Therapy and the Postpartum Woman Notes on Healing Postpartum Depression for Clinicians and the Women Who Seek their Help

This bookprovides a comprehensive look at effective therapy for postpartum depression. Using a blend of professional objectivity, evidence-based research, and personal, straight-forward suggestions gathered from years of experience, this book brings the reader into the private world of therapy with the postpartum woman. Based on Psychodynamic and Cognitive-Behavioral theories, and on D.W. Winnicott's "good-enough mother" and the "holding environment" in particular, the book is written by a therapist who has specialized in the treatment of postpartum depression for over 20 years. Therapy and the Postpartum Woman will serve as a companion tool for clinicians and the women they treat.

Part I: The Framework: Women, Babies and Therapy. Masquerade: Clinical Profile. Everything Gets in the Way: Resistance. Don’t Call it Therapy: Reframing. Anatomy of a PPD Therapist. The Holding Environment. Making a Diagnosis. The Voice of Depression. Therapeutic Models for Women at Risk. Perfectly Postpartum. Part II: The Tools: Doing what works. Initial Assessment: The Phone Call. First Things First. Screening: Are We Asking the Right questions? Assessment: Listening to Symptoms. Collaboration. Sharing the Session. Medication: Clinician’s Perspective. Medication: Client’s Perspective. Alternative Therapies. Part III: The Work: Clinical Challenges. Scary Thoughts. Help-Resistant Complainer. A Good Girl. Breastfeeding to Death. Countertransference: When is Yours, Mine? Sleeplessness. The Married State. Bonding. Suicidal Thoughts. Psychosis. Motherself. Prevention? Burnout, Boundaries and Other Pitfalls. Part IV: The Healing. The Umbilical Factor. The Bracelet. Therapy Exposed. Finding the Power to Heal. Recovery Revealed. The Search for Meaning. The Quintessential Mother. Appendix.

Karen Kleiman, MSW, Licensed, Clinical Social Worker, author of This Isn’t What I Expected, The Postpartum Husband and What Am I Thinking? has been working with women and their families for over 20 years. A native of Saint Louis, MO., Karen has lived in the Philadelphia area since 1982 with her two children and her husband. In 1988 she founded The Postpartum Stress Center where she provides treatment for prenatal and postpartum depression and anxiety.