It's 3am. The baby is finally asleep on your chest, and instead of resting, your mind is running through every worst-case scenario. Or it's the middle of the afternoon and you're crying in the pantry, not quite sure why, while everyone tells you to enjoy every moment.
If the weeks and months after your baby arrived feel heavier than you expected, you aren't ungrateful and you aren't failing. You're a new mom carrying a lot on very little sleep. The Motherhood Wellness Center offers virtual postpartum therapy for moms anywhere in Massachusetts, led by Danielle Kornacki, LMHC, PMH-C, a therapist certified in perinatal mental health through Postpartum Support International and a mom of two herself.
Postpartum Depression and Anxiety Are More Common Than You Think
Postpartum Support International reports that about 1 in 5 moms and dads have depression or anxiety symptoms in the first year after a baby arrives, and the real number is likely higher, because so many parents never say it out loud.
It rarely looks like the movies. It can look like snapping at your partner over the dishwasher, feeling flat when you expected to feel everything, or lying awake listening for breathing long after the baby is fine. Grateful and overwhelmed. Surrounded by people and still lonely. Both can be true at once.
Postpartum Depression and Anxiety
What It Can Feel Like
Postpartum depression can look like sadness most of the day, crying that comes out of nowhere, losing interest in things you used to love, feeling numb or disconnected, or thinking your baby would be better off with someone else. Those thoughts are symptoms, not facts about who you are as a mother.
Postpartum anxiety often shows up as constant worry, racing thoughts, a tight chest, trouble sleeping even when the baby sleeps, or checking on the baby again and again. Some moms have both, and some have one without the other.
Therapy can help. We use approaches with strong research behind them, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), shaped around your real days with a newborn.
Did You Know?
The baby blues, those teary, up-and-down days many moms feel in the first two weeks, usually ease on their own. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, mood changes that are more intense or last longer than two weeks may be a sign of postpartum depression. And it isn't only the early weeks: symptoms can show up anytime in the first year, including after weaning or going back to work. For a closer look, read our post on baby blues vs. postpartum depression.
Intrusive Thoughts & Postpartum OCD
Many new moms have sudden, unwanted thoughts or images of something bad happening to their baby, like a fall down the stairs or an accident in the bath. They feel awful, so most moms keep them to themselves.
Here's what matters: when a thought like this horrifies you, that reaction is a hallmark of anxiety and postpartum OCD, not a sign of who you are or what you want. In therapy, we use exposure and response prevention (ERP) and CBT to help you understand these thoughts, stop fighting them in ways that make them louder, and loosen their grip, gently and at your pace.
When Bonding Feels Hard or Disconnected
Not every mom feels instant love. Sometimes bonding is quiet and gradual, especially after a hard birth, a NICU stay, postpartum depression or months of exhaustion. That doesn't mean something is wrong with you or your baby.
Together, we'll notice the small moments of warmth that are already there and build on them with low-pressure ways to connect, like skin-to-skin, a song at bath time, or simply watching your baby's face during a feed, without guilt about how it "should" feel.
NICU Stress and Medical Complications
A NICU stay can turn the first days of motherhood into alarms, hand sanitizer and hard conversations with doctors. It's common for NICU moms to feel:
Helpless, scared or angry, sometimes all in the same hour
Guilty, even when nothing they did caused this
On high alert long after coming home
Cheated out of the birth and newborn days they'd pictured
Stretched thin between the hospital, home and other children
Unsure how to talk about it with family and friends
No mom should carry the NICU experience alone. What you went through was real, and it deserves care, whether your baby came home last week or last year.
Birth Trauma & Unexpected Outcomes
Birth trauma can happen when labor and delivery involve an emergency C-section, severe tearing, a hemorrhage, a baby who needed urgent care, or feeling unheard or out of control. It can also happen when, on paper, everything went fine.
Afterward, you might replay what happened, avoid anything that reminds you of it, feel jumpy or numb, or dread the idea of another pregnancy. That's a normal response to a frightening experience, and it can ease with the right support. We use trauma-informed, body-based tools to help you feel safe again and make sense of your story.
What Postpartum Therapy Looks Like
Postpartum therapy isn't general talk therapy with a baby in the room. It's built around your life right now: broken sleep, feeding schedules, visitors, recovery, and very little time for yourself.
Trauma-Informed, Practical Tools (CBT, ACT, Grounding)
Trauma-informed care means you're in charge of the pace and what we talk about. You'll learn practical skills from CBT and ACT, plus grounding techniques that calm your nervous system in the moment, like during a 2am feed or a wave of panic in the car.
Moving at Your Pace: Safety & Stability First
We start by easing the most intense symptoms and making sure you have support around you. Deeper work, like processing a hard birth or old patterns that motherhood stirred up, can wait until you have more room for it. With your permission, we can also coordinate with your OB, midwife or pediatrician.
Sleep, Routines & Daily Practices That Help
Sleep loss makes everything harder. We can't hand you more hours, but we can help you protect the sleep you do get: planning night shifts with your partner, adjusting feeding or bedtime routines where possible, and small daily anchors like ten minutes of morning light or a short walk.
What You'll Take Away
Postpartum therapy gives you tools that last well beyond your sessions. Along the way, you can expect to build:
Ways to ease the heaviest symptoms of depression, anxiety and intrusive thoughts
Skills to calm your body and mind when panic or overwhelm hits
A clearer, kinder way of talking to yourself about the mom you are
Easier conversations with your partner about sleep, chores and support
A plan for the next big change, like returning to work or weaning
Room to feel more like yourself again
You'll leave each session with at least one clear, doable next step, like asking your partner to take one full night shift this week, or texting a friend back instead of waiting until you feel "better."
Virtual Postpartum Therapy Anywhere in Massachusetts
All sessions happen over secure, HIPAA-compliant video, so there's no childcare to arrange, no diaper bag to pack and no Route 128 traffic between you and support. Many moms join from the couch with the baby napping nearby, and feeding or rocking during a session is completely fine.
We work with moms all over Massachusetts, from Boston, Cambridge and Somerville to Newton, Framingham, Worcester, the North and South Shore, and out to the Berkshires. You just need to be in Massachusetts during your session.
Your first appointment is a 60- to 90-minute intake, and ongoing sessions are typically 50 minutes. We're private pay and out-of-network, we provide superbills you can submit for possible reimbursement, and HSA/FSA cards are accepted. You'll find the details on our sessions and packages page.
Looking for support during pregnancy? Our pregnancy and perinatal counseling is built for that season. If you've been through miscarriage, stillbirth or infant loss, our pregnancy and infant loss support is here for you. And if the division of labor at home is causing friction, our post on sharing the mental load after a baby is a good place to start.
You Don't Have to Do This Alone
Struggling after a baby isn't a sign of weakness or failure. It's a signal that you need more support during one of life's biggest transitions, and that's exactly what we're here for.
A complimentary 15-minute consultation is a low-pressure way to share what's going on, ask questions and see if we're the right fit. Consultations are usually scheduled within one to two weeks.
If you're struggling right now, you don't have to wait for an appointment. The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline is free, confidential and available 24/7 by call or text at 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262). You can also call or text 988 any time. In an emergency, call 911.