Vows from your postpartum therapists

As therapists with a passion and focus on the psychological impacts of pregnancy, birth, the postpartum period, and the parenting experience at large, we get a lot of referrals from people who have had a decent therapy experience, but felt their therapist didn’t understand the intricacies and enormity of all of the above.

We reflect on this with understanding and compassion, not criticism; We don’t know what we don’t know (and there’s plenty we don’t know!). We just happen to be relentlessly interested in this material. In that way we feel lucky to do what we do. To stay on top of our support game, the following are some of our vows to our clients.

At SOURCE, we vow:

To hold with wonder, awe, and respect all a human goes through on the path to becoming a parent. The resilience and flexibility commanded, no matter what path you take toward becoming a parent and how many obstacles come your way, is epic.

To not dismissively say things like “all new parents are tired,” “healthy baby, healthy mama is all that matters,” “just wait til the next phase,” or anything that starts with “can’t you just . . .”?

To remember that we were never meant to parent in isolation, as our individualist-obsessed culture nudges us toward, but to not drop off “it takes a village” and run. We are committed to working with you to identify your community connection gaps and needs, knowing what professional resources are available and convenient, and staying abreast of policies that help protect parents’ livelihoods in meaningful ways. As Desmond Tutu said: “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.”

To honor the collective wisdom of education, clinical experience, and research, while always remembering that you are a person with lived experience unique as your fingerprints, and not a statistic.

To commit to ongoing understanding of systems of oppression connected with health disparities and the everyday stress that impacts some more than others in the perinatal and parenting sphere as every other one, depending on race, class, gender identity and expression, body size, ability, and the intersection of it all.

We hope these vows help you understand our values more deeply. After all, trust in your therapist is one of the most powerful mechanisms of change. If you or a loved one is looking for therapeutic support, reach out here.

With love and compassion,

Team SOURCE