Today’s show features a dear friend and colleague as we discuss the mental health impacts on fertility and perinatal mental health. The mental health side of these issues is often overlooked in the process of treatment, and many parents are suffering. Join us as we take a closer look!
Dr. Marissa Long is a sought-after expert in the field of reproductive psychology. As the owner and clinical director of ARC Counseling & Wellness, a private practice in southern California, Texas, and Louisiana, Dr. Long is dedicated to helping individuals and couples who are going through fertility treatment. She also works with women with high risk pregnancies and pregnancy loss to relieve the emotional distress associated with these challenges. She recently launched PsychEd Book Club, an innovative book club facilitated by therapists to support mental health, self-help, and social connection through conversation and education. Dr. Long is a lifelong dancer who performed in the halftime show at Super Bowl XXXII and the Sydney Opera House a year later. 
Show Highlights:

An overview of Dr. Long’s work as a health psychologist who connects physical issues and mental health

Common issues and challenges that Dr. Long sees with her patients

An explanation of reproductive endocrinology and REI terminology and their common treatments

Impacts of the fertility process on people’s expectations of how they “thought” conception and pregnancy would happen

Changes to the sexual relationship when fertility treatments are needed to conceive

How people deal with feelings of shame, guilt, and body betrayal over fertility problems

Why mental health challenges don’t end when a successful pregnancy occurs

Stressors for patients on the medical side of treatments concerning medications, appointments, etc. 

How fertility treatment medications can impact a patient’s mental health and emotions

Patient perspectives on what makes a good experience in fertility treatment

The problem with patients not being referred for mental health treatment soon enough

The great need for reproductive psychologists to work in conjunction with fertility clinics

What clients need to hold onto during fertility struggles

The need for support and connection for fertility patients–and where to find it

Resources:
Connect with Dr. Long: ARC Counseling & Wellness  Instagram and  Facebook
For support during fertility issues: www.resolve.org and www.fertilityiq.com
 
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219: Fertility and Perinatal Mental Health with Dr. Marissa Long, Psy.D, MAOB

Posptartum Depression is real. And it's only part of the story. We dig in to ALL of the stuff that no one tells you about, but you NEED to know. Dr. Kat, Psychologist and specialist in perinatal mental health, interviews moms, dads, experts and advocates about how to cope, manage and recover from perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. We talk about postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety and SO MUCH MORE! We get real. We get honest. We put on our stigma crushing boots and address the realities of the transition to motherhood and parenthood. Learn about it before you find out about it the hard way! You don't have to suffer! www.momandmind.com

Kids & Family

Parenting

Health & Fitness

Mental Health

Relationship challenges are at the top of the list of things that come up in therapy sessions. I’m not just referring to partner relationship difficulties, but even relationships with other family members. Becoming a parent brings up a lot of relationship dynamics about childhood, family, and our own parents, especially if there was family disruption, abuse, neglect, or emotional unavailability. To be fair, I’m not parent-shaming or blaming. Parents of a generation or two back might not have had great parenting skills because they didn’t get the parenting that they needed. Join me as we explore this concept in today’s Behind the Sessions episode.

Show Highlights:

As a psychologist, I can only diagnose and understand my clients—not all the other people in their lives.

Our early experiences with our parents shape how we connect with people, how we bond and attach, and how we navigate relationships.

The pressure on a new parent can be intense and lead to anxiety, depression, perfectionism, and OCD patterns.

Healing our childhood trauma is a relatively new concept.

Relationships with our parents can run the gamut from having no contact at all to having an incredibly intrusive parent.

The generational healing journey begins with realizing that the way you were parented doesn’t have to be carried forward. You CAN break the cycle.

Mistakes are part of life and learning.

Seeing a therapist can help you NOT carry old traumas into the rest of your parenting journey.

A deeper understanding of yourself and your healing can help you see your parents through a different lens. 

I look forward to expanding further on this topic in future episodes with several of my colleagues!


Resources:
Please find resources in English and Spanish at Postpartum Support International, or by phone/text at 1-800-944-4773. There are many free resources, like online support groups, peer mentors, a specialist provider directory, and perinatal mental health training for therapists, physicians, nurses, doulas, and anyone who wants to better support people for whom they provide services. 
You can also follow PSI on social media: Instagram, Facebook, and most other platforms
Visit www.postpartum.net/professionals/certificate-trainings/ for information on the grief course.  
Visit my website, www.wellmindperinatal.com, for more information, resources, and courses you can take today!

