Birth Trauma Processing

Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR is a type of therapeutic treatment created and tested to support the processing of traumatic events. It is different from talk therapy because it uses bilateral stimulation to internally work through negative memories, experiences, bodily sensations, and thoughts. Unlike talk therapy (which can also be helpful for trauma!), EMDR processes the trauma on a physical level, allowing the brain to signal less overall distress in connection to the traumatic event. Sometimes, doing EMDR makes it easier to then talk about and further process a trauma in traditional talk therapy. Other times, several EMDR sessions are all that a person needs to feel less controlled by the emotional distress of their trauma.

I use EMDR to support people in feeling more connected following various types of traumatic birth and postpartum experiences. If talk therapy hasn’t worked for you or if you’d like additional support before or in conjunction with your talk therapy, I would be honored to work with you.

This type of trauma therapy is also appropriate for partners and birthworkers who were present for a traumatic birth. Vicarious trauma is real, and I proudly provide this service to people who experience birth trauma, even if they are not the ones who gave birth.

    • Grief & loss (loss at any point in pregnancy or postpartum)

    • Physical birth traumas (such as lacerations & pelvic floor traumas)

    • Traumatic experiences of interventions (traumatic inductions, c-sections, etc)

    • Unwanted interventions

    • Non-consensual interventions

    • Coercion during labor & birth

    • Experiences of racism, transphobia, ableism, and oppression during labor/birth/postpartum

    • Near-death experiences during pregnancy, labor, birth, postpartum

    • Pregnancy and birth complications (pre-eclampsia, etc)

    • NICU experiences

    • Pre-term birth

    • TFMR (termination of pregnancy for medical reasons)

  • We begin with 4 sessions (60 minutes) of assessment, information gathering, goal setting, and preparation for treatment.

    Then we will proceed with 60 minute EMDR sessions at a pace and length that aligns with your needs.