The best parts about meeting virtually are:

1. Fewer germs are spread!

2. You can be comfy in your own space, or jammies. No judgment!

3. You can walk and talk to get a double dose of self-care!

4. Some people sit in a park, office, or their car for privacy… I’ve seen it all! 🙂

5. You don’t have to pack up your baby or change their routine/nap schedule.

If you live centrally in San Diego and would like to walk and talk at a park together, message me about a session at 8:45-9:45, 11:15-12:15,  or 2:15-3:15.

Since the free app that I recommended for my curriculum guided meditations, Stop, Breathe & Think, went out of business earlier this year, I want to offer some lovely alternatives for you to use instead. I love this simple yet powerful meditation by Janée Johnson. Feel free to read this aloud in the group, which may be more time efficient, or click on the link to access the free audio available on mindful.com

1. Sitting in an upright but relaxed position, drop your gaze or close your eyes. Take a deep breath in and an audible exhale out. Breathing in and breathing out, sitting quietly, free floating, invite your body to relax.

2. When we simply sit and breathe, we activate the body’s calming response. It allows the brain to display the calm, smooth, harmonious waves called alpha brain waves—like the waves of the ocean, coming in to the shore and rolling back out. Coming in and going out. Breathing in and breathing out. Relax.


3. Drop your shoulders, relax the jaw, and unfurl your brow. Allow your mind to float freely until it settles down. Let thoughts come and go as they please.


4. Bring your attention back gently to your breath. Don’t exert yourself trying to block thoughts. Just remain passive and remind your body that we’re sitting now, we’re breathing now, we’re relaxing now. Sit quietly, stay with your breath. Like the waves of the ocean, breathing in, breathing out. Let thoughts fade into the background. Relax. To be still, to be quiet, to be at ease. This is the gift of relaxation.

Thanks @birthshow for amplifying maternal mental health on your show! I had such a blast talking to the host, Christy. It felt like a fun convo, mama to mama. STREAMING NOW! Episode 16

“There’s this physical baby that’s forming and this bump when we’re pregnant and everyone can see that we are physically growing a human but we forget to talk about the psychological gestation of a mother. There are actual milestones just like there are for the baby’s birth for their development and their growth too. And one of the biggest ones is looking back and realizing what messages we’ve received about what it means to be a mother and to really dismantle the myth of the “perfect mother.”
– Ashley Hanna-Morgan, LCSW & Perinatal Mental Health Therapist –
An excerpt from today’s episode of @birthshow

SHOW NOTES:

Ready for a soothing and eye-opening therapy session? Today’s guest is therapist and parental mental health expert Ashley Hanna-Morgan. She tells us her TWO BIRTH STORIES (one with an epidural and one without any pain meds!). And she also shares her own experience with miscarriage, what she learned as a result of her own perinatal mental health struggles and how it changed the trajectory of her career and life.

In this episode Ashley dishes out some truly encouraging and helpful words of advice for all new parents everywhere.

Some topics we discuss include:

Finding a “mom-tribe” and better yet creating a wonderful support group. How to understand and honor ALL of your feelings, no matter what they are. What it’s like to navigate ambivalent feelings and intrusive thoughts. Why people tend to grieve privately when they experience miscarriage and loss. Why being a “perfect mother” is a myth. The realities of parenting a toddler and a newborn at the same time. Some reasons your sex drive might take a dive in the postpartum period and why every new mom needs an artistic outlet in their postpartum journey. PLUS in this episode a “Fun Fact” allllll about what you need to know about how Pitocin works and how it’s different from Oxytocin.

#birthshow#pregnant#pregnancy#laboranddelivery#birthstory#whatnoonetellsyou#mentalhealthawareness#mamalife#momshelpingmoms#podcaststolistento#feministpodcast#postpartumdepression#firsttrimester#secondtrimester#thirdtrimester#expectingmom#truestory#maternalmentalhealth#midwife#obgyn#itsaboy#birthisbeautiful#empoweredmama#womensupportingwomen#birthstorypodcast

As you might have noticed, lately I have been experiencing a lot of personal and professional growth with EMDR therapy integrated into my life and my practice. Several people have asked me what does it feel like? In the words of the founder, Francine Shapiro:

“People have different experiences of EMDR. Some say it is like rapid daydreaming;
some describe it as watching scenery go by from the window of a train; others liken it to
watching a DVD or snapshots in a slide show; some compare it to prayer, active
daydreaming, or meditation. Most people have commented that it is like going into a
painful memory and bringing along the sensation of comfort, like being rocked and
soothed when distressed. Sometimes people cry releasing strong emotions and
sometimes people experience physical sensations as their body releases its sensory
experiences. You always remain in control and able to stop, ask questions, or obtain my
help in figuring out and getting what you need.

Unlike exposure therapy, the experience of EMDR is NOT a moment-by-moment reliving
of a painful life event; instead the traumatic memory links up with positive, useful
information and resources that are also stored in your brain. EMDR creates “dual
awareness” which means that instead of getting fully pulled into a memory, the gentle
buzzing in your hands, eye movements, and auditory tones anchor the mind and body to
stay oriented to the present time and place while simultaneously remembering the
distressing experience. As with all trauma work, EMDR can be emotionally intense. At
all times I will be there to help you know you are safe in my office and to gently coach
you through any difficult parts of the process.

EMDR does not make people forget their painful experiences or stop being sad
sometimes about them; however the memories will become just that: memories. They
will become less upsetting because they will be filed in the brain as something that
happened in the past instead of being relived over and over in the present; you will be
able to recall them but without the painful emotional charge.

Because the part of the brain that communicates in images works faster than the part of
the brain that communicates in words I will encourage you to talk less than traditional
therapy. After each set of bilateral stimulation I will ask you what you are noticing and
then tell you to “go with that”. If at any time you feel overwhelmed or “stuck” please let
me know; there are many things I can do to help.

EMDR works by enhancing your body’s own natural healing processes. It is your brain’s
neural networks and channels of associations that control the EMDR desensitization
process. The bilateral stimulation simply helps you move your own eyes and awareness
back and forth across the midline of your body so that the hemispheres of your brain talk
to each other more efficiently. YOU CANNOT DO EMDR WRONG; everyone’s process
is wonderfully unique.”

The mind is fascinating, isn’t it? 🙂

Whether from childhood or adulthood, during pregnancy, birth, or from postpartum depression and anxiety, or from a recent loss, we all have issues we wish would stop following us around and triggering us. Lately, several moms have asked me about working on past trauma, so I want to share a little bit about EMDR and how transformative it can be.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro, is a research-supported, integrative psychotherapy approach designed to treat symptoms of trauma and posttraumatic stress. EMDR sessions follow a specific sequence of phases, and practitioners use bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements, taps, or sounds, to help the client process unresolved memories from adverse experiences. EMDR can be used to address any number of concerns, and it is compatible with other types of therapy.

The way Dr. Shapiro describes it is fascinating:

“When a disturbing event occurs, it can get locked in the brain with the original picture, sounds, thoughts, feelings and body sensations. EMDR stimulates the information and allows the brain to reprocess the experience. That may be what is happening in REM or dream sleep—the eye movements help to reprocess the associated material. It is your own brain that will be doing  the healing and you are the one in control.”

Bilateral tones or tactile stimulation can have the same effect for people who can’t or don’t want to do the eye movements, and you don’t need to talk about the experience to reprocess it. 

EMDR has been accepted as a the frontline form of treatment for PTSD by the World Health Organization and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. Studies show that it is possible to alleviate emotional and physical distress more rapidly with EMDR than with traditional psychotherapy alone. Trauma symptoms were eliminated for 100% of people who had experienced a single traumatic event and for 77% who had experienced multiple traumas after six 50-minute sessions. Because discussing the details of a traumatic experience is not required in EMDR sessions, the anxiety associated with confronting and revealing those details may be alleviated. Research has also indicated that eye movement is a physiological method of internal desensitization to the emotional reaction to the memory.

EMDR has been found to be deeply healing for parents who have experienced the pain of pregnancy loss, birth trauma, or perinatal mood disorders. Since EMDR begins with teaching self-calming tools–such as the safe/calm place, deep breathing, and visualization techniques–many people are able to process and let go of the trauma they’ve experienced to some degree before even starting with the eye movement reprocessing.

The best way I can describe it from personal and professional experience is that it softens the memory of the traumatic event so that it is less vivid, sharp, intense, or distressing. While it doesn’t erase the memory–and we wouldn’t want that because it is part of our life story that makes us who we are, and makes us stronger in many ways–it does make the memory more fuzzy, distant, and we are able to appropriately respond, rather than feel triggered. It is amazing to see the brain release the memories and file them away, healing itself with its innate capacity to do so.

More posts about some of the calming techniques to come! And for the Dads who experience vicarious trauma, here’s a website geared towards them that they can check out, too!

References:

1. Lee, Gale K, R.N., M.N., Beaton, Randal D, PhD, E.M.T., & Ensign, Josephine, R.N., PhD. (2003). Eye movement desensitization & reprocessing. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing & Mental Health Services, 41(6), 22-31. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/225537073?accountid=1229
2. Shapiro, F., & Laliotis, D. (2011). EMDR and the adaptive information processing model: Integrative treatment and case conceptualization. Clinical Social Work Journal, 39(2), 191-200. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10615-010-0300-7
3. Seidler, G.H. and Wagner, F. E. (2006). Comparing the efficacy of EMDR and trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy in the treatment of PTSD: A meta-analytic study. Psychological Medicine, 36(11), 1515-22. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/204490302?accountid=1229