NICU Parent Therapy in San Diego, California & Arizona

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Close-up of a baby's hand being held by their mother in the NICU

You’re carrying more than most people know

As a therapist who specializes in NICU families and a former Medical Social Worker with more than a decade of experience in neonatal intensive care settings, I deeply understand the emotional weight of this journey. Whether your baby arrived prematurely, is facing a diagnosis such as Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy, or requires advanced life-saving interventions like ECMO, you are living through an incredibly intense and uncertain time. You might also be caring for a child with complex medical conditions such as Trisomy 21 or another rare genetic diagnosis.

The NICU experience can feel overwhelming and disorienting. You may be moving between fear, exhaustion, hope, and grief in the span of a single hour. You are asked to advocate, absorb medical information, make high-stakes decisions, and keep showing up in your daily life, all while your heart is stretched beyond what you ever imagined.

Your story matters

For ten years, I worked bedside in the Level IV NICU at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, one of the highest acuity NICUs in the country. I have held tiny hands during moments of hope and heartbreak. I have listened to the steady hum of monitors and learned the language of medical teams and complex care. I have seen how a few seconds can feel like an eternity when everything is unknown.

I understand the exhaustion of living minute to minute, never knowing what the next update will bring. I know the ache of returning home to an empty crib. I have watched parents carry bravery they never asked for. And I know how hard it is to hold space for your child while trying to hold space for your own emotions.

Your experience is deeply personal and profoundly challenging. You do not have to go through this alone. Your feelings are valid. Your grief, fear, and uncertainty deserve a place to be held with care. I am here to walk with you and provide support that is tailored specifically for NICU parents. Together we can create a path that holds both your strength and your grief.

Your Nervous System Remembers

Whether you are still in the NICU or months or years past discharge, the emotional impact of that season can live on in your nervous system and shape how you move through the world.

You may be carrying medical memories that replay in your mind. You may feel both grateful and disoriented at the same time. You may feel afraid to relax or unable to stop scanning for danger. Some parents recognize what they are experiencing as NICU-related PTSD or anxiety. Others just know something feels off and has for a long time. You may feel guilty for still struggling when others think you should be relieved or grateful. All of this is real and understandable.

This work is personal to me. With more than a decade of NICU and perinatal mental health experience, I offer trauma-informed, somatic, and EMDR-based therapy designed specifically for NICU parents. You will not need to explain medical terminology or what certain machines do. You can bring your full story, exactly as it is.

This is a space where you do not need to be strong every moment. A space where your experience is seen. A space where healing can begin. For NICU parents ready to go deeper, EMDR intensives offer a concentrated format designed specifically for this kind of trauma. Some clients also explore ketamine-assisted EMDR for processing experiences that feel especially difficult to reach.

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What Healing Can Look Like

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You deserve support that understands both the medical realities and the emotional layers of the NICU journey. Therapy may include:

  • EMDR therapy for birth trauma

  • NICU trauma, NICU PTSD, NICU anxiety, and medical stress.

  • Somatic tools that help calm your nervous system and reconnect you with your body.

  • A safe, compassionate place to grieve, process fear, or make sense of the identity shifts that come with this experience.

  • Support for life during and after the NICU, including caregiving burnout, emotional fatigue, and parenting a medically complex child.

  • Guidance and support if you are navigating a new pregnancy after a NICU experience. Virtual or in-person sessions for residents of California and Arizona.

Together, we will create a space that honors your story, supports your healing, and helps you find your footing again, at your own pace.

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Common Questions About NICU Trauma Therapy

  • No. Many clients come to me months or even years after their NICU experience. The nervous system holds onto trauma long after discharge, and healing is possible at any stage.

  • Sessions are tailored to where you are. We may use EMDR to process specific memories, somatic tools to calm your nervous system, or simply create space for grief and fear that has had nowhere to go. You set the pace.

  • Yes. EMDR is one of the most effective evidence-based treatments for trauma, including the kind of acute, prolonged stress that NICU parents experience. It works by helping your brain reprocess distressing memories so they lose their emotional charge.

  • Yes. For parents who want to go deeper in a concentrated format, EMDR intensives are available in person in San Diego and virtually across California and Arizona. Learn more about EMDR intensives.

  • Yes. I offer virtual therapy throughout California and Arizona, so you can access support wherever you are, whether that is from home, from a hospital waiting room, or bedside in the NICU.