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EMDR
for birth trauma

I support your patients through postpartum depression, anxiety, and the mental health side of the fourth trimester, so you can focus on their physical recovery knowing the rest is in good hands.

  • An emergency C-section that happened so fast you never got to process it.

  • A NICU stay that separated you from your baby right when everyone told you that bonding was supposed to start.

  • A delivery room where you said no, or stop, or wait, and it happened anyway.

If it's still with you, that's reason enough to work through it. 

your birth experience didn't go as expected.

you might be here because...

why EMDR and birth trauma

Birth trauma is a strange kind of trauma. It's wrapped up in a day that was supposed to be joyful, which makes it harder to talk about and easier to minimize.

"At least the baby's healthy" doesn't leave much room for what you went through.

And you're far from alone in this. Research estimates that between 9% and 50% of mothers describe their birth experience as traumatic, and up to a third of women experience symptoms of PTSD after a traumatic birth. That gap between "something felt wrong" and "I have a diagnosis" is exactly where a lot of women get stuck.

You don't need a clinical label for what happened to deserve support for it. 

EMDR is particularly well suited here because birth trauma often isn't one clean memory. It's a sequence, sometimes with gaps, sometimes with moments you remember in exact, intrusive detail: the moment a monitor started beeping differently, the hallway on the way to the OR, a specific sentence someone said in the room.

Studies on EMDR for childbirth-related PTSD have found that the majority of women treated saw a significant reduction in symptoms, and that it works even for women dealing with long-term symptoms, not just recent ones. EMDR doesn't require you to retell the story linearly or relive it fully to process it. That matters when the story itself feels like a minefield. 

It also doesn't have to wait years to work. A growing body of research is looking specifically at early postpartum EMDR, meaning treatment that starts in the first weeks after birth rather than months or years later, and finding real promise:

EMDR has shown effectiveness in reducing PTSD symptoms compared to standard postpartum care, even in women who don't yet meet the full criteria for a PTSD diagnosis.*

how it works:

initial session

Your first session isn't EMDR yet. It's a conversation, what happened, what still feels stuck, what you're hoping shifts.

emdr session(s)

This is where EMDR itself happens, and it may take more than one session to get through. We will decide that as we go.

go at your pace

We go at the speed your nervous system can handle, not a fixed number of sessions. Some parts loosen faster than others.

certified through EMDRIA

emdr certified

lic # or credential body

PMH-C

5 years in practice

helping birth trauma

frequently asked questions

There's a wide range of what's normal after having a baby, and there's also a point where it's worth having support. In our first session, we'll talk through what you're experiencing and figure out together whether this is something to keep an eye on or something to actively work on now.

Both, and more. Postpartum depression gets most of the attention, but anxiety, rage, intrusive thoughts, and just feeling completely unlike yourself are all things I work with regularly. You don't need a specific diagnosis to reach out.

Sessions are conversational, not clinical — we talk through what's actually happening in your day-to-day and build from there at your pace. Many clients start as early as a few weeks postpartum; there's no minimum wait.

I'm currently private pay, but I provide a superbill after every session that you can submit to your insurance for possible out-of-network reimbursement. I can walk you through exactly how that process works before we get started.

There's no set number. Some clients come for a few months to get through a rough stretch, others stay on and off through their first year postpartum. We'll check in regularly on what's actually still useful to you, not just keep going by default.

Always. Babies are welcome in every session, no explanation needed. If you need to feed, rock, pace, or step away for a minute mid-sentence, we just keep going right where we left off.

That's genuinely fine, and more common than you'd think. You don't need an agenda. I'll ask questions, we'll follow what feels most alive that day, and a plan usually forms after the first couple of sessions anyway.

Both. Most postpartum clients prefer virtual sessions simply because leaving the house with a newborn is its own project, and that's completely okay with me. In-person is available too, if that's what feels better for you.

Your OB and pediatrician are essential and focused on the medical side of you and your baby. I'm focused entirely on how you're doing emotionally — and I have the training and time in session that a 15-minute medical appointment isn't built for.

Yes, with the standard legal exceptions any licensed provider follows (like risk of harm to yourself or someone else). I'll walk you through exactly what confidentiality covers before we ever start working together, so there are no surprises.

new moms find their footing

this is just one way i help

Tap below to see all my specialties or book yourself in for a consult to see if EMDR is right for you.