The postpartum period is one of the most intense identity transitions a person can experience. Your body has changed, your role has changed, your relationships have changed — and you're supposed to be grateful and joyful while running on no sleep.
Postpartum mental health concerns affect 1 in 5 new parents. They include postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, postpartum OCD, postpartum rage, and birth trauma. As a postpartum depression therapist trained in somatic therapy and EMDR, Destany works with the full range of these experiences — not just the ones that fit neatly into a diagnosis. She sees new parents in Austin, TX and via telehealth across Texas and Washington State.
None of these mean you are a bad parent. They mean you are a human going through something enormous, and you deserve support that sees all of it — including the parts that are hard to say out loud.
If you're having scary, unwanted thoughts about something happening to your baby, you are not alone — and it does not mean you are dangerous or a bad parent. Intrusive thoughts are one of the most common, least talked-about symptoms of postpartum anxiety and OCD. The fact that they horrify you is a sign of how much you care, not a warning sign. Saying them out loud, in a space that won't panic, is often the fastest way to take away their power.