You have a newborn at home to care for and don’t have the desire to drag out your healing process over months and years. Birth trauma therapy intensives are designed for the new parent who needs accelerated results quickly.
Birth trauma therapy helps you to:
Reduce symptoms such as flashbacks, avoidance of triggers, and sleep disturbance
Decrease your anxiety and hypervigilance
Improve bonding and felt sense of connection with your baby
Strengthen your relationship with your partner
Experience emotional healing and prevent long-term issues
Your path to healing from your birth trauma begins with a comprehensive assessment to understand the nature and impact of your birth trauma. During this initial session, I’ll also introduce coping skills that you can implement right away to help with your symptoms.
Next, I integrate evidence-based therapy modalities designed to make significant progress in a short amount of time.
EMDR to process and resolve the traumatic memories
CBT to address negative thought patterns and beliefs
Narrative writing to integrate the experience into your parenthood story
Your Customized Birth Trauma Therapy Intensive
Therapy intensives with Well Parent Therapy are designed to fit your schedule, needs, and goals. I will make a recommendation during your intake session on the number of processing sessions needed based on your presenting concerns, goals, and needs.
You can choose to do birth trauma therapy as a stand-alone service, as an addition to my talk therapy services, or in addition to talk therapy with another practitioner. Personalized birth trauma therapy can be completed in 2 - 4 weeks.
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A 90-minute intake session gives us an opportunity to review your screening assessment results, discuss your goals, and prepare for the experience. We will identify together aspects of the birth experience that may be keeping you stuck, painful or distressing memories, as well as beliefs and/or emotions/sensations that you are needing relief from. We’ll also make a plan and schedule for your processing session(s) and integration session. (For current clients, this session will be 60 minutes at the rate of $220.)
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Next you will have 1 - 3 birth trauma processing sessions that integrate EMDR, CBT, and narrative therapy. They are scheduled in advance for the length of time that works for your schedule and treatment needs, in 75-minute blocks.
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A 50-minute integration session allows for an opportunity to discuss any insights gained from the experience, debrief, and reflect on areas of relief and transformation. We will also be able to discuss what your next steps may be toward continued progress around growth and healing.
Using research-backed modalities for healing trauma and my training as a reproductive health therapist, you can experience relief from your childbirth PTSD symptoms and a stronger connection with your baby in a short amount of time.
Why I Offer Birth Trauma Therapy
I was inspired to create this offering after surviving my own traumatic birth and listening to the stories of countless others who have gone through traumatic birth experiences.
I was specifically trained in EMDR, CBT for perinatal distress, and narrative therapy because of their proven effectiveness for those experiencing challenges along their reproductive journey. I received specialized training from an EMDRIA-approved trainer to ensure the care I provide my clients is of the highest standard. One of the things I love most about birth trauma therapy with EMDR is how quickly it creates real, lasting change without requiring you to relive every single painful detail.
While the high rates of birth trauma frustrate and anger me, I feel hope knowing there are tools for healing that work to resolve the experience. One of the best parts of my job is witnessing someone heal from their traumatic birth, integrate the experience into their parenthood narrative, and feel closer to their baby.
FAQs
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If you’re wondering whether your experience can truly be classified as “traumatic”, know that birth trauma is subjective. Meaning, if you experienced distress during the birth experience, you have the right to name it as such. It could be helpful to know that up to one in three individuals report their birth experience as traumatic. Birth trauma refers to the psychological and emotional distress experienced by mothers, fathers, and families as a result of a difficult, distressing, or unexpected birth experience. So yes, if this resonates with you, this service could help.
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The good news is you don’t have to share every detail about your painful memories or distressing experiences in order to heal. We can work together to determine where to start and what this looks like. I will be intentional about tailoring our work together to best suit your needs and provide an environment that allows you to dig deeper and heal. EMDR is a modality that works even without having to share painful details.
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Absolutely. Healing your previous birth trauma is possible! You’re right to be proactive about processing the past and resourcing yourself to have a different birth experience this time around. One thing I like to add for people who are preparing for another birth is more time spent on “future templates” and integration so you can envision and feel into a positive birth experience.
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Yes, if you’re already doing talk therapy with me or another clinician, birth trauma therapy is a helpful add-on. If you’re a current talk therapy client of mine, we can also add on a birth trauma intensive to our work. If you’re already working with a therapist you love, birth trauma therapy can be a helpful addition to your work with them and accelerate your progress.
Reclaim Your Birth Experience, Heal Your Heart, Connect to Your Baby
Birth trauma therapy with Well Parent Therapy helps you move from overwhelm and avoidance to healing and acceptance. If you’d like to schedule a consultation or discuss any questions you may have regarding birth trauma therapy in Los Angeles, I invite you to reach out by clicking on the buttons below.
