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Thoughtful guidance and coping tools for the rollercoaster of trying to conceive, pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting.
Signs of an Emotionally Immature Parent
You call your parent to share something hard, and somehow you end up comforting them. If conversations with your parent leave you feeling unseen, there may be a name for it. Here’s how to recognize the signs of an emotionally immature parent.
The Relationship Books I Recommend to Expecting and New Parents
Nobody warns you that the person you chose to build a family with might become someone you deeply resent once the kids are here. Here are five books I recommend to expecting and new parents whose relationship is buckling under the weight of this season.
EMDR Intensives in Los Angeles: What to Look for in a Provider
EMDR intensives compress months of weekly sessions into a few concentrated days, but the format only works if the provider is the right fit. Here are some sample questions to ask during a consult call and what to look for in an EMDR therapist.
Why Becoming a Parent Brings Up Old Childhood Wounds (+ 3 Questions for Reflection)
Parenthood has a way of pulling your own childhood material to the surface, even when you have previously “done the work.” Find out what the research says about why this happens and how to shift your parenting experience.
Afraid to Bond After Prior Pregnancy Loss? Why & What Helps
You keep waiting to feel connected to this pregnancy, and instead you feel afraid and unsure. That gap between what you expected to feel and what you actually feel is a common, documented response to carrying hope and grief in the same body after a pregnancy loss.
Reading Your Way Through Matrescence: 5 Books Worth Your Time
Matrescence isn't just a word for what happens to mothers. It's the psychological and physiological transformation of becoming a parent process, and it deserves attention and validation. Here are 5 books that offer it.
Routine Check-Ins: A Research-Backed Approach to Preventing or Recovering from Postpartum Depression
You've probably been told to reach out if you need help. But what if the research shows it works the other way around, that being reached out to, regularly and reliably, is part of what actually prevents and treats postpartum depression?
7 Ritual Ideas for Meaning Making After Pregnancy Loss
When a pregnancy ends in loss, there’s often no culturally recognized way to mark what happened. This post explores why that absence matters, and offers seven simple, non-denominational rituals to help you make meaning in the aftermath of a loss.
The Jealousy You're Not Supposed to Feel When Someone Else Gets Pregnant
You hear the announcement and something drops in your stomach. You might say the right things, but then you spend the rest of the day hating yourself for what you actually felt: envy and anger. That jealousy doesn’t mean you’re a bad person.
Self-Care After an EMDR Therapy Session
EMDR therapy asks your nervous system to do significant work. Here are some ways you can best take care of yourself to integrate your healing.
Obsessive Googling During Infertility: What the Loop Is Protecting You From
You've already consulted Chat GPT (probably more than once tonight). You've compared your FSH levels to strangers on a forum at 1 in the morning. And you’re still searching. Why it may be hard to stop and why that matters.
Why You and Your Spouse Are Grieving Infertility Differently (+ 5 Coping Tips)
Grieving infertility differently doesn't mean something is wrong with your relationship. It means you're two people with two different inner lives trying to survive one of the hardest things a person can go through. Here's what's actually happening, and what can help.
How to Cope When Fertility Treatments Triggers Gender Dysphoria
Fertility treatments ask a lot of your body. When you're also navigating gender dysphoria, they can ask something that feels nearly impossible: to inhabit and cooperate with the very parts of yourself that have felt misaligned. Here’s how to navigate this while building your family.
How ADHD Impacts the Postpartum Experience (+ 5 Tips to Plan for Postpartum Wellness)
Nobody told you that having a baby would feel like your ADHD was suddenly running on overdrive (or that having a baby would bring to light an ADHD diagnosis). The ADHD brain can get activated and overwhelmed with all the heightened demands. You’re not imagining it–here’s what ADHD can look like postpartum and how you can plan for a supportive postpartum experience.
Can You Fail an Intended Parent Consultation?
The fear of failing a psychological evaluation is one of the most common things intended parents bring into a consultation — and it's almost always based on a misunderstanding of what the evaluation is actually for. Read this post to learn what the mental health professional is looking for and how to handle anxiety about the session.
Pregnant Again After Miscarriage and Terrified: Why This Anxiety Makes Sense
Everyone expects you to be happy. You expected to be happy. Instead, you're white-knuckling every trip to the bathroom, refreshing your pregnancy app at 2am, and bracing for impact before anything has even gone wrong. This isn't anxiety overreacting. This is your nervous system doing exactly what it learned to do.
5 Signs Your Relationship Needs More Than a Date Night
Date nights are lovely. And, they are not therapy. Sometimes what's eroding in a relationship during infertility treatment, pregnancy loss, or the postpartum season goes deeper than a restaurant reservation can reach. Here are five signs it might be time for something more.
For the Parent Who Didn't Carry: On Feeling Unseen
Nobody warned you that becoming a parent might also mean feeling like you don't quite count as one. The non-gestational parent experience—the invisibility, the role ambiguity, the worry about bonding—deserves support, too.
What Happens in an Intended Parent Consultation (& Why It's Different From What You Expect)
Most people who come to an intended parent consultation have already done the research. They know the protocol. What they haven't had space to do (until now) is process what all of it actually means for them and how they will parent a child who was conceived with an egg, sperm, or embryo donation.
When Communication Falls Apart After Kids: How Couples Therapy Intensives Can Help
You used to know how to talk to each other. Then kids arrived, and slowly — almost imperceptibly — everything shifted. If your conversations loop without resolution and the distance between you keeps growing, couples therapy intensives could be a good option for you.