For most, childbirth can be a wonderful experience, however, for some, childbirth can be experienced as traumatic, both due to the physical and emotional experiences. If this is the case for you, you may experience, intrusive memories, images or thoughts (both about yourself and your baby), nightmares, and/or feeling as if you are back in the delivery room despite it being over. These experiences are sometimes referred to as Post Traumatic Stress reactions and can develop into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  I am able to offer you a compassionate based therapy that has been shown to be effective for these experiences such as Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TR- CBT) or Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR). 

After birth, you have have other experiences such as disappointment or sadness that the loving connection and joy you were expecting at birth did not happen. You may find that you are having overwhelming negative thoughts about yourself as a mother, parent and about the baby. These experiences can be fleeting and are quite common in the weeks after birth. However, if they continue and persists, they may develop into a postnatal depression. I am able to draw on compassion and psychological interventions such as CBT to develop a comprehensive formulation and tailored intervention to support your needs at this time.

If you find you are struggling with attachment and boning with your infant or child, I would be able to help using compassionate focused therapy or attachment approaches such as the Circle of Security Parenting Programme.