Mental Health on the Path to Parenthood With Alyssa Bufano
October 10 is World Mental Health Day, and Frick Counseling is highlighting mental health on the path to parenthood, from trying to conceive through pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting.
These experiences are often discussed under the term “maternal mental health,” but the need for support extends beyond mothers. Transgender and nonbinary people who become pregnant, give birth, or parent deserve care that respects their identities, bodies, and families.
The path toward parenthood can bring meaningful moments alongside uncertainty, exhaustion, and changes in how you see yourself and move through the world.
You can feel hopeful and discouraged at the same time. You can love your child deeply and still struggle. Your emotional needs deserve attention throughout these experiences.
The emotional weight of trying to conceive
The path toward parenthood can bring hope alongside uncertainty, disappointment, and grief. Trying to conceive, navigating fertility testing or treatment, or experiencing pregnancy loss can affect your emotional well-being and relationships.
Waiting for answers, facing financial pressures, and responding to well-intended questions can feel exhausting. Pregnancy announcements or milestones may bring complicated emotions.
There is room for all of those feelings. You do not need to be pregnant or already parenting for your experience to deserve care and support. Counseling can offer space to process what you are going through, talk about your needs, and navigate uncertainty at your own pace.
Peer support can also provide connection. Postpartum Support International offers free online support groups, including groups for fertility challenges, pregnancy and infant loss, and parenting after loss.
Your mental health matters
Depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder can occur during pregnancy or after childbirth. Persistent sadness, overwhelming worry, distressing intrusive thoughts, compulsive behaviors, irritability, or loss of interest in things you usually enjoy are worth discussing with a health care professional.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the “baby blues” involve mild, short-lasting mood changes during the first two weeks after birth. Symptoms that are severe or continue beyond two weeks may indicate postpartum depression and deserve professional evaluation. You do not need to wait two weeks to seek help if you are struggling.
Perinatal depression is treatable. Treatment may include psychotherapy, medication, or both, depending on a person’s needs and circumstances.
Other experiences may also deserve space: changing relationships, difficult or traumatic birth experiences, pressure to meet expectations, or feeling disconnected from the person you were before becoming a parent.
Making room for an honest conversation
Expectations around pregnancy and parenting can make it difficult to say, “I’m struggling.”
You may worry about judgment or how others will interpret those words. Even caring friends and family may not know how to respond.
For trans and nonbinary people, assumptions about gender, family roles, or what a parent should be called can create additional barriers to feeling understood. You deserve space to describe your experience in your own words and to have your name, pronouns, and parenting terms respected.
A therapist can help you explore your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors with compassion and without judgment. Counseling offers an opportunity to talk about your experience without having to make it sound easier than it feels. It can also help you identify additional supports and navigate appropriate treatment options.
Support may include exploring emotions, identifying needs, discussing boundaries, and making room for your identity beyond caregiving.
Meet Alyssa Bufano, LPC
Alyssa Bufano is a Licensed Professional Counselor at Frick Counseling. She brings a warm, trauma-informed approach to supporting people through difficult experiences.
Alyssa noticed a gap in accessible mental health treatment for people navigating pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting and wants to help change that. She offers in-person counseling in Dunmore, PA, and online therapy throughout Pennsylvania.
As an EMDR consultant, Alyssa also provides EMDR therapy, which may be incorporated into treatment for traumatic experiences when appropriate to a client’s needs.
Whether you are trying to conceive, navigating pregnancy or postpartum, or seeking support during another stage of parenting, contact us to discuss your needs and whether Alyssa would be a good fit.
Learn more about Alyssa and request an appointment.
Additional support and resources
National Maternal Mental Health Hotline
Call or text 1-833-852-6262 for free, confidential support, available 24/7. The hotline provides emotional support and connections to resources for people navigating pregnancy and postpartum, as well as their partners and families.
Postpartum Support International
Explore free online peer support groups for pregnancy, postpartum, fertility challenges, and loss. Review individual group descriptions to find one that fits your experience and identity.
Learn about perinatal mental health
NIMH’s guide to perinatal depression explains symptoms and treatment options. The NHS guide to mental health in pregnancy also discusses anxiety and OCD. Some resources use gendered language; the need for respectful mental health care includes trans and nonbinary people, too.
If you need crisis support
Call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. In an immediate emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.
You deserve care that makes room for your whole self, wherever you are on the path to parenthood.