Hi! I’m Catharine [she/her].

I am a licensed professional counselor (LPC), certified in Perinatal Mental Health (PMH-C), specializing in perinatal wellness but you might also call me a motherhood transition navigator, a “finding myself again” detective and a fierce work-life balance seeker.

Even on good days, motherhood is challenging. I’ve been there. I wish someone helped me better prepare for the postpartum period the first time around. It takes a village to support a mom and our society lacks that community, so I’m building it! All moms need good support in place for when they feel overwhelmed, when they question if this is what they were meant to do. Sometimes my clients need to process a traumatic event, other clients need someone to listen, I’m here for both.

 I help women through life transitions, mainly those in motherhood, who feel as though they have no idea who they are anymore and long to reclaim their identity. I help women who suddenly don’t feel they are enough in one area [or many] of their life harness their resources and strengths so they can feel empowered. I want you to recognize the woman staring back at you in the mirror, on the rare occasion that you take a moment to peer into the mirror!

I know from my own journey into becoming a mom that motherhood is tough, brutal at times. It’s easy to lose yourself in the process and one day you wake up wondering, “Who am I? Where did time go? (and when is the last time I had a pedicure… or a shower?!) This isn’t anything like I expected. How did I get here and what the heck do I do next?” I help women navigate these stressors which are often accompanied by perinatal emotional complications, so you feel strong, empowered and whole again.

You are NOT alone and you DESERVE wellness. It does get better!

What do I believe?
 

Authenticity- being real with myself, my peers, and you. I am a  therapist but first I am a mom and a wife, all of the above are tough at times!

Affirmation- I welcome clients ready to change & grow, I value cultural and gender identity and love that families come in all shapes and sizes!

Community- It takes a village to nurture a woman. Collaborating with other professionals to support your whole self helps you feel well sooner.

Compassion- I have realistic expectations for you, and want you to feel the same. Your life feels upside-down, self-kindness is essential and deserved.

Humor- When your life looks [and sometimes smells] like a blender with no lid,  we laugh, and cry, and work with it!

Imperfection- Embrace your imperfection! I want you to value your contribution and feel good enough, because you are, just for being you.

Self-Care -It can be so easy to put yourself on the back burner. Part of my work is giving you permission to tend to your nutrition, exercise, stress management, and sleep needs- You deserve an abundant life and wellness.

Invest in the health of your entire family by investing in your own wellness and email about scheduling a first visit. If we’re a good fit I would love to have you come in and we can get started. 

My Path to Perinatal Specialty

I have always known I want to work with birthing families and I knew from a young age I wanted to help moms who were having babies (I did not know what a midwife was as a child!). I found Psychology fascinating but also loved Family Studies- that led to a double major in undergrad. I attended a few different universities but completed both my internships and my Bachelors Degree at Towson University in Baltimore, MD. Approaching graduation I applied to t herapist programs, contemplating Marriage & Family Therapy or Professional Counseling. I toured and loved The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and when I was offered both a generous scholarship and a counseling center assistantship, I knew this was my next step. This nationally ranked program allowed me to study under some of the foundational leaders in Professional Counseling and I was able to study Wellness Counseling, Sexuality Counseling, Couples Therapy, and other electives right in line with how I envisioned my practice one day. I had the opportunity to intern with Pastoral Care at the Cone Health System, dividing my time between Women’s Hospital of Greensboro Antenatal Unit & NICU, the Wesley Long Cancer Center, and Cone Behavioral Health Psychiatric Inpatient. When love brought me back to Connecticut, I volunteered and trained wherever I could to connect myself with the perinatal community, eventually becoming a member of the CT Alliance for Perinatal Mental Health, which would become one of the first state chapters of Postpartum Support International. I am a proud founding member of PSI-CT Chapter and still volunteer with them as I am able today.
I opened Growing Well Counseling initially as a part-time practice, subletting at an amazing midwifery office. These incredible midwives were providing trauma-informed truly patient-centered care, taking their patients’ emotional wellness seriously, and referring to me often. I quickly found that a good portion of their caseload had experienced maltreatment in childbirth or significant birth trauma and were seeing the midwives in search of a better [subsequent] birth. We collaborated often and both of our practices grew quickly. In less than two years I left my full-time job and leased my own office. I furthered my specialty in Birth Trauma, collaborating with Naturopathic physicians, Chiropractors, Acupuncturists, Doulas and Massage therapists helped me further my Integrative Perinatal Mental Health knowledge and experience, and those were among the first topics I began to teach others about.

