Birth Trauma Therapy for Healing After a Difficult or Traumatic Birth
If your birth experience left you feeling scared, powerless or like everything changed in an instant, you’re not alone. Birth trauma therapy can help you work through feelings you had of being out of control, unheard or afraid for yourself or your baby. Virtual therapy across Texas with Caitlin Senger, LPC, PMH-C.
Certified in Perinatal Mental Health (PMH-C) | Advanced Training in EMDR | Virtual Therapy Across Texas | Free 15-Minute Consultation
What is Birth Trauma?
Birth trauma is the emotional impact of a birth that felt frightening, overwhelming, violating or outside of your control. It can happen after a medical emergency, unexpected intervention, complications or a difficult delivery. It can also come from feeling unheard, dismissed, unsupported or powerless during your care.
Birth trauma isn’t only about what happened medically. It’s also about how the experience felt to you. You can have a healthy baby and still feel deeply affected by your birth.
After a traumatic birth, you might experience anxiety, intrusive memories, nightmares, anger, grief, guilt, difficulty trusting medical providers or fear about another pregnancy or birth. You may find yourself replaying what happened or wishing you could go back and do something differently.
And you don’t have to minimize your experience because “everyone is okay.” Your feelings about your birth matter too. Therapy can help you process what happened and work through the parts of the experience that are still affecting you.
Signs You May Be Experiencing
Birth Trauma
Birth trauma doesn’t always look the way you might expect. You may have had a medically complicated birth or you may have felt completely terrified during an experience that others saw as “normal.” Sometimes it’s not just what happened, but how powerless, unheard or unsafe you felt while it was happening. You don’t have to feel traumatized “enough” to deserve support. If your birth experience is still affecting you, it’s worth talking about.
You might be experiencing birth trauma if you:
Keep replaying your birth or find yourself thinking about it often
Have upsetting memories, images or nightmares about what happened
Feel anxious when you think about the birth or future pregnancies
Avoid talking about your birth experience
Feel angry, disappointed or like your experience was taken away from you
Feel disconnected from your body, your baby or yourself
Keep wondering what could have gone differently or blaming yourself for what happened
Feel like no one really understands what it was like for you
Feel especially anxious around doctors, medical procedures or anything that reminds you of the birth
Feel afraid for your safety or your baby’s safety
Notice that what happened is affecting your sleep, relationships, parenting or you ability to be present and enjoy life
How Birth Trauma Therapy Can Help
Birth trauma can affect so many parts of your life, from how you feel in your body to how you think about your birth, your baby or having another child. Therapy gives you space to work through what happened and focus on what you want to feel different. Some of the things we may explore include:
Processing what happened: When parts of your birth still feel vivid, upsetting, or unresolved, EMDR therapy can help your nervous system finally file the experience away as something that happened, not something that's still happening.
Rebuilding a sense of safety: If you felt powerless, out of control or afraid for yourself or your baby, therapy can help you reconnect with a sense of safety and control.
Reconnecting with your body: Birth can change how you experience and relate to your body. We can work toward feeling more comfortable and connected to yourself again.
Working through medical trauma: Unexpected interventions, complications, procedures or feeling unheard by your medical team can leave a lasting impact. Therapy can help you process those experiences.
Preparing for another pregnancy or birth: If you’re pregnant again or thinking about another baby, we can work through fears about what might happen and help you feel more prepared for what comes next.
Finding yourself again: Trauma can take up a lot of space. Therapy can help you feel more present, grounded and connected to the parts of yourself that may have felt lost along the way.
Meet Caitlin Senger, LPC, PMH-C
Hi, I’m Caitlin! If your birth experience was difficult, frightening, unexpected, or left you feeling like you haven’t quite been yourself since, you’re in the right place. You don’t have to minimize what happened just because your baby is healthy or because others think you should be “over it” by now.
I’m a Perinatal Mental Health Certified (PMH-C) therapist through Postpartum Support International with specialized training in pregnancy, postpartum and the transition into parenthood. I also have advanced EMDR training to support clients working through birth trauma, difficult medical experiences and the emotional aftermath of birth.
Birth trauma therapy is very personal to me. I’ve lived through infertility, pregnancy loss, pregnancy after loss, birth trauma and the transition into parenthood myself. My lived experience sits right alongside my clinical training in every session.
Credentials
Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), State of Texas, License #85043
Advanced Training in EMDR
Certified in Perinatal Mental Health (PMH-C) through PSI
Lived Experience
Training & Credentials
I am a Perinatal Mental Health Certified (PMH-C) therapist through Postpartum Support International, a certification that reflects advanced training in supporting mental health during pregnancy, postpartum and the reproductive journey.
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in Texas (LPC #85043). I have completed advanced EMDR training through EMDRIA.
Online Birth Trauma Therapy Across Texas
After a difficult or traumatic birth, even making it to another appointment can feel overwhelming. You may be exhausted, caring for your baby, and still trying to make sense of what happened. You shouldn’t have to add a drive across town, childcare, and a waiting room to the mix just to get support.
I offer online birth trauma therapy across Texas, including Austin, Dallas, Houston, and communities throughout the state. Virtual sessions allow you to process your birth experience from a place where you feel comfortable, without having to leave home.
Your baby can be nearby during our sessions. You can feed them, hold them, or take a break when you need to. There’s no need to have the perfect setup or wait until life feels more manageable.
Getting Started with Birth Trauma Therapy
1
Free 15 Minute Consult
We'll talk about what brought you here, what you're hoping will feel different and answer any questions you have about birth trauma therapy. You can share as much or as little as feels comfortable and we'll figure out whether working together feels like the right fit.
2
Your First Sessions
The first few sessions aren’t about jumping into the deep end of trauma work. They’re about getting to know you, your story and making sure you feel prepared before we begin processing. We will set goals and explore what therapy will look like together.
3
Ongoing Sessions
Once you're ready, we'll begin processing the memories or experiences you've identified. Most people meet weekly but we'll decide together what makes the most sense for you. There isn't a timeline you have to follow and you never have to move faster than you're ready to.
Fees
15-Minute Consultation
$0
Single Session Therapy
(50 Minutes)
$150
Regular Session or EMDR
(1 Hour)
$170
EMDR Intensive
(2 Hours)
$340
*Most clients at Cosmic Daisy pay privately. This means no mental health diagnosis on record, no insurance dictating your sessions and complete confidentiality. I'm in-network with Curative & Employer Health Network (EHN). I can provide superbills for all other insurance plans.
Frequently Asked Questions About Birth Trauma Therapy
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Birth trauma is the emotional or psychological distress that can happen when a birth experience feels frightening, overwhelming, unexpected or outside your control. It can involve medical complications, but it can also come from feeling unheard, powerless, unsafe or afraid for yourself or your baby.
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You may be experiencing birth trauma if you continue to feel distressed by your birth experience, have upsetting memories or nightmares, avoid reminders of what happened or feel anxious, angry, disconnected or unsafe. You may also find yourself replaying the experience or wondering what could have gone differently.
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Yes, you can experience birth trauma even when your baby was healthy and there were no lasting medical complications. Trauma is not