Perinatal mental health · 5 min read
Perinatal mental health needs room for ambivalence
The transition into parenthood can hold joy, grief, fear, and identity change at the same time.
By Issy Kleiman, MA, LMFT · AAMFT Approved Supervisor
People are often told that becoming a parent should feel like a singular transformation. In reality, it can be many things at once: deeply meaningful, exhausting, isolating, surprising, and not at all what someone expected.
Therapy can offer a place where those contradictions do not have to be solved before they can be spoken. We can look at mood, sleep, relationships, identity, and the pressure to perform wellbeing while making room for the person underneath the role.
Support is not a verdict on how someone is parenting. It is a way to help a person feel less alone while they find their footing.