Perinatal Sex Therapy!?

Over the years I have encountered my clients who have had their sexual wellness impacted by their perinatal experience [or vice versa] and wanted to learn more. I attended an intensive training in sex therapy at The University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, and I was hooked! I needed to learn more! There aren’t many sex therapists trained in perinatal mental health, and there are not many places for perinatal therapists to learn about sex therapy or sexual wellness- what a vast unmet need! Within weeks of completing the Guelph intensive training, I applied to the post-graduate certificate in Sex Therapy at The University of Michigan. While working through my studies there, I have also become a professional member of ISSWSH, The International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health- I love helping clients get to know their bodies better sexually, and connect with their partners intimately around conception, pregnancy, and postpartum. You deserve amazing sex, and I am here to help.

I’ll say it again, you deserve to feel well. Fill out our New Client Inquiry form to get started today.

Certificates & Advanced Training

(some of them!)

Postpartum Support International, Certified in Perinatal Mental Health

Resolve Through Sharing Perinatal Death & Bereavement

American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) Mental Health Course

International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH) Fall Course

University of Michigan School of Social Work Sex Therapy Certificate [in progress]

Fair Play Method Certified Facilitator

On a personal note...

I love my flock of hens and two dogs (nutty German Shepherd and a Silver Lab) and our escapee hamster who is living her best life somewhere in the basement (eek!). I love poking around in my veggie gardens that I sometimes forget to weed, short walks on the beach and long strolls through Target. I enjoy under-rated 90s romantic comedies, food truck delicacies, farmer’s markets, clicking through lofty ideas on Pinterest and might be caught singing along to Kidz Bop, but only occasionally. 

I usually have a latte in hand and if I don't I have one on my mind.  

I live in Eastern Connecticut with my awesome husband, kiddos and above mentioned dogs, hamster, and chickens. I love to vacation late in the summer up north for a cool reprieve and try to soak up every blissful moment of Autumn. If only it could be 55 degrees and vibrantly colorful year-round! 

I have always wanted to support women in some capacity and had a passion for babies and birth. I think I wanted to be a midwife before I knew what one was but in college, psychology and family studies drew me in and I was hooked. I had an incredible professor in undergrad who was living the ideal work-life balance I dreamed of, pursuing clinical work, teaching, and being present with his family- I wanted that! In graduate school I interned at Women’s Hospital of Greensboro on the antenatal unit and in the NICU through the pastoral counseling program, furthering my passion for perinatal support.

On my own motherhood journey, I experienced anxiety as we struggled with fertility [integrative medicine really helped!], and when I had postpartum anxiety myself, it was difficult to find a trained provider- I have always believed that therapy is important and therapists in therapy are most useful to their clients. It shouldn’t have been so hard to find someone who knew about this postpartum stuff! I became a founding member of the CT Alliance for Perinatal Mental Health which then grew into the CT Chapter of Postpartum Support International. After years of additional perinatal training as a student, I now teach other clinicians about Integrative Perinatal Mental Health, Fertility and Loss, Sexual Health, and Birth Trauma.

Through my years in private practice I have also experienced pregnancy complications and loss myself, giving new meaning to the work I do- everyone deserves specialized support during such a unique difficult [often private] time.

Professional Inquiries: Catharine’s Curriculum Vitae here