NICU Parent Therapy & Support in California & Arizona

You’re carrying more than most people know.

As a therapist specializing in NICU parent support with over a decade of experience in Medical Social Work working closely with families navigating the challenges of the neonatal intensive care unit, I deeply understand the emotional and mental toll this journey takes. Whether your baby arrived prematurely, is facing a diagnosis like Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE), or requires advanced life-saving interventions such as ECMO, you are in an incredibly difficult and uncertain place. You may also be caring for a child with complex medical conditions like Trisomy 21 or other rare genetic diagnoses.

The NICU experience can feel overwhelming, isolating, and disorienting. As a parent of a medically fragile newborn, you are carrying heavy emotional burdens such as fear, exhaustion, and anxiety. At the same time you are expected to advocate, make high-stakes decisions, and manage day-to-day life while holding onto hope.

Your story matters

For over ten years I worked bedside in the NICU at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, one of the nation’s top Level 4 NICUs. I have held tiny hands through moments of hope and heartbreak, learned the language of medical jargon and machines, and witnessed firsthand how every second can feel like a lifetime.

I understand how overwhelming it is to live minute by minute, riding the emotional rollercoaster that never seems to pause. I know the gut-wrenching pain of leaving your baby’s bedside and returning home to an empty crib. I see how exhausting it is to be strong for your child while trying to hold space for your own fears and grief.

Your experience is deeply personal and profoundly challenging but you do not have to face it alone. Your story matters, every emotion you feel is valid, and I am here to walk with you offering compassionate support tailored specifically for NICU parents like you. Together we can find a path toward healing, hope, and strength.

You don’t have to carry this on your own

Whether you're still in the thick of it or months, or even years out, the weight of the NICU experience can live on in your nervous system, in your body, and in your day-to-day life.

You may be holding so much: the fear, the grief, the hypervigilance, the medical language that still loops in your mind. You may be juggling deep gratitude and profound disorientation, and feeling guilty for even saying that out loud. That push-pull is real. And you don’t have to navigate it alone.

This work is personal to me. With over a decade of experience in NICU and perinatal mental health care, I offer trauma-informed, somatic, and EMDR-based support tailored specifically for NICU parents. You don’t have to explain the acronyms or medical milestones. You can bring your full story—raw, messy, and real.

This is a space where you don’t have to hold it all together. Where your experience is seen. Where your healing can begin.

What Healing Can Look Like

You deserve care that deeply understands both the medical realities and emotional complexities of the NICU journey. Here’s what our work together might include:

  • EMDR therapy to gently process trauma from birth complications, NICU procedures, or ongoing medical stress

  • Somatic tools designed to calm your nervous system and help you reconnect with your body after overwhelming NICU experiences

  • A safe, nonjudgmental space to grieve losses, face fears, and navigate the profound identity shifts that come with parenting a medically fragile newborn

  • Support tailored for NICU parents during the stay and beyond — including healing from medical PTSD, coping with caregiving burnout, or navigating pregnancy after a NICU experience

  • Flexible virtual or in-person sessions available for California and Arizona residents

Together, we will create a compassionate space where you can heal at your own pace and reclaim hope and strength.