Shianling Weeks, PhD

The journey of having a baby, from getting pregnant until around a year after birth, brings changes and challenges that we could not possibly anticipate, even hearing from people in our lives about their experiences. I can help you, from figuring out whether you want to have a baby, through the challenges of getting pregnant, to the hormonal rollercoaster and seismic shift in body and identity pregnancy and postpartum bring.

When you become a parent, everything changes. Even before the baby arrives, seismic shifts in our priorities, hopes, and fears begin. Our identities, our relationships, even our daily routines can feel like they've been blown up. Self-care feels impossible, and the learning curve can be overwhelming. And then there are the "shoulds" — the ones we hold for ourselves, and the ones that family or society put on us. It's no wonder that welcoming a new baby into the family often goes hand-in-hand with stress, anxiety, depression, and other painful thoughts and feelings. Please know that treatment helps - we will make it through this difficult time together, ease your suffering, and learn skills that help you reconnect with your baby, family, and self. Live according to your parenting values, and have a life that includes things that were important to you pre-baby. Many new parents find this transition can bring up old wounds or patterns they're carrying from their own childhood. This can be both painful and unexpected. Therapy can help clients heal childhood wounds so you can show up as the parent you want to be.

I have advanced training through Postpartum Support International, an amazing organization with a huge variety of resources available.

For those experiencing struggles with fertility and pregnancy loss, as a woman who walked this path, I get how hard the journey toward parenthood can be. I understand how challenging it is trying to have a child. Walking the line of maintaining hope while managing expectations, all while being hyperaware of every change you feel in your body, injecting yourself with medications, attending innumerable appointments, repeated gynecological exams, and huge expense…it’s a lot. Every time you get your period the floor drops out from under you and despair closes in. If you go through all of this and finally get pregnant, only to suffer loss - words can’t capture the devastation. I can help you find your way through this process, feel your painful feelings without being dragged under, and figure out how to navigate your path forward.