Feel confident and grounded in motherhood.
Postpartum Therapy
Postpartum Therapist for New Parents in Denver, Colorado
Accepting new clients online throughout Colorado
Are you a postpartum parent struggling with feeling overwhelmed, anxious, disconnected or alone?
Welcome to Root to Rise Therapy, specializing in postpartum therapy for new moms in Denver.
Becoming a parent is hard. Let me help you find your way.
Since your baby was born, things have felt… different. Maybe your birth didn’t go as planned, and you’ve been having a hard time moving past it. Maybe you and your partner aren’t seeing eye to eye, and you just haven’t been feeling like yourself. You feel disconnected from the things that made up your pre-baby identity, and can’t seem to find the energy or motivation to do anything about it. Mom guilt and worries are filling up your brain, and self-care feels like a distant memory. You feel lonely, unsupported and really just all over the place. Everything is so heavy and overwhelming, and you want to rely on your partner for help but they are in-over-their-head, just like you.
All you want is to be present and enjoy this special time in your life.
But no matter what you try, you feel consumed with worry and feelings of inadequacy.
Motherhood doesn’t have to feel like this. Postpartum counseling in Denver can help.
How Does Postpartum Therapy Treat Perinatal Mental Health ?
A perinatal mood and anxiety disorder (PMAD) is an anxiety, depressive or mood disorder that occurs during pregnancy or within 1 year postpartum (the “perinatal period”). Mental health disorders during this time period are extremely common, and can present whether or not you had a mental health condition prior to pregnancy. At Root to Rise Therapy, specialized postpartum therapy is the core of the work we do. Working with a Denver therapist certified in postpartum mental health can help you cope with the anxiety, depression, intrusive thoughts, rage, guilt and confusion that can come up during the perinatal period. Postpartum therapy can help you come home to yourself.
It is estimated that:
15-21% of pregnant women experience moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety and depression
Up to 34.5% of women experience postpartum anxiety
Approx. 21% of women experience postpartum depression
11% of women experience perinatal panic disorder or OCD, and
9% of women experience postpartum PTSD after childbirth
Onset of these conditions can be triggered by hormonal changes during pregnancy or post-childbirth, and can also be impacted by pressures as a new parent, lack of sleep and challenges adjusting to a new role. Having support during this time is critical, and research shows that screening and early intervention through postpartum counseling can protect the wellbeing of you, your baby and your entire family.
Dealing with postpartum mental health challenges is not your fault.
You’re not alone. At Root to Rise Therapy, working with an experienced postpartum therapist can help you overcome postpartum anxiety and depression to feel like yourself again.
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Postpartum therapy in Denver may be right for you if you experience things like:
Constant worry about yourself or your baby’s wellbeing
Intrusive thoughts or images, often centering around your baby’s safety
Feeling cheated, angry or misunderstood since becoming a mom
Struggling with how your experience of motherhood differs from what you expected
Being kept up at night by racing thoughts, even when the baby is sleeping
Experiencing feelings of burnout, depletion or disconnection
Feeling like if you don’t do everything perfectly, there will be catastrophic outcomes
Difficulty finding joy or happiness since your baby has been born
Feeling guilty a lot of the time, or inadequate as a parent
Difficulty bonding or feeling connected to your baby
Feeling lost in motherhood
Low energy that doesn’t improve with sleep
In addition to clinical perinatal mental health conditions, there are challenges as part of the transition to parenthood that so many new parents face. Just because these experiences are common doesn’t make them easy to deal with. Postpartum therapy can also help with these kind of challenges, including:
Struggling to connect with your partner or get on the same page
Struggling to navigate dynamics with your own or your partner’s families as roles shift
Feeling like unresolved issues from your childhood are getting in the way of being the parent or partner you want to be
Worrying that if you ask for help, others will assume that you “can’t handle” motherhood
Pushing yourself to prioritize your partner and the baby over your own needs
Feeling guilty for having to pull back from other relationships since becoming a parent
Check out my specialty areas within Postpartum Therapy:
Prenatal Therapy
Pregnancy can bring up a lot. Maybe you’re struggling with anxiety, depression or feelings of overwhelm. Maybe your pregnancy has been more complicated than you’ve expected, or you’re dealing with some nagging feelings of ambivalence and fear. Maybe you’re coping with a loss, or feeling anxious in your pregnancy after miscarriage or fertility challenges. You may be feeling scared of childbirth, or worrying about how your marriage will adapt. For all things pregnancy related, prenatal therapy can help.
Postpartum Anxiety Therapy
Whether or not you’re familiar with anxiety from your pre-baby life, it can be a confusing and challenging part of the postpartum experience. You may be dealing with scary or intrusive thoughts, feeling anxious to leave the house, or struggling to stray from your routine. Worries about your baby’s health and safety may be distracting you from being present and enjoying this moment in your life, despite wanting so badly to soak it in. Postpartum anxiety therapy in Denver, Colorado can help give you the tools to cope with worry, fear and unwanted intrusive thoughts as a new mom.
Postpartum Depression Therapy
Sometimes, motherhood can come with a certain feeling of heaviness that can be difficult to cope with. Feelings of dread, sadness or loss can be overwhelming and paralyzing. Maybe you feel like you’re drowning, or are crippled by shame and guilt for not loving every moment as a new mom. Some moms struggle with feeling like an imposter in their new life, or as though they are living behind a glass wall, isolated and disconnected from everyone around them. Postpartum depression therapy in Denver can help you come home to yourself, reconnect with your loved ones and make sense of your experience of motherhood, even in the hard moments.
Therapy for New Parents
The adjustment to parenthood (for both birthing and non-birthing partners) can be one of the most challenging transitions that you go through in your life. Parenthood can wreak havoc on your identity, sense of self, values and relationships. Therapy for new parents in Denver can help you process what from your past may be coming up for you in this transition, identify what you need from your partner and loved ones, and learn strategies for communicating effectively and managing expectations for yourself and others.
If you’re nervous about starting postpartum therapy, take a deep breath - you’re safe here.
Meet Your Denver Postpartum Therapist
Hi, I”m Victoria, Postpartum Therapist at Root to Rise Therapy
Postpartum therapy is the heart of my practice.
I’m a postpartum therapist certified in perinatal mental health (PMH-C) with over 13 years of experience helping new moms feel calmer, more present and more joyful as they transition to motherhood. As a fellow mom and a provider who specializes in this work, I know how overwhelming, confusing and de-stabilizing the postpartum period can be.
Let me help you find your footing.
Why Choose Root to Rise Therapy for Postpartum Therapy in Denver
Expert care from a seasoned postpartum therapist with over a decade of experience, trained and certified in perinatal mental health
A warm, collaborative and nonjudgmental space where it’s safe to share even your most scary and confusing thoughts
Online therapy to allow for flexibility as you’re adjusting to postpartum life and all its demands (babies welcome!)
Care provided by a fellow mom who truly understands how relentless, overwhelming and disorienting postpartum life can be
Therapy tailored to your specific needs, drawing from psychodynamic, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), mindfulness-based therapy and parts-work
Postpartum therapy with me looks like:
Helping you build practical tools to cope with stress, worry and overwhelm to physically calm down your nervous system and reconnect to your sense of self
Using trauma-informed approaches to process experiences from pregnancy or childbirth that may not have gone as planned, and support you in healing
Helping you to better understand memories and relationships from your own childhood that may be coming as you transition to parenthood, and identify intentional parenting choices that align with your values in the present
Teaching you communication techniques that can help you and your partner better manage the impact of stress on your relationship
Helping you experience less overthinking and anxiety spirals, so that you can have more mental clarity to be present for this special time with your new baby
Assisting you in identifying your natural strengths that can be drawn from in parenting
Validating and help you find acceptance for your unique experience of parenthood
Feeling more confident in how you respond to new challenges through learning tools to feel more present in your life, be kinder to yourself and accept yourself for who you are.
Identifying relevant books, articles and resources that can help you to get a deeper understanding of your experience and make progress in between sessions
Postpartum counseling will help you to get out of your head so that you can be more present with your baby. Postpartum therapy will help you to stop beating yourself up so that you can feel confident in your abilities as a new mom. Postpartum therapy will help you to clarify your values so that you feel more confident setting boundaries and putting your own family first. Postpartum therapy will help you to care for and love yourself so that you can model the same for your child.
Postpartum Therapy Resources for Denver Moms
I am certified in Perinatal Mental Health through Postpartum Support International (PSI), which has many great resources and support groups for new moms. They also run a HelpLine that you can contact for additional information and support.
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Check out my page Mental Health Resources for New Moms in Denver for additional services local to Denver, Colorado.
Questions before starting postpartum therapy in Denver and online throughout Colorado? Get in touch.
Postpartum Therapy Blog
Feel free to check out some of the posts I’ve written to support new moms in some of the most challenging parts of the postpartum experience:
Postpartum Identity Crisis? How Postpartum Therapy Can Help
How to Cope With Return to Work After Maternity Leave
Losing Yourself in Motherhood? Why 4 Months Postpartum Feels So Hard
Postpartum Counseling FAQs
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A perinatal therapist has special knowledge and training in perinatal mental health, or mental health conditions and specific stressors that occur during pregnancy through the first year after giving birth. This includes challenges with pregnancy loss or infertility.
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Cognitive behavioral therapy is shown to be very effective in treatment of postpartum anxiety and depression, and learning mindfulness-based strategies can be a game changer in learning to accept feelings of uncertainty and doubt that can come up during the adjustment to motherhood. Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is best practice for coping with intrusive thoughts related to postpartum OCD.
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Despite what social media (and regular media!) would have you believe, the postpartum period is challenging in some way for most women. What varies from person to person is how challenging. Your hormones are all over the place, you’re coping with the physical healing process (and a strong desire to get your pre-baby body back ASAP), and all of a sudden you are now responsible for keeping another human being alive with no rulebook provided. You want to lean on your partner, but they seem just as clueless and overwhelmed as you do. Of course you’re struggling! But just because it’s normal doesn’t mean you have to keep feeling like this. Postpartum counseling can help you make sense of all these new challenges and start to feel like yourself again.
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Because the perinatal period lasts up to 1 year after childbirth, meaning it can take your hormones up to that long to stabilize (and potentially longer if you continue to breastfeed), postpartum depression or anxiety can last that long too. That’s talking about anxiety or depression impacted by your hormones, but mental health challenges related to the stress of parenting can last much longer! It might seem tempting to “wait it out”, but this period is also a crucial time that you will want to be present with your new baby. Issues that go unaddressed during the postpartum period can have a bigger impact on your child and family in the long run. Contact me to get started with help.
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In short, yes - there are many unique challenges that new moms face postpartum which traditional therapists are not trained to treat. It’s important to work with a therapist who is trained to recognize the different types of postpartum mental health conditions, understands the impact of hormones and sleep during the postpartum period, and is trained through Postpartum Support International. There are many misconceptions about postpartum mental health, and choosing not to work with a properly trained therapist can lead to certain risk factors being missed.
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I get it - as a new mom, you have so much on your plate, it may feel like making time for therapy is impossible. But caring for your mental health is just as important as all the other care you provide for your newborn - you can’t take care of them properly if you’re not taking care of yourself. I welcome new moms to bring their babies to postpartum therapy sessions, or have a sit-down with their partners and families to talk about making therapy a priority. You may feel like you have to handle it all on your own, but most of the time your family will surprise you and be willing to step up so that you can take this important time for yourself.
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I have a post on this very topic! Check out my page on mental health resources for new moms in Denver to learn about self-care, lactation resources, support groups, places for new moms to hang out in Denver and more.
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Yes! Check out my page on pregnancy therapy in Denver for more information.
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Taking the leap to start postpartum therapy can feel daunting. If you’re experiencing acute distress or several of the symptoms I mention further up on this page, it’s worth reaching out to a postpartum therapist to get some questions answered that may help with your hesitance to try therapy. But if you’re not quite there yet, check out my page on mindfulness for moms to learn more about mindfulness-based coping strategies that can help new moms be more present.
You don’t have to live with constant anxiety, sadness or overwhelming thoughts. You can find a way to feel good about yourself as a mom and feel proud of the life you are building for your family. Postpartum therapy in Colorado can help you to be more present in your life, get out of your head and make space to enjoy these precious days as a new parent.
Root to Rise Therapy is a Denver-based postpartum therapy practice that helps women navigate overwhelm, self-doubt and perfectionism in motherhood. To start your counseling journey, follow these simple steps:
Step 1
Contact Victoria to schedule a free, no-pressure phone consultation where you can get all of your postpartum therapy questions answered
Step 2
If we decide we are a good fit for one another, meet with Victoria, postpartum therapist for an intake session
Step 3
Get started on your journey towards healing emotionally and becoming the mom you want to be!