A “Mom” Brain Therapist
If you’ve been searching for postpartum depression treatment near me or a postpartum anxiety therapist, you’ve found one here at Beyond The Birth, LLC.
Counseling for moms, all birthing people and caregivers, is the speciality of this fully virtual private practice. And it may be what you need to get back to yourself—enjoying parenthood and thriving.
Gloria Lopez, M.S., LMHC, CLC, CCATP
Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Miami Florida, Certified Clinical Anxiety Treatment Professional, Certified Lactation Counselor, and Certified Baby-led™ Sleep & Well-being Specialist
Your Therapist
Did You Know?
1 in 5 to 7 birthing people worldwide will go on to experience a Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorder (PMAD).
It’s actually the most common complication of childbirth.
Individuals becoming parents via surrogacy or adoption can expereince PMADs. So can partners of the birthing person—estimates are 1 in 10.
The perinatal period is defined as any time throughout a pregnancy and up to 12 months postpartum. However, many clinicians specializing in perinatal mental health agree that the perinatal period is more accurately defined as any period during a pregnancy and up to 3 years postpartum.
When going through PMADs…
You may be experiencing what feels like a more intense level of “stress” “worry” or “nervousness that sticks around most days and is stopping you from leading your daily life with the same level of energy, peace, and focus that you used to.
We call this condition Anxiety.
It feels more challenging and overwhelming than the normal experience of a parent feeling extra tired, sensitive, and tearful within the first couple of weeks after giving birth or beginning to care for an infant—often called the “baby blues”.
Some parents describe it as feeling on edge all of the time or not being able to stop worrying.
You might feel you can’t stop checking on the baby, even if it means not being able to sleep yourself, out of an intense worry that something bad might happen to them.
You can’t seem to stop noticing and obsessing over very scary, negative, and disturbing thoughts about yourself/baby/your partner. You may feel ashamed and scared of sharing that you’re having these thoughts with anyone.
It may feel like you’re losing control over your thoughts and feelings, like “losing my mind”.
You might also notice it in your body—feeling keyed up or restless. You might experience moments where you feel like you’re not in your body or like you’re in a dream. You might experience, when the worry gets more intense, that you start to feel shortness of breath, you feel your heart beating faster, a tightness in your chest, tension in your body, your mouth going dry and tingling, your limbs feeling tingly, cold sweats, dizziness or lightheadedness, nausea, butterflies in your stomach, and/or a need to use the bathroom often. This is your body experiencing a state of fear called fight, flight, or freeze.
Did you know that most people will experience anxiety and depression at the same time?
Along with the symptoms of anxiety already noted, you may be feeling detached from your baby and those you love most.
You feel “numb” or “empty” when you thought you’d be feeling happy and even relieved. You feel heavy with exhaustion and a lack of motivation that wasn’t there before.
You feel alone and like no one has ever felt this bad. You feel ashamed feeling this way and this leads you to having more negative thoughts about yourself that leave you feeling further disconnected and alone. You may even have thoughts about death or dying that scare you.
We call this condition Depression and in it’s most severe form can cause a person to consider and attempt to end their life. For this reason, you’ll want to make sure you get the help you need as soon as possible.
If you’re having thoughts of ending your life, please call 988 right now.
Don’t wait.
You can also ask a loved one to take you to your local emergency room or call 911.
This practice is not a crisis center. Please seek crisis services noted above prior to booking a session at this practice.
Feel like your experience with PMADs is different and more complex?
Even though “Postpartum Depression” and Anxiety are the most common conditions we hear about, they aren’t the only mental health conditions experienced during pregnancy & postpartum.
Learn more about perinatal Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Postpartum Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Perinatal Bipolar Disorder, and the more rare Postpartum Psychosis.
Even though PMADs can feel awful and you may think it won’t get better, Please know…
You are Not Alone
You Are Not to Blame
and With Help You Will Feel Better
PMADs is highly treatable and it is important for treatment to begin as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, PMADs does not often resolve on its own and reaching out for support as early as symptoms are noticed is recommended. No one should have to ever “white knuckle” their way through early parenthood.
Infants deserve healthy caregivers and caregivers deserve to be well and thrive in parenthood.
That’s why at Beyond The Birth, you’re provided with the support, validation, and evidence based treatment interventions necessary to achieve your goal of recovery.
While a caregiver holds their child, the therapy space holds the caregiver—
and not just “some” caregivers…
It’s why this practice prioritizes providing Neurodiverse, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ affirming care.
Accessing Therapy & Cost
Health Insurance Coverage
This practice is in network with Aetna, Oscar Health, United Healthcare, Oxford, Cigna, & Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. This practice verifies and processes insurance coverage via the billing platform HEADWAY.
This practice is not in-network and cannot treat clients covered by Medicaid/Medicare at this time.
Paying Out-of-pocket
Making sure therapy is accessible is a broader systemic issue that impacts everyone. While it is not a perfect solution, this practice strives to make accessing care as inclusive as possible by creating a tiered payment structure for clients who are not insured or who’s coverage is not accepted at this practice. It is up to the prospective client to choose what they can afford. Paying the third tier rate is encouraged for individuals with higher access to wealth to support those without it.
Tiered Cost Options Per 50min Individual Session:
Tier 1: $45
Tier 2: $75
Tier 3: $125
Tiered Cost Options Per 90min Couple/Family Session:
Tier 1: $55
Tier 2: $85
Tier 3: $155