My Journey, As A Therapist
As you can tell by my website, I specialize in perinatal mental health, eating disorders, and trauma.
But…how are these all connected?
Working with eating disorders has always been the goal on my journey to becoming a psychotherapist. It is still one of the areas of my work I am most passionate about.
In graduate school, I had the privilege to be chosen for a highly competitive internship at a nationally-known eating disorder treatment facility. There, I learned from the best of the best, and received so much invaluable training and experience.
As a social worker, it was important to me to work in community mental health after graduate school, and I focused my time there leading an eating disorder support group, as well as having a caseload full of individuals looking for support in their eating disorder recovery.
I went on to work as a psychotherapist at another nationally-known eating disorder treatment facility where I got experience working in/with:
-Residential treatment (patients live there 24/7 for continuous support)
-Day Programs (partial hospitalization and intensive day)
-Supporting people during and after meals
-A variety of different eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating
-Leading group therapies, such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Process Groups
-Being part of a treatment team, along with a dietitian, psychiatrist, and doctor
It was while working in an adult residential eating disorder treatment program that I began seeing individuals, who were parents, coming in and out of treatment.
Through this work, I began to see patterns of how people either had an onset or relapse with an eating disorder during their pregnancy, postpartum, and/or while parenting - so I went on to get certified in perinatal mental health.
More often than not, eating disorders are a means of coping with traumatic/stressful events and relationships.
Up to 45% of birth parents report their birth as traumatic.
4% of birth parents, and even up to 18.5% of those in high risk groups (e.g., current depression in the birth parent, history of mental illness, and infant complications), develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
After experiencing my own birth traumas with my first child, I went on to get certified in Eye Movement and Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, and I have seen the beautiful healing that can be done through this trauma work
If you are pregnant, postpartum, or a parent, you are in the right place.
If you are experiencing perinatal mental health, such as depression or anxiety, you are in the right place.
If you are worried how pregnancy and postpartum will impact your relationship with food and body, you are in the right place.
If you want to work on healing your relationship with food and body, so you can be a healthy role model for your children, you are in the right place.
If you have experienced trauma - earlier in your life, during birth, or during pregnancy and postpartum - you are in the right place.
If you want to end unhelpful generational cycles, such as disordered eating that has ran in your family, you are in the right place.
You are brave. Thank you for being here.
