Becoming a mother can bring enormous changes—physically, emotionally, mentally, and within your relationships. Even when a new baby is deeply wanted and loved, the postpartum period can feel very different from what you expected.
You may feel anxious, overwhelmed, sad, irritable, disconnected, guilty, or simply unlike yourself. You may find yourself constantly worrying about your baby, questioning whether you are doing things “right,” struggling with changes in your identity, or wondering why motherhood seems easier for everyone else.
At Victress, A Wellness Center for Women, we provide compassionate postpartum therapy for women throughout Illinois.
Our therapists support new and growing mothers experiencing postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, birth-related trauma, relationship changes, stress, grief, identity changes, and the many emotional adjustments that can accompany pregnancy and motherhood.
Telehealth therapy is available throughout Illinois, making it possible to receive support from home. In-person counseling is also available at our Palos Heights office.
Postpartum Depression and Anxiety Can Look Different for Everyone
Postpartum mental-health concerns do not always look like extreme sadness.
Some women experience persistent worry or racing thoughts. Others feel irritable, angry, emotionally numb, overwhelmed, guilty, or disconnected. You might love your baby while simultaneously struggling with how dramatically your life has changed.
You may be experiencing:
- Persistent sadness or frequent crying
- Anxiety or excessive worry
- Racing or intrusive thoughts
- Difficulty relaxing even when your baby is safe
- Irritability, frustration, or anger
- Feeling overwhelmed by everyday responsibilities
- Guilt or feelings of inadequacy as a mother
- Difficulty adjusting to your new identity
- Feeling disconnected from yourself, your partner, or your baby
- Fear surrounding your baby’s health or safety
- Difficulty sleeping even when you have the opportunity
- Relationship stress after having a baby
- Distress related to pregnancy, childbirth, NICU experiences, feeding difficulties, or other unexpected events
- Grief surrounding the birth or postpartum experience you expected to have
You do not have to wait until things become unbearable before seeking support.
Therapy for New Moms Throughout Illinois
Finding time for therapy with a new baby can be difficult. That is one reason Victress offers online postpartum therapy throughout Illinois.
You do not have to live near our Palos Heights office to work with one of our Illinois clinicians through telehealth.
We can serve clients in communities throughout the state, including Chicago, Orland Park, Palos Heights, Oak Lawn, Tinley Park, Naperville, Joliet, Aurora, Rockford, Peoria, Springfield, Champaign and other Illinois communities, subject to clinician availability and appropriate clinical fit.
For women in Chicago and the Southwest Suburbs who prefer traditional office-based counseling, in-person appointments may also be available at our Palos Heights location.
Postpartum Anxiety
Postpartum anxiety can make it extremely difficult to turn off your mind.
You may repeatedly check on your baby, imagine frightening possibilities, search online for reassurance, worry about illness or development, or feel as though you need to remain constantly alert.
Therapy can help you understand these patterns, develop strategies for managing anxiety, and begin separating reasonable parenting concerns from anxiety that is taking over your daily life.
Postpartum Depression
Postpartum depression can include sadness, but it can also involve exhaustion, withdrawal, guilt, irritability, hopelessness, loss of interest, or feeling disconnected from the person you were before becoming a mother.
Therapy provides a private place to talk openly about your experience without having to pretend that everything is wonderful simply because you have a new baby.
Birth Trauma and EMDR Therapy
Pregnancy and childbirth can sometimes involve frightening or unexpected experiences.
A difficult delivery, emergency C-section, premature birth, NICU stay, pregnancy complication, medical emergency, feeding difficulties, pregnancy loss, or feeling powerless during childbirth can continue affecting you long after the immediate event has passed.
For appropriate clients, EMDR therapy may be one treatment option for processing traumatic experiences associated with pregnancy, childbirth, or the postpartum period.
Victress offers trauma-focused therapy, including EMDR services, based on each client’s individual needs and clinical appropriateness.
Motherhood Can Affect Relationships, Too
Having a baby can change the relationship between partners almost overnight.
Sleep deprivation, new responsibilities, financial pressures, differences in parenting styles, changes in intimacy, and unequal expectations can create conflict even in previously strong relationships.
Therapy can provide space to address these changes while helping you communicate your needs and adjust to your family’s new reality.
Therapy That Fits Into Motherhood
For many new mothers, simply getting out of the house can feel like an enormous undertaking.
Telehealth allows eligible Illinois clients to attend therapy from home rather than adding another commute or appointment location to an already demanding schedule.
Our goal is to make mental-health care more accessible to women during a period when support can be especially important.
Insurance and Affordable Access to Postpartum Therapy
Victress works to make therapy accessible to women with different insurance and financial circumstances.
We participate with select insurance plans, including select Illinois Medicaid managed-care plans. Insurance networks and individual clinician participation can change, so we will confirm coverage and clinician participation before services begin.
If you are looking specifically for a postpartum therapist who accepts Medicaid in Illinois, please contact us so we can determine whether we currently participate with your plan and have an appropriate clinician available.
You Don’t Have to Navigate the Postpartum Period Alone
There is no single “right” way to feel after having a baby.
You can be grateful for your child and still struggle.
You can love motherhood and miss your old life.
You can love your baby and still need help.
If pregnancy, childbirth, or becoming a mother has left you feeling anxious, depressed, overwhelmed, disconnected, or unlike yourself, therapy can give you a place to work through what you are experiencing.
Victress, A Wellness Center for Women provides postpartum and maternal mental-health therapy throughout Illinois through telehealth, with in-person services available in Palos Heights.
Ready to Get Started?
Complete our secure intake form and our team will review your information and help identify appropriate scheduling options.
You may also view available appointments and request a time through our online scheduling portal.
Postpartum therapy is available to clients throughout Illinois through telehealth, subject to clinician availability and clinical appropriateness.