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341: Behind the Sessions: Becoming a Parent When You Had Difficult Parents

Join us for a deep dive into a perinatal IOP and what that involves. Today’s expert shares helpful information so we can understand the value of this higher level of perinatal support.
Roxanne Rosenberg is the co-founder and clinical director of Anchor Perinatal Wellness, the Southeast’s only perinatal-specific intensive outpatient program (IOP). She is a member of the new federal Maternal Mental Health Task Force and has volunteered with Postpartum Support International at the local and national levels. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology with honors from Yale University and her master’s degree in psychology from Duke University. Roxanne has been supporting pregnant and postpartum people for over 15 years through individual psychotherapy, intensive outpatient programming, birth doula work, and advocacy. Her trainings in perinatal mental health and women’s trauma have been available across the country. She is a bilingual Latina mom of two and is a survivor of perinatal loss and trauma. 

Show Highlights:

What is a perinatal IOP?

Reasons why someone might need an IOP

Understanding the history of IOPs in the US (first began in Rhode Island in 2000; even now, there are only 32 across the US)

IOP resources are available both in-person and virtually.

Typical perinatal symptoms that indicate the need for an IOP

Barriers to IOP treatment, like insurance limitations (although most insurance will cover it!)

Roxanne’s role as the facilitator of the support system

Promising results in Roxanne’s IOP in the last two years

Benefits of support in a group setting with a structured program

Specific needs and concerns in the IOP environment

How to find a perinatal IOP (and housing if you need to go to a different state for care)

Anchor Perinatal Wellness supports and accommodates a parent with attachment to their baby by providing childcare.

Perinatal IOPs are an underutilized resource because people are unaware of their existence!

Roxanne’s vision to make these IOPs more available to everyone who needs them

The process of starting a perinatal IOP

Advice for therapists who want to send their patients for this level of perinatal care


Resources:
Connect with Roxanne and Anchor Perinatal Wellness: Website, Roxanne’s email, Anchor Perinatal’s email, Facebook, YouTube, and phone: 919-275-0806
Please find resources in English and Spanish at Postpartum Support International, or by phone/text at 1-800-944-4773. There are many free resources, like online support groups, peer mentors, a specialist provider directory, and perinatal mental health training for therapists, physicians, nurses, doulas, and anyone who wants to better support people for whom they provide services. 
You can also follow PSI on social media: Instagram, Facebook, and most other platforms
Visit www.postpartum.net/professionals/certificate-trainings/ for information on the grief course.  
Visit my website, www.wellmindperinatal.com, for more information, resources, and courses you can take today!

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340: Perinatal Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) with Roxanne Rosenberg, LCMHC, PMH-C

Health anxiety during pregnancy and the postpartum is a very real struggle for many people. My guest today joins us to share her experience and what she’s seeing from clients in her practice. You’ll learn how to notice perinatal health anxiety and what to do about it. Join us to learn more!
Michelle Flynn is a fully accredited perinatal psychotherapist and certified infant massage instructor based in Dublin, Ireland. She specializes in supporting parents at all stages of their parenting journey from conception through birth and postpartum. She works with a national organization providing psychotherapy to survivors of childhood sexual abuse and also teaches in a master’s program. Following her experience of perinatal anxiety and her struggle to access appropriate mental health support, Michelle turned her focus to perinatal mental health and set up her private practice, An Croi Beag Psychotherapy (“Little Heart” in Irish). Through her private psychotherapy practice and her infant massage groups, Michelle hopes to further support parents in perinatal distress, raise awareness about perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, and improve access to mental health services for birthing people. 
Show Highlights:

Michelle’s journey into perinatal mental health and her overwhelming anxiety during her difficult first pregnancy

Michelle’s experience with healthcare providers who dismissed her concerns and made her feel invalidated and unsafe

Even mental health professionals feel shame and stigma about asking for help!

Subsequent pregnancies brought Michelle two more babies for “three under three,” but those were different from her first pregnancy.

The conversations we need to have with young people about pregnancy, birth, and postpartum so we can normalize it and remove the shame and stigma

Understanding the mental health system in Ireland—and how things are beginning to improve

What Michelle sees in her patients and their experiences

The challenges in treating health anxiety

The narrative around motherhood—and why we don’t open up when things go wrong

Michelle’s advice about identifying health anxiety for yourself, and what to do next


Resources:
Connect with Michelle Flynn: Website, Email, and Instagram
Please find resources in English and Spanish at Postpartum Support International, or by phone/text at 1-800-944-4773. There are many free resources, like online support groups, peer mentors, a specialist provider directory, and perinatal mental health training for therapists, physicians, nurses, doulas, and anyone who wants to better support people for whom they provide services. 
You can also follow PSI on social media: Instagram, Facebook, and most other platforms
Visit www.postpartum.net/professionals/certificate-trainings/ for information on the grief course.  
Visit my website, www.wellmindperinatal.com, for more information, resources, and courses you can take today!
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339: Perinatal Health Anxiety with Michelle Flynn, MA, MIACP

Many factors influence the transition to parenthood, and most of those things are unexpected and unpredictable. No one “signs up for” a perinatal mental health condition, but it can seem to come out of nowhere and leave you blindsided–in addition to the normal adjustments that come with the addition of a new baby to the family. These PNMH conditions can impact every area of life significantly, including the return to work. Join me for a closer look at navigating this tricky transition.

