Can Hypnotherapy help New Parents?

Hypnotherapy is a great therapy for new parents. It’s kind and restorative, but we work hard and get things moving quickly. I’ve worked with parents for over 10 years and I love how effective hypnotherapy can be. Parents tend to do really well with hypnotherapy, because they are highly motivated to make changes quickly so that they can get back to enjoying their family life.

Here are some of the things new parents have come to hypnotherapy for...

Health anxiety

For some health anxiety has always been there in the background. For others, it develops during pregnancy or in the postnatal period. Health anxiety is mangnified when you’re a new mum, because now you have another little person in the mix to be anxious about. It can be so disruptive, stopping you from going out and about, overreacting about germs and cleanliness, making you google every twinge or different cry, leading to you constantly seeking reasurance or making you repeatedly check in with yourself or your baby. It’s exhausting.

Social Anxiety

Everyone talks about ‘building your village’ or ‘getting out for your mental health’ but when you have social anxiety it’s crippling to even think about trying a new baby group or talking to other mums. You compare, you catastrophise, you replay interactions (sometimes ones that haven’t even happened yet). You know being social is good for you and baby, but it feels safer to be hunkered down at home in your own bubble.

This might be something you’ve always struggled with, but it’s comming to a head now you’re a new mum and you’re expected to do and try so many new things. Or it might be that you never experienced social anxiety before, but all of a sudden you feel like a different person and you’ve lost the confidence you did have.

Low Mood and Overwhelm

Even changes that we want and are good can feel overwhelming. When you have a baby EVERYTHING changes and EVERYTHING can suddenly feel overwhelming. We might react by shutting down and feeling low, loosing our excitment for life or feeling more rage and resentment. This can be so hard and lots of mums I work with ask themselves if they’ve made a mistake or if they’re cut out for being a mum at all. But please consider what a huge adjustment you’re going through, you may have been in a busy job managing people and now you’re changing nappies on repeat and only speak to the postie! Your whole sense of self can be challenged. You may have developed really great stress relieving tools and now you have a baby in your arms 24/7 and they’re just not available to you anymore.

You’re not a bad mum, you just need time, understanding, support and tools to help you get your zest back.

Fears and Phobias

You might have been living with a phobia for ever, but now you’ve got a baby everything has intensified. This is more common than you’d think. Phobias can really come to the fore when you become a new parent. You want to walk with the pram, but you don’t want to meet a dog on the way. You need to be with your baby for their immunisations but you’re scared of needles. You know they’ll get a bug one day, but you can’t stand the thought of sick (emetophobia is a really common one).

Depending on what type of phobia you have they can be relatively easy to treat and once you’ve dealt with them the freedom is wonderful. I’ve had clients donate blood, fly to new countries, drive confidently, swim with their children. It can really open up a new world to you.

Birth Trauma

We call it birth trauma, but it can be anything that happened in the perinatal period. I’ve worked with clients who have had awful IVF experiences, HG or other stress during pregnancy, NICU stays, difficulty breastfeeding or trauma during their actual birth.

Trauma can show up in a variety of ways, you might re-experience the events, find it difficult to bond with baby, find separation from your baby difficult, notice mood changes, be more on guard or anxious than usual or avoid certain triggers.

Trauma is so much more than what happened, it’s how you were cared for, what you understood to be happening, how the people around you communicated and whether you felt safe in the environment.

There is a perception that if you have experienced trauma you will need years of therapy to heal. But Hypnotherapy can work quickly giving you back precious time with your family.

Hypnotherapy for parents

If you recognise yourself or a friend or family member in any of these categories (you might fit into more than one), and you would like support to move forwards then get in touch, I offer a free consultation, in person in Peterborough or online. You can contact me here…