Tending to the joy and grief of pregnancy, giving birth, and becoming a parent.
You are invited to join a group to support your journey through pregnancy and the early parenting.
Is this group for you?
You are a birthing / gestational parent.
You may be pregnant again or for the first time, newly postpartum, or you may have a young child. You may also be pregnant again after giving birth early in the pandemic.
You may have had a miscarriage or stillbirth and are pregnant again.
You feel unseen in your birth / postpartum experience and would benefit from sharing your story and hearing the stories of other gestational parents.
You may have lost a parent or other loved one, and the loss of this person is very present in their perinatal experience .
You feel grief and/or anger from a previous pregnancy or birth experience.
You feel others simply don’t understand what you’re going through.
You desire more support and connection to others who can share this experience of change.
Your experience feels different from the way dominant culture depicts pregnancy and early parenting.
You feel the call to join in a community of other gestational parents who long to get to the heart of it.
Becoming a parent evokes uncertainty, grief, and wonder. The perinatal period often resurfaces personal histories, while unexpected events like birth trauma or the pandemic further shape this experience. The work of this transition is to share these experiences, nourish belonging among others who are crossing this threshold, and integrate past and present losses.
Our group formed from the confluence of birth and grief energy arising for birthing parents during the pandemic, and out of great need for community and connection for all birthing parents across time and circumstances.
Here are the themes we explore together:
-
We begin and end each session with basics practice, building a skillset of noticing. This is in service of building a centering practice we can draw on in moments of intensity, uncertainty, or tension.
-
This is a space where we seek to engage in transformative work that relies on vulnerability and courage. This takes time and care. We value connection and relationship over urgency, for without a sense of trust, we are unable to imagine and create new possibilities.
* moving at the speed of trust is an idea developed by adrienne maree brown in her book emergent strategy
-
We center care, ease, and pleasure in our group process. When there is ease, we can do the difficult work of deepening in trust and relationship. As we turn towards presence and embodiment, we cultivate discernment around our capacity and needs.
-
“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, [...] don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.” - Don’t Hesitate by Mary Oliver
When we experience loss, we can begin to view everything through the lens of not-enoughness. The practice of cultivating pleasure and satiation is in direct relationship with our capacity to feel the depths of loss. Group is a place where we practice being with moments of pleasure and delight in service of letting the good in, of savoring.
-
This is a space where your grief is held in reverence, not as a problem to be solved. We specifically explore experiences of anger, contraction, isolation, sadness, comparison, things you don’t like about parenting, and other emergent experiences.
-
This group specifically addresses experiences of birth trauma. Embodiment practice supports discernment and caring for ourselves and each other when we become triggered or flooded. We value connection, care, and embodiment as an antidote to the fragmentation, perfectionism, and comparison systemic and birth trauma and other traumas can perpetuate.
-
“Our ears need to hear what our mouth has to say.” – Dr. Kenneth Hardy
As our group deepens, we can do difficult things with ease, rather than tension. When there is ease, we can share more fully and receive care from each other. Specific time is set aside for each participant to have the opportunity to share and be witnessed by the group. As each participant shares, the group’s story deepens to hold the multitudes of experiences that connect across singularities.
About Mikaela:
I come from a lineage of people who hunger for creativity, connection, ease, and expression. My work honors these beloved ancestors who lead me to the life-giving work of satiating that hunger.
I was introduced to birth work in 2011 when I was rushed to support someone bringing life into the world at a community health center in Temuco, Chile. I has worked as a doula and perinatal therapist ever since.
My apprenticeship with sorrow * began at the age of twenty two with the passing of my father and brother. These experiences initiated me into a lifelong relationship with grief where I strive to embrace and not resist grief’s medicine, which is a daily practice.
Birth-grief work is nourished by the daily practice of bearing witness to the ebb and flow of change that work on me and the clients I serve. The thresholds of birth and grief have taught me all I know about holding space for the indescribable joy of creation**, uncertainty, letting go, savoring, and pleasure. My practice weaves together these birth-grief teachings.
My ideology is informed by my beloved teacher: K Williams of the Discovery Initiative, and by the thought leadership of Audre Lorde, Pema Chödrön, adrienne maree brown, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Francis Weller, Mark Nepo, and Dr. Clarisa Pinkola Estés.
* Weller, F. (2015). The wild edge of sorrow: Rituals of renewal and the sacred work of grief. North Atlantic Books.
** Steinbeck, J. (2002). East of Eden. Penguin.
Details for participation:
To apply to participate in Birth, Grief, and Early Parenting, please fill out the questionnaire below. You will then be contacted to schedule your initial interview with Mikaela. A pre-group interview is required: sliding scale $150-200 for 50 min
The next cohort of the group will begin September 18, 2024
On zoom, Wednesdays 1-2:30 weekly
The cost is $85 per session.
Two partial scholarships are available per course. Preference is offered to participants who are Black, Indigenous, people of color, trans or non-binary, and those living with disabilities. Please reach out to apply for a partial scholarship.
The group is limited to eight participants
If you have questions before signing up, you can contact Mikaela at mikaela @ evergreentherapy.co for a 15 min free consultation.