Does Postpartum Therapy Really Help: Thoughts from a Therapist

Have you ever found yourself thinking, “Is therapy actually going to help me…or is this just how motherhood feels?” I hear this from new moms all the time.

The postpartum period can feel hard for so many reasons. Your sense of who you are shifts. You’re constantly worrying whether you’re doing things “right”. You’re exhausted and overwhelmed in ways you didn’t know were possible. Somewhere in the middle of all of this, you’re asking yourself, “Is this normal?”

Even when postpartum moms are considering therapy, a lot of hesitation can come up. A lot of moms worry about the time, the cost, the guilt of needing help, and the fear of being judged. Many also wonder whether their struggles are actually “bad enough” to go to therapy. In this blog, we’ll explore what the postpartum period is really like and how postpartum therapy can help.

The Reality Of The Postpartum Period

Many people think the postpartum period is just a season to get through but it’s more than just a period of time. It’s a neurological, hormonal, emotional, and relational change that happens all at once.

You might feel unlike yourself, moody, irritable, numb, or just off. It’s common to feel anxious about your baby’s health and development and to question whether you’re doing a “good enough” job. Your body feels different in obvious and not so obvious ways and body image can suddenly feel complicated. And even if you love your baby deeply and are grateful to be a parent, you might still miss your old life. This can feel confusing or shameful especially when you think you should just be happy.

Many moms minimize how hard this really is. Thoughts like “I should be grateful”, “This is just a part of being a mom”, or “Other people have it worse” can keep you from talking about how much you’re struggling. Over time, carrying all of this alone can leave you feeling overwhelmed, alone, and hesitant to ask for help.

What Is Postpartum Therapy And How It Can Help

Postpartum therapy gives you a place to be really honest about how you’re actually doing without any judgment or expectation of you to pretend that everything is okay. You don’t need a diagnosis or a crisis to benefit from therapy during this time.

Therapy will be a place where you can find support for anxiety, depression, and other mental, emotional, and physical changes that you’re experiencing. Therapy can also help you make sense of what’s happening by learning more about what happens during the postpartum period which can bring a lot of relief. You’ll also learn ways to calm your body and mind when anxiety spikes, panic creeps in, or emotions feel overwhelming.

Some moms experience a traumatic birth or difficult recovery. Others have babies born prematurely and face an unexpected NICU stay. Some receive news that they never saw coming. These experiences are more common than people realize and postpartum therapists are very familiar with them. You don’t have to carry those experiences alone.

It’s also very common to grieve your old life after having a baby. Many moms feel a complex swirl of emotions including guilt and sadness about the abrupt change in their lives. Therapy can be a place to grieve who you were while slowly growing into who you’re becoming.

Along the same lines, a lot of new moms experience an identity shift or even a bit of an identity crisis. Therapy can help you explore and figure out who you are now and reconnect with parts of yourself that may have gotten lost in the fog of the very busy newborn and infant stage.

Having a baby changes relationships and sometimes in ways you didn’t expect. Therapy can help you navigate changes with your partner, family, and friends. It can also help you to communicate your needs more clearly and set boundaries when necessary.

Postpartum therapy can also help prevent things from getting heavier and worse over time. Getting support early can help reduce long-term struggles with anxiety, depression, and burnout. I work with clients across all stages of their perinatal journey including those who are trying to conceive, have experienced pregnancy loss, are pregnant, and those who are postpartum and beyond. Therapy isn’t just for when things fall apart. It can help you find stability during a big life transition.

When Therapy Might Feel Especially Helpful

It’s never too early or late to seek postpartum therapy. Here are a few signs that therapy might be especially supportive right now:

• You feel anxious or on edge most days and it’s difficult to manage

• You cry a lot or you can’t cry at all

• You don’t feel quite like yourself

• You’re constantly second guessing everything and questioning if you’re doing it “right”

• You feel disconnected from yourself or your baby

• You feel alone even with people around you

You do not need a diagnosis or to be in crisis to deserve help. If something doesn’t feel right, it’s okay to reach out for support.

Common Hesitations

If you’ve never been to therapy before, it’s completely normal to feel hesitation to try therapy for the first time especially during such a vulnerable time. Many moms worry that they don’t have the time but therapy can be short-term and flexible. Others feel like they should be able to handle it all on their own but needing support doesn’t mean you’re weak or failing.

Your brain might feel like mush from sleep deprivation and stress and you might feel like you don’t know what you’d even talk about in therapy. That’s normal and postpartum therapists expect this. You might also wonder, “what if therapy doesn’t help?” Trying something new to support yourself isn’t a failure and sometimes it’s a part of figuring out what does help.  

So…Does Postpartum Therapy Really Help?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer for everyone but, for many people, postpartum therapy really does help. Therapy doesn’t take away the challenges of postpartum life but it often changes how heavy those challenges feel and how alone you feel in them.

Going to therapy isn’t about fixing you or changing who you are as a parent. It’s about feeling more grounded, more like yourself again, and feeling more confident as you move through a major life transition. Therapy is self-care and, when you’re caring around the clock for another little human, taking care of yourself really matters.

How We Can Help

If you’ve been wondering whether what you’re feeling is “normal” and you’re not sure where to turn, you’re not alone and you don’t have to figure it all out by yourself. Getting support can make things feel a little less heavy and a lot less lonely. You’re caring for another human around the clock and you deserve care too. If this resonates with you, reaching out to us about one of our postpartum therapists can be a meaningful next step for you!

Author Biography

Pansy Ayala is a licensed therapist with Catalyss Counseling and specializes in treating adults with anxiety, depression, grief and loss, and relationship issues. She uses a holistic, individualized approach to better understand who you are, what areas of your life you find problematic, and how you can reach your goals. She especially enjoys working with parents. Follow Catalyss Counseling on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

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Other Therapy Services Available at Catalyss Counseling:

Here at Catalyss Counseling, we want to meet all of your counseling needs in the Denver area. Our supportive therapists provide depression counseling, therapy for caregiver stress, grief and loss therapy, stress management counseling, and more. We also have specialists in trauma and PTSD, women's issues, pregnancy and postpartum depression or anxiety, pregnancy loss and miscarriage, and birth trauma. For therapists, we can also provide clinical supervision! We look forward to connecting with you to help support your journey today.