Show Highlights:

New parents experience varied emotions about returning to work (“It’s okay to want to return to work, and it’s okay not to want to return to work!)

The truth: If you return to work when you’re not mentally well, the added stress of work will not help you get better.

Your healthcare provider can do assessments of your perinatal mental health symptoms–just ASK!

Planning ahead for the return to work can help you navigate the transition.

My best tips for returning to work: 

Try to navigate your return slowly, and don’t take on big, new projects right away.

Pace yourself and give yourself space to figure out your changing needs.

Understand that your priorities might have shifted by having a new baby. (Things might not feel “normal” for a while.)

Be intentional and think about how you’ll balance work and home.

Set boundaries and protect your energy.

Prioritize your sleep!


Resources:
Please find resources in English and Spanish at Postpartum Support International, or by phone/text at 1-800-944-4773. There are many free resources, like online support groups, peer mentors, a specialist provider directory, and perinatal mental health training for therapists, physicians, nurses, doulas, and anyone who wants to better support people for whom they provide services. 
You can also follow PSI on social media: Instagram, Facebook, and most other platforms
Visit www.postpartum.net/professionals/certificate-trainings/ for information on the grief course.  
Visit my website, www.wellmindperinatal.com, for more information, resources, and courses you can take today!
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338: Behind The Sessions: Returning to Work After a Perinatal Mental Health Condition with Dr. Kat

Having information and being empowered to make decisions are ways to protect mental health. Nothing is more disempowering than finding out later that you had choices of which you were unaware at the height of a mental health struggle. All of these concepts apply perfectly to birthing situations. One of the main reasons this podcast exists, along with the work of today’s guest is to spread information so that it’s accessible to EVERYONE. Join us to learn more!
Dr. Rebecca Dekker, a nurse with her Ph.D., is the founder and CEO of Evidence Based Birth®️ and the author of Babies Are Not Pizzas: They're Born, Not Delivered. Previously, Dr. Dekker was an assistant professor of nursing at the University of Kentucky. In 2016, she shifted gears to focus full-time on the mission of Evidence Based Birth®️. She and Team EBB are committed to creating a world in which all families have access to safe, respectful, evidence-based, and empowering care during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. EBB does this by boldly making the research evidence on childbirth freely and publicly accessible. Dr. Dekker is also the host of the 
Evidence Based Birth®️ Podcast, which has over 5.5 million downloads!

Show Highlights:

The beginnings of EBB in 2012

The shift for Rebecca from her first birth to her second—-a clear change from disempowerment to empowerment

The evidence around preventable cesarean births, vaginal births, and the mother’s wishes

Rebecca’s advice for those who want to advocate or feel empowered:

Choose a provider and birth setting with a low cesarean rate. (Leapfrog is a recommended resource for information.)

Consider hiring a doula for added support.

Learn what the evidence shows about induction, Pitocin, and preparing your body with proper sleep, food, and hydration.

Assessing your provider for “continuity of care”

Fact: Switching providers can help prevent birth trauma!

Approaching your labor/delivery experience with a spirit of collaboration and teamwork

How PTSD can impact the decisions of healthcare workers

Rebecca’s tips for empowering yourself in the labor/delivery process, using the acronym BRAND [Ask, what are the benefits, risks, alternatives, (what happens if I do) nothing, and discuss (with your partner).]

Hot tip for laboring moms: Ask for time to pray (Rebecca explains why this gives you time and space.)

Components of a calm birthing environment for an empowered laboring mother

What Rebecca wants our listeners to know


Resources:
Connect with Dr. Rebecca Dekker and Evidence Based Birth®️: Website, Instagram, Facebook, Babies Are Not Pizzas: They're Born, Not Delivered, and the Evidence Based Birth®️ Podcast
Please find resources in English and Spanish at Postpartum Support International, or by phone/text at 1-800-944-4773. There are many free resources, like online support groups, peer mentors, a specialist provider directory, and perinatal mental health training for therapists, physicians, nurses, doulas, and anyone who wants to better support people for whom they provide services. 
You can also follow PSI on social media: Instagram, Facebook, and most other platforms
Visit www.postpartum.net/professionals/certificate-trainings/ for information on the grief course.  
Visit my website, www.wellmindperinatal.com, for more information, resources, and courses you can take today!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

219: Fertility and Perinatal Mental Health with Dr. Marissa Long, Psy.D, MAOB

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