The Postpartum Depression Workbook

Powerful strategies and compassionate support for overcoming postpartum depression Becoming a mother is a huge transition. For some, the mood swings, the pressures, and the anxiety can be intense and overwhelming. One in five women will develop postpartum depression (PPD) after pregnancy--so if you're struggling with PPD, know you're not alone. This depression workbook is designed to help you navigate the transition to becoming the healthy and happy parent you want to be. This depression workbook is here to guide you on your journey, providing supportive strategies and tools grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)--proven to help you understand, cope with, and reduce your PPD symptoms. Discover common signs of PPD, what it is, and what you can do about it. Explore your thoughts, feelings, and relationships, plus self-care practices through a variety of practical and insightful exercises in this depression workbook. This depression workbook includes: Primer on PPD--Discover if you might have PPD, take a look at common causes and risk factors, and see how PPD can impact your partner. Lasting relief--The CBT-based postpartum strategies in this depression workbook will help you adopt a positive mindset, improve your mood, deepen your relationships, and find time to recharge. Moms like you--Find kinship in real-life scenarios from other parents, paired with practical advice, simple tips, and interactive exercises. This depression workbook provides the strategies, tools, and support you'll need for a healthy and happy transition into parenthood.

“I thought I was the only one...” After she gave birth to a bouncing baby girl, Sandra Poulin felt like crying. And she did—for months. But they weren’t happy tears—Sandra felt worthless, could hardly sleep, and had thoughts of death. Like too many mothers around the world, Sandra had no idea that this common but baffling condition had a name: Postpartum Depression... “Shouldn’t this be the happiest time of my life?” What kind of mother, some might wonder, could feel depressed after having been so richly blessed with a baby? The answer: every kind, women from all walks of life, from all over the world, younger and older. And here, in a unique collection, are their stories of battles with PPD, with intimate details about the symptoms, the struggles, and the strategies that helped them emerge victorious. Written by mothers, for mothers, this collection is an uplifting, enlightening—and perhaps even lifesaving—book.

If these thoughts seem to be permanent fixtures in your mind, you're in good company. New moms have a lot to be anxious about, and it's perfectly natural to have some fears during and after pregnancy. The problem is, anxiety can grow, disrupting your daily life and keeping you from enjoying motherhood. The Pregnancy and Postpartum Anxiety Workbook provides proven-effective strategies drawn from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for keeping anxious thoughts at bay and getting back to the productive and positive thinking you've been missing. Through a series of easy exercises and worksheets, you'll learn skills for relaxing yourself when you feel stressed. You'll also learn to reduce the frequency and intensity of anxious feelings many pregnant women and mothers of infants face. The book also includes a chapter that offers tips to help fathers understand and support their partners. How I wish I'd had this book when I suffered from postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder! Pregnant and postpartum moms need to know that perinatal anxiety disorders are common and treatable, and that there's no need to continue suffering. -Katherine Stone, editor of Postpartum Progress, the most widely-read blog on perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, and board member of Postpartum Support International Wiegartz and Gyoerkoe have adapted the powerful and scientifically proven techniques of cognitive behavioral therapy into tools that new moms and mothers-to-be can use to overcome the most common anxiety-related problems and reclaim this special time of life. -Jonathan S. Abramowitz, Ph.D., ABPP, professor and director of the Anxiety and Stress Disorders Clinic at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

This book provides 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.

This book helps you throughout your pregnancy and postpartum/postnatal recovery. By helping you understand what you are feeling, and teaching you empirically validated new skills so you can manage your changing moods, you can work toward feeling better. Becoming a new parent is one of the biggest changes one can face in life. You are experiencing enormous changes biologically, hormonally, and emotionally. Your whole life may seem uprooted. It makes sense that you might be feeling significant mood changes as well. With one out of five mothers and one out of ten partners experiencing depression and anxiety when having a baby, this workbook will remind you that you are not alone. This workbook is written with sleep-deprived new parents in mind, providing helpful information in short, digestible segments. These are intermixed with thought-provoking activities such as brief journaling prompts and suggestions for tangible steps to make small, realistic changes. You can pick it up and put it down, reading it on your timing, without the information becoming overwhelming. The workbook covers the entire range of mood symptoms, from the Baby Blues, to anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, OCD, and more. The Pregnancy and Postpartum Mood Workbook uses inclusive language and content applicable to all new parents. There are chapters uniquely dedicated to building attachment, managing awful thoughts, bringing awareness to your partner's mental health, parenting babies in the NICU or with medical issues, and exploring culture, identity, and mental health. There is also a resource section with a wide array of support available to meet the needs of any parent. Adoptive and single parents, LGBTQ+ and heterosexual parents, as well as clinicians and birth workers will find this book to be an invaluable resource.

Powerful strategies and compassionate support for overcoming postpartum depression Becoming a parent is a huge transition. For some, the mood swings, the pressures, and the anxiety can be intense and overwhelming. One in five women will develop postpartum depression (PPD) after pregnancy—so if you're struggling with PPD, know you're not alone. This depression workbook is designed to help you navigate the transition to becoming the healthy and happy parent you want to be. This depression workbook is here to guide you on your journey, providing supportive strategies and tools grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)—proven to help you understand, cope with, and reduce your PPD symptoms. Discover common signs of PPD, what it is, and what you can do about it. Explore your thoughts, feelings, and relationships, plus self-care practices through a variety of practical and insightful exercises in this depression workbook. This depression workbook includes: Primer on PPD—Discover if you might have PPD, take a look at common causes and risk factors, and see how PPD can impact your partner. Lasting relief—The CBT-based postpartum strategies in this depression workbook will help you adopt a positive mindset, improve your mood, deepen your relationships, and find time to recharge. Parents like you—Find kinship in real-life scenarios from other parents, paired with practical advice, simple tips, and interactive exercises. This depression workbook provides the strategies, tools, and support you'll need for a healthy and happy transition into parenthood.

Written by two postpartum experts, a definitive guide offering compassionate support and solid advice on dealing with every aspect of Postpartum Depression (PPD). If you or someone you love is among the one in seven women stricken by PPD, you know how hard it is to get real help. This proven self-help program, which can be used alone or with a support group or therapist, will help you monitor each phase of illness, recognize when you need professional help, cope with daily life, and recover with new strength and confidence. Learn how to: Identify the symptoms of PPD and distinguish it from "baby blues" Deal with panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive urges, and stress overload Break the cycle of shame and negative thoughts Mobilize support from your husband or partner, family, and friends Seek and evaluate treatment options Cope with the disappointment and loss of self-esteem

This 2019 edition of Beyond the Blues contains the most current pregnancy and postpartum resources for prevention and treatment of mental health challenges for all parents. Updated information and research about medications, as well as complementary and alternative options are included. Direct and compassionate, it is required reading for those suffering before or after the baby is born and for all professionals working with them. “An indispensable guide to understanding and treating prenatal and postpartum depression. This book is a gift not only to healthcare providers but also to family and friends of mothers suffering from these devastating perinatal mood disorders.” —Cheryl Tatano Beck, DNSc, CNM, FAAN Professor, University of Connecticut, School of Nursing Coauthor of Postpartum Depression Screening Scale “In Beyond the Blues, Bennett and Indman offer a compact yet surprisingly comprehensive manual on prenatal and postpartum depression. Readable and practical, they systematically address screening and assessment, finding a therapist, myths about nursing and bonding, and treatment. Interesting and helpful are suggestions for family and friends. For health professionals, there is detailed diagnostic and treatment information. Beyond the Blues is a quick read with an easy-to-handle format. Recommended for consumer health and health sciences collections.” —Library Journal “This book will be of great help for both women and their health care providers, providing information on all aspects of depression in pregnancy and in the post-postpartum, including safety/risk of medication therapy.” —Adrienne Einarson RN Assistant Director, The Motherisk Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada “Take prenatal vitamins for the baby, but for the long-term health of the mother, this is a must read for both her and her doctor.” —Timothy A. Leach, M.D., F.A.C.O.G. OB/GYN, San Ramon Regional Medical Center, John Muir Medical Center

More than one out of 10 new mothers experience post-partum depression (PPD), yet few women seek help. After Marie Osmond, beloved singer and TV talk show host, gave birth to her seventh child (four of her children are adopted), she became increasingly depressed. One night, she handed over her bank card to her babysitter, got in her car, and drove north-with no intention of returning until she had emerged from her crisis. After she went public with her own experiences with PPD on Oprah and Larry King Live, the response was overwhelming. Now collaborating with a doctor who helped her through her ordeal, Marie Osmond will share the fear and depression she overcame, and reveal how she put it all behind her and is moving on with her life.

For too many families, the postpartum period brings unexpected pain and devastation when depression entered the picture. The anticipated joy and pleasure of parenthood is replaced with feelings of fear, sadness, anger, confusion and resentment. Research has shown that supportive relationships during postpartum depression treatment is associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms. When partners have the right information, they will not only gain a better understanding of the illness and its impact, they will also feel better themselves. Furthermore, we know that this understanding and capacity for support is directly related to his wife's sense of well being and control. In my first book, "This Isn't What I Expected: Overcoming Postpartum Depression" (Bantam, 1994), we included a chapter for husbands, which turned out to be an invaluable resource for the partners of women suffering from PPD. After receiving feedback from the families I treat, I was shown that husbands needed support and information that is distinct from what their wives were seeking. "The Postpartum Husband" offers that information with its handy reference-style format and addresses specific questions that may arise throughout the course of the illness. As the husband feels more in control of the situation and his wife feels understood and cared for, symptoms improve and recovery is augmented.