As a psychiatric nurse practitioner, I’ve seen how powerfully hormones influence mental health. Shifts during puberty, the menstrual cycle, fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause, menopause, gender-affirming care, or medical treatment can affect mood,...
The process of giving birth is a life-altering experience that can be both emotionally and physically challenging for many people. While it can be a source of immense joy and empowerment, it can also be a time of fear, pain, grief, and confusion. Unfortunately, some...
Welcoming a new baby into a family is a momentous occasion. Joy, love, excitement, stress, overwhelm, and exhaustion exist. For some new parents, the postpartum period can be clouded with feelings of sadness and anxiety. Postpartum depression (PPD) affects...
A new baby completely changes the dynamic of a family. If there are already children in the family, that can mean a promotion from only child to big brother or sister, and managing feelings around that is at least as important as investing in a double stroller or...
The early days with a new child are a whirlwind. Positive, negative, or neutral, birth is always an experience. Then there’s sleep – will I ever do it again? (Yes. I promise). There are changes in a partnership that come with adding a new child to the home,...
Play is a child’s work, and this is not a trivial pursuit. ~ Alfred Adler Frequently parents wonder what is really going on in a session when their child enthusiastically exclaims after a session, “we just played; the toys were awesome.” But what the child isn’t able...
