AFTER A PREGNANCY-RELATED EMERGENCY

Therapy After Preeclampsia and Pregnancy-Related Medical Emergencies

Preeclampsia is a serious and often sudden medical condition. For many women, it involves urgent decision-making, hospitalization, early delivery, and fear for both maternal and baby safety.

Even after medical stabilization, the nervous system may continue to respond as if danger could return at any moment.

This is not a failure to “move on.”
It is a biological response to a real threat.

Common experiences after preeclampsia

Women recovering from preeclampsia often report:

  • Persistent anxiety about blood pressure or physical sensations

  • Replaying moments from hospitalization or delivery

  • Difficulty sleeping or fully relaxing

  • Heightened vigilance around future pregnancies

  • Feeling disconnected from or mistrustful of their body

These experiences are common after pregnancy-related medical trauma.

How postpartum-specialized therapy helps

Therapy with a postpartum mental health specialist supports recovery by:

  • Addressing medical trauma without forcing repeated retelling

  • Helping the nervous system gradually stand down

  • Reducing health-related rumination and fear

  • Supporting decision-making about future pregnancies

  • Rebuilding bodily trust at a pace that feels safe

For some women, therapy alone is sufficient. For others, therapy alongside medical or psychiatric support can be helpful. Any discussion of medication is approached thoughtfully, collaboratively, and with full respect for autonomy.Health anxiety in pregnancy and postpartum

You’re not weak — you’re responding to what happened

Preeclampsia changes how the body understands safety.

With the right support, your nervous system can learn that it no longer needs to stay on constant alert.

How therapy with a postpartum and women’s mental health specialist helps

Working with a therapist who understands women’s health, pregnancy, postpartum physiology, and medical trauma matters.

In our work together, therapy may focus on:

  • Reducing health-related rumination without dismissing real concerns

  • Helping your nervous system shift out of constant alert

  • Rebuilding trust in your body after illness or medical trauma

  • Addressing fear that interferes with pregnancy or family planning

  • Processing medical experiences without re-traumatization

  • Learning to respond to anxiety signals with clarity instead of panic

This is not about “talking yourself out of worry.” It’s about helping your system recover from experiences that genuinely shook your sense of safety.

A thoughtful, respectful approach

I work in a way that is:

  • Trauma-informed and consent-based

  • Grounded in both psychology and physiology

  • Respectful of your intelligence and medical experiences

  • Collaborative—not prescriptive

For some women, therapy alone is sufficient. For others, therapy alongside medical or psychiatric support can be helpful. Any conversation about medication is approached carefully, collaboratively, and with full respect for your autonomy.

You’re not weak—you’re responding to what happened

Health anxiety does not mean you are fragile or incapable. It often means you are someone who has:

  • Lived through uncertainty

  • Carried responsibility for others

  • Experienced a loss of bodily trust

  • Learned how quickly things can change

With the right support, your nervous system can learn that it no longer needs to work this hard.

Begin therapy

I provide therapy for women experiencing health anxiety in Arlington, Virginia and Washington, DC, with a specialization in pregnancy, postpartum, and medical trauma.

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