Conditions Treated
- Depression and Anxiety
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- Trauma
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- Animal Companion Loss
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Empty nest, senior years, role transitions.- Postpartum Depression Mood and Anxiety Disorders
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Parenting and Partner Issues.jpeg)
Grief and Loss.jpeg)
Career changes and choices, retirement planning..jpeg)
Chronic Health Issues.jpeg)
Women's Reproductive Mental Health
Mood Disturbances
Whether single episode or chronic, women are significantly more likely than men to experience depression and anxiety during their lives, often associated with changes in reproductive status, initiation of menses, during child-bearing years, and menopause. In addition, our role as primary caregivers make us more susceptible to the effects of economic change, societal upheaval, chronic health conditions, lifestyle changes and many different kinds of loss. Add to this the pressures of maintaining career balanced with care-giving, and risk factors further escalate. Mood disorders have their roots in biological, psychological and social realms. By targeting each contributing realm, therapy can empower women to quickly identify key issues exacerbating affective disturbance. It's crucially important to have a thorough initial assessment to determine causative factors. The earlier treatment is sought, the less the long-term suffering and the sooner repair can begin!
Career, Relationship and Lifestyle Challenges
For women, the stressors of balancing family life and career goals can be acute. Personal, intimate relationships can support or thwart professional goals. Societal expectations associated with mothering can bring unbearable feelings of guilt. Divorce, separation or relationships stress has direct impact on quality of life issues. Optimum negotiation of problem solving requires skillful evalution and generation of options. Deciding when to change positions, start a family, retire or end a relationship can bring distressing ruminative thoughts. My role as both a mental health professional and caregiving family member gives me an experienced understanding of such challenges! I reference your own internal wisdom when clarifying choices and keeping guilt at bay! Together, we can negotiate and plan for milestone changes, the emphasis always on your individual interpretation on what constitutes a contented joyous life.
Grief, Loss and Chronic Health Issues
Life's inevitable and multiple losses can bring cumulative complicated grief which stresses our motivation to persevere toward cherished goals. They can also trigger latent or re-emergence of depression and anxiety. Grieving can be acute and prolonged but greatly benefits from therapeutic support. Such losses include loved ones and family members, neo natal or still birth, miscarriage, loss of capacity or health, difficult role transitions such as empty nest syndrome, post divorce adjustment and the loss of companion animals. Making meaning of the loss and incorporating the experience through the creation of a legacy or enlisting new support during such transitions can more quickly bring healing and renewed commitment to life.
Trauma, Managing Difficult Emotions
Women are more likely than men to have suffered major trauma in their lives. Symptoms such as repetitive tortuous thoughts, unmanageable feelings and negative assumptions can result from present or past untreated sexual or emotional abuse. The resulting PTSD - which often goes misdiagnosed or undertreated - can make it challenging to manage emotions and fears which can thwart clear thinking make regulating emotions difficult. Through effective trauma treatment and the aquisition of skills to manage dysregulated emotional states, more peaceful relationships with self and others can be restored.