PPSM Baby Brain; Emotional Wellness in Pregnancy, Postpartum and Parenting

Maria talks about using occupational and craniosacral therapies to treat perinatal depression, anxiety and how they can also be helpful for difficulties babies might be experiencing. 

Maria Bossert is an Occupational and CranioSacral Therapist specializing in maternal wellness and birth to 3 early intervention.  She is the owner of Happy & Healthy Therapy and is passionate about whole-body treatment of tethered oral tissues, early childhood development and providing much needed postpartum nurturing and support to birthing parents.  Aside from one-on-one services, Maria also offers free monthly education sessions for expecting parents called "New Parent Nights" and will be adding a birthing parents group called "Prepared Postpartum" in the fall.  Maria lives with her husband, step daughter and biological daughter and son.  She comes to her work with personal experiences with PMADs, miscarriage and traumatic birth experiences.

Insta: @happyhealthytherapy
Facebook: @happyandhealthytherapy 

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Listen to Sara talk about rage she experienced postpartum, how it effected her relationships and parenting and the interesting realization she was not alone.  Sara also describes her treatment journey of healing with the three pillars she now uses with her clients; Identifying triggers, Attending to our body and Understanding our internal Parts.


"Postpartum rage is a symptom of PMADS that is often missed and can hold a lot of stigma".

Sara is a LICSW at WildTree Psychotherapy and has been practicing social work for 7 years. Sara is trained in DBT and EMDR and is in the process of receiving her certification in Perinatal Mental Health. Sara’s areas of special interest in trauma, ecotherapy, somatic work and the perinatal community. Sara lives on a farm with her family and their various farm animals.

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Jessie Everts, PhD LMFT is a therapist, mom, yoga/mindfulness teacher, author, and mental health consultant. She is the author of two books, Brave New Mom: A survival guide for mindfully navigating postpartum motherhood and Connecting with Loneliness: A Guided Journal. She uses mindfulness practices along with cognitive and acceptance therapies to work with women and LGBTQ+ individuals who might be struggling with anxiety, parenting, perinatal mental health, work-life balance, trauma, and life transitions. She is passionate about bringing mental health knowledge and skills to people outside of the therapy office, and helping moms feel great about the amazing hard work they do.

Insta: brave_new_mom
twitter: BraveNewMom1

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Lauren Robbins talks to us about trauma in the perinatal period.  What the body and brain know and remember and how this time period can be particularly triggering.  She also gives us great tips on how we can cope, even outside of the therapy office. 

Lauren Robbins, MS, LPCC, LADC, PMH-C, CCTP
I am the Clinical Director and owner of Wild Tree Psychotherapy outpatient mental health clinic with locations in St. Paul, White Bear Lake and Eagan, MN. I specialize in treating trauma, particularly adults who are impacted by childhood experiences, as well as perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and becoming a parent.

Insta: @wildtreewellness
https://wildtreewellness.com/

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Pregnancy is a beautiful thing!!! Postpartum is just a stage and parenting is bittersweet. But, you come out of each one a little bit stronger, laced with a lot more wisdom.  -Anna


Anna describes her battle with postpartum depression, anxiety, intrusive thoughts and psychotic symptoms in a journey to wellness and advocacy.  

Meet Anna:  Mom of 3, married 9 years this September, as of August 31st, 2021 I became a stay-at-home mom. I have my bachelors in psychology, I am currently a volunteer with PPSM & through my church ministry a mentor for young/single moms. I simply love being with my family; but when I am not with them or allowing myself some “selfcare,” you will usually see me outside in my garden.

PPSM Involvement: Volunteer with PPSM, help host the Thursday night virtual support group, also mentoring through my church’s ministry ’Embrace,’ coming alongside young/single mothers. 

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Deb Rich explores with use the gaps in specialized perinatal care for coping with pregnancy and infant loss.  She also walks us through her personal journey in healing from her own still birth and how that brought her to her work with Shoshana Center for Reproductive Health Psychology.  Listen how the field of perinatal mental health has grown, her work with international influence and thoughts on the future. 

Dr. Deb Rich  PhD, Licensed Psychologist, PMH-C, PSYPACT certified
Throughout her 35+ years of practice, Dr. Deb Rich has maintained a vision to engage perinatal professionals in cross-disciplinary collaboration through training and consultation. Since 2013, she has focused her clinical specialties on such challenges of pregnancy as pregnancy loss, infant death, diagnosis of severe fetal abnormality and infertility/family building. She is an expert in LGBTQ+ family building and a champion of reducing health disparities.
In addition to developing her own training model, MommaCareTM which she has taught nationally and internationally, she has served in leadership capacities for the Pregnancy Loss and Newborn Death Alliance, Minnesota Women in Psychology, Pregnancy and Postpartum Support Minnesota, North American Society for Psychosocial OB/Gyn, and is currently the Chair, International Marcé Society Pregnancy and Infant Loss Special Interest Group.

Shoshana Center for Reproductive Health Psychology is named after her daughter, Shoshana, stillborn full-term, August 2, 1985.

https://www.facebook.com/mommacaretm

Shoshana Center for Reproductive Health Psychology 

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Sonja Kromroy, MA, LPCC from Root and Rise
Sonja is the owner of and clinician at Root & Rise Psychotherapy in St. Paul, MN. Root & Rise specializes in areas such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Trauma, and Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders. Specifically, Sonja is trained in Exposure and Response Prevention for OCD, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing as well as Accelerated Resolution Therapy for Trauma and was trained by Postpartum Support International for a specialization in PMADs. Sonja has been a contributor for Parent Magazine and a presenter at the Beyond the Baby Blues Conference.

You may feel that your thoughts are too scary to share, but we are not afraid of your thoughts and want to be able to help support you in changing the way you experience them.

INSTA: rootandrisemn

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Doctors Michelle Wiersgalla and Gabrielle Mauren talk about their new book "Myself Again"  The P.A.R.E.N.T.S. Postpartum Survival Guide.  This book uses the crafty PARENTS  mnemonic to describe their approach for new parents.  Practice patience, Activities for yourself, Rest and sleep, Exercise or movement, Nutrition, Time with others and Support network.   

Gabrielle Mauren, PhD, LP, PMH-C is a licensed psychologist and the developer of an award-winning reproductive mental health program, which has a focus on helping parents who are struggling with mental health concerns related to pregnancy, postpartum, fertility issues and pregnancy loss.  Dr. Mauren completed her undergraduate studies, graduate training, and postgraduate fellowship at the University of Iowa, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Pennsylvania, respectively. She has been a featured speaker on topics of perinatal mental health at local, national, and international conferences.  She lives in Minnesota with her husband and daughter. 

Michelle Wiersgalla MD PMH-C  is a perinatal psychiatrist, psychopharmacology consultant to the Park Nicollet Reproductive Mental Health Program.  Major accomplishments: writing our book “Myself Again”, listed as Top Doctor in Minnesota Monthly 7 years in a row, many speaking engagements at local, national, and international conferences. 

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This episode gives an inside view of what to expect as a NICU family and some ideas on how to support loved ones who are involved. 

Mandy Wannarka LICSW, PMH-C RYT-200
Mandy is the owner of a group psychotherapy practice (Mindful Wellbeing) located in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. The practice is dedicated to supporting individuals and families into their transition into parenthood. Together with the other clinicians at her practice, they have over 15 years of experience supporting families with NICU hospital stays, complex medical concerns, birth trauma and pregnancy, infant and child loss. Mandy became the Director of the Helpline for Pregnancy and Postpartum Support International in 2019 after serving as a mental health professional on the Helpline. She is certified in Perinatal Mental Health and EMDR (a type of therapy that focuses on helping people health from trauma or other significant life experiences). Her practice is working on expanding into other holistic methods of supporting individuals including yoga, reiki and more. 

One thing you'd like our community to know about pregnancy, postpartum or parenting (could be something about your personal story, facts/figures, inspiration for others, etc.) *

You are not alone and your story matters. Mandy believes that by sharing our stories with others, we can not only get the support we deserve for our own journey, but strengthen our connection to one another and provide support to others. 

There are some great local organizations that are offering direct and indirect support to the NICU community. They include: 

Minnesota Neonatal Foundation:  https://www.neonatalfoundation.org/
The Potato Head Project: https://www.thepotatoheadproject.org/
Fiona's Hope Totes: http://www.fionashope.org/

Some great national organizations that support NICU families include: 

Hand To Hold: https://handtohold.org/
March of Dimes: https://www.marchofdimes.org/baby/the-nicu-family-support-program.aspx
National Organization for Rare Diseases (NORD): https://rarediseases.org/
Graham's Foundation: https://grahamsfoundation.org/
Postpartum Support International NICU Parents group: https://www.postpartum.net/get-help/psi-online-support-meetings/

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ART is a trauma therapy used to treat a number of mental health conditions. Trauma in the perinatal population  is often under recognized and under treated.  ART offers an effective and faster recovery than other treatment options. 

Crystal:
Crystal Clancy is the owner of Iris Mental Health, a group practice of specialists in Perinatal Mental Health, located in Burnsville. She is a Founding Member of Pregnancy & Postpartum Support MN (PPSM), and former Executive Director. She helped facilitate PPSM become the 5th State Chapter in the country for Postpartum Support International (PSI), and is also Co-Coordinator and Faculty member for PSI. In addition to working with PMADs, Crystal also specializes in fertility challenges, and those parents who were raised by a "difficult parent". She is married, and the proud mama of two!

Katy:
Katy (She/Her/Hers) has experience in both outpatient and hospital settings working with service members, using evidence-based trauma therapy.

She has completed Basic and Advanced trainings in Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), an eye movement therapy that can be very helpful for those struggling with distressing images, nightmares, flashbacks and intrusive thoughts.

Katy offers appointments in office, via teletherapy, and Walk & Talk Therapy.

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