447. Perinatal mental health & EMDR with Anne Miller

·1 hr·5 clips

A new mother feels rage at teenage boys driving by, fearing they endanger her newborn.

The episode begins with host Garrett Wood Kuzmeyers introducing the topic of perinatal mental health and sharing her own pregnancy update at 36 weeks. She mentions her recent solo episode about finalizing her birth plan, switching from home birth to hospital midwifery care. Garrett then introduces guest Anne Miller, founder of Ampersand Therapy Co., a licensed social worker specializing in perinatal mental health. Anne shares her background as a farm wife and mother of three, explaining how her career shifted to therapy during the pandemic after her own postpartum experiences. She recounts her postpartum anxiety with her first child, including a specific incident where she felt rage at teenage boys driving by, fearing for her newborn's safety. Anne describes missing diagnosis because standard screeners focused on depression, not anxiety. She discusses the physiological and emotional aspects of postpartum mental health, introducing the hand model of the brain to explain trauma's impact. Anne details how the amygdala triggers fight-or-flight responses and how trauma memories get stuck, leading to anxiety. She explains EMDR therapy as a method to reprocess trauma by moving memories from the emotional brain to long-term storage. The conversation covers accessibility of therapy, with Anne recommending resources like Postpartum Support International, Psychology Today, and Open Path Collective. She advises preparing a support team including therapists and doulas before birth. Anne addresses how past traumas like parental divorce can resurface in new motherhood and discusses managing anxiety during subsequent births. The episode concludes with Anne's parting advice to treat mental health like physical health, requiring ongoing commitment.

As heard by us

A focused conversation on baby blues, hormonal shifts, and the hard-to-name shape of postpartum anxiety.

Postpartum anxiety is framed here as something that can hide in plain sight, even for someone who has prepared carefully for birth. The host recalls meeting nurse practitioners, interviewing doulas, and taking an online doula course, yet still not recognizing how anxious…

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Why you'd press play

Want a clearer way to think about postpartum anxiety when hormone shifts and trauma may both be in the room?

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