Perinatal Counselling

Modalities:

Counselling, EMDR, Hypnosis, Gestalt Psychotherapy & Experiential Therapies.

Works with:

• Folks navigating the fertility, prenatal, postpartum and parenting journey.

• Anxiety, fear and stress around pregnancy, birth and beyond.

• Prenatal & Postpartum Anxiety, Depression and Rage.

• Pregnancy termination and loss.

• Birth Trauma.

• Birth workers.

• Specific topics like:

  • Inducing labour

  • Flipping breach babies

  • Birth Debrief/Healing Session (for families and birth workers)

  • Fear Release for labour and birth

What to expect:

• A space where you can heal in a unique way.

• Sessions where we will talk.

• Experiential sessions with exercises specifically created for the topic on hand.

• Sessions with deep relaxation, hypnosis & EMDR.

• A deep understanding of the perinatal period & its challenges.

• A very different experience from CBT/DBT counselling sessions.

Mercedes bases her counselling practice from the belief that every person is the expert of their life and she is a facilitator of the healing process. She believes that we are all unique human beings and we all heal in our own very unique way.

Heidi Meagher has been a social worker since 2009, working in areas related to parenting. She has a BA in psychology, a BSW, and an MSW. Her own experience with perinatal and postpartum mental health led her to obtaining her certification in Postpartum Mental Health (CC-PMH) and Birth and Reproductive Trauma (CC-BRT). She has been providing support to perinatal and postpartum clients since 2022. She is currently finishing her certification in Perinatal Grief and Loss.

Originally from Guysborough County, Heidi moved to ‘the city’ to start attending Dalhousie and has been in HRM ever since. She has lived in Dartmouth since 2013, with her partner, kiddo, and 2 cats. When Heidi is not working or spending time with her family, she can generally be found with a book (or two or three). You can check her out on Instagram (@socialworkerheidi) for perinatal/postpartum book recommendations.

Heidi has training in a variety of therapy modalities and integraties aspects from many of these into her work. These include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Mindfulness, Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS), Feedback Informed Treatment, and Narrative Therapy. She has taken CBT and IFS training specializing in working with perinatal/postpartum clients.

Heidi has experience working with individuals who are striving to become parents, as well as birthing and non-birthing parents, including those who have become parents through adoption and have experienced:

·         Difficult pregnancies including hyperemesis gravidarum and high-risk pregnancies.

·         Fear, anxiety, or stress around pregnancy, birth, or becoming a parent.

·         Physical and/or emotional birth trauma.

·         Prenatal and/or postpartum anxiety, or postadoption anxiety.

·         Prenatal and/or postpartum depression, or postadoption depression.

·         Prenatal and/or postpartum obsessive compulsive disorder.

·         Postpartum rage.

·         Pregnancy termination and loss, including miscarriages, stillbirths, termination for medical reasons, and abortion.

·         Reproductive challenges including difficulty trying to conceive.

What to expect:

·         A client-centred approach that gives you space to be the director of your healing, whether that involves sessions with relaxation and somatic exercises, journaling, art therapy, mindfulness, or talk therapy.

·         Normalizing of your experiences and realizing that you are not alone, and you are not a ‘bad’ parent.

·         A judgement free space.

·         Services in English