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

Joy McAfee survivor and postpartum doula shares her story of overcoming postpartum depression and anxiety rooted in past trauma. 

Postpartum Doula and founder of Joy the Village Doula LLC Member of CAPPA, Member of PPSMN,  trained and special interest in serving birth folks of color experiencing PMADS. Despite many challenges created by the COVID pandemic, Joy has had the honor of servicing 20 families since opening her business in 2020.

facebook.com/joythedoula   
instagram.com/joy_the_doula

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Meet Lindsey:  Founder of Pregnancy After Loss Support (PALS) and Therapist specializing in service the perinatal population with a sub-speciality in loss and the pregnancy that follows.

As a therapist, Lindsey’s clinical specialty is working with mothers and their partners through the grief of infertility, perinatal loss, pregnancy after loss, and the postpartum period including parenting after reproductive trauma.

Lindsey has been providing clinical psychotherapy services to women and families since 2008. She specializes in grief and mental health struggles that often accompany reproductive trauma, and is a certified Perinatal Mental Health (PMH-C) provider with specific training in perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, pregnancy loss and pregnancy after loss. She also provides training to other professionals in these areas, and is the Founder and Executive Director of Pregnancy After Loss Support, an online magazine and peer-to-peer support service.

She works with moms who experience trauma-related issues due to reproductive loss as well as anxiety, depression and anger as it relates to reproductive mental health and the transition to parenthood. Lindsey’s clients benefit from her advanced training in perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, certification as a Compassionate Bereavement Care provider (CBC), and her study of alternative healing practices, mindfulness, Dialectical Behavior Training (DBT), and treatment of trauma via Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) and Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART).

Pregnancy After Loss Support website

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Sonya shares her story of postpartum depression and anxiety.  Trained as a social worker, she gives advice on how important it is to have informed care. 

"Never be afraid to advocate for yourself when things don’t feel right emotionally during pregnancy and in the postpartum period".  

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Listen to Dr. Adedokun talk about self-care, a very important and often over looked aspect of our mental health. 

Dr. Elizabeth Adedokun is a licensed marriage and family therapist and has been practicing for the past 7 years. Elizabeth completed her Master's degree in MFT at Northwestern University and her Doctorate at Drexel University. Currently, Elizabeth works as an independent contractor at Mindful Families, located in Edina Minnesota. Elizabeth's areas of interests include: perinatal mental health, depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation in adolescents. Elizabeth also volunteers for Postpartum Support International as a support group leader for pregnant/postpartum mothers and also volunteers for Pregnancy and Postpartum Support Minnesota's helpline. When Elizabeth is not working or volunteering, she enjoys reading, taking walks, and spending time with her husband and children.

email: [email protected]

phone: 507-353-0221

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Listen to occupational therapist and perinatal mental health specialist Jenica Domanico MA, Otr/L, CLEC talks about how occupational therapy can help new moms with mental health concerns.

Jenica Domanico is a registered and licensed Occupational Therapist (MAOTR/L) and Certified Lactation Educator Counselor (CLEC) with a BA in Psychology.  She has multiple years experience working in mental health acute crisis care and is PSI trained in Maternal Mental Health.  She is a mother of 3 kids and owner of perinatal rehabilitation business MOM plus ME, LLC.  She started her business with the vision to change the dynamic in maternal health care to include physical and mental rehabilitation services for new moms and families.  She is a leader in the field of perinatal occupational therapy and is passionate about her work in maternal mental health.

Meplusmom  instagram
Mompluseme

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Listen as Anna gives us a look at her walk with postpartum anxiety, ocd and intrusive thoughts.  Now in recovery is an active volunteer with PPSM helping others through the journey to healing.

Meet Anna Seiger: I have a bachelors degree in Music Therapy but currently am a billing/payroll manager for a home healthcare agency. I love spending my summers on the lake with a good book and my family.
Quote: "This too shall pass and things will get better. Never stop advocating for yourself until you get the help you need. You are not alone".

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Listen to Alexis and Amy talk about grounding as a new parent without the generational support of your own mother. 

Amy Madson LMFT - AAMFT-Approved Marriage and Family Therapy Supervisor and clinician. I am especially interested in supporting moms and their families through difficult transitions and in navigating challenging relationships.

Alexis Antilla LMFT - Therapist at Minnesota Online Counseling; Owner and Therapist at One Great Life Counseling; Specializing in treating perinatal mental health, couples, and parenting challenges.


Insta: @onegreatlifecounseling

One Great Life Counseling 

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Listen to Chelsea's story about postpartum obsessive compulsive disorder and her journey through treatment and now as a peer support professional helping other new moms.   

"Perinatal OCD, anxiety and depression can be scary, but I promise there's hope and there are people out there who understand your struggle and who will hold your hand through recovery".

Meet Chelsea:
I have been at PrairieCare as a Psychiatric Technician for over a year and a half. My job has a lot of different aspects to it, but one of the most important is being a peer support person for our moms as who has been in their shoes and understands their struggle. My main goal is to show them that recovery is real and can be them.

@not.your.mamas.ocd  (instagram)

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Listen to our interview with Allison as she describes her own journey with postpartum anxiety and how that has plays a role in her work as a perinatal psychologist.  She helps us understand the risks and gives tips on transitioning to parenthood.  


Allison Peterson, MA, LP, PMH-C (She/Her/Hers) is a licensed psychologist and clinical director/owner of Mindful Families. Allison enjoys working with children age 6 through adolescents as well as adults and families. She has been in practice since 2001 and started Mindful Families in 2013.

She takes a direct yet affirming approach in addressing complex emotional and behavioral concerns. She especially enjoys engaging families in developing effective communication and behavior management skills. She utilizes Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and clinical hypnosis in her work.

Allison specializes in pregnancy and postpartum related mood disorders having completed the PSI Certificate Program in 2014. She is involved in the postpartum community as a member of Pregnancy and Postpartum Support Minnesota and served as PPSM's Helpline Director from 2014-2020.

Mindful Families Therapy
 
email: [email protected]
phone: 612-486-2956

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Sandra Maurer, BA, E-RYT, CD YACEP and Stefanie Kuhnmuench LICSW join us to talk about what movement in therapy is and how it helps emotional healing long term. 
Sandra is a Registered, Experienced Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance (E-RYT) through the Yoga Life Institute in Pennsylvania, Certified Birth Doula (Birth Arts International), BA in Art Therapy (Arcadia University), Trauma-Informed Yoga Trained through Center for Yoga and Trauma Recovery and Firefly Yoga International. Sandra has completed the Advanced Provider training through Postpartum Support International.  Additionally, Sandra is currently completing her MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Adler Graduate School and is a therapist working with individuals and families at Mindful Families.

She has over 10 years teaching experience as a yoga instructor, working in various clinical and public settings including Hennepin County Health Care’s Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorder program and the Emily Program, a comprehensive eating disorder treatment facility.    

Sandra specializes in Perinatal Mental Health is committed to creating an inclusive and supportive space where participants can deeply and authentically connect with the messages and wisdom of their bodies—a space free from competition, comparison, or emphasis on external measures of success or progress. Whether in recovery from an eating disorder, or perinatal mood and anxiety disorder, dealing with grief, loss, or stress, or recuperating from a traumatic event, our bodies are integral to our psychological and emotional healing.

Sandra has 3 tiny people at home, including  one set of twins and lives with them and her husband near a big spruce tree in St. Paul, MN.  She believes that laughter, sleep, and water can solve most daily problems and is not afraid to use her New Jersey background to get real and honest with people.  She loves hiking and fireplaces and reading long books.

Terra Firma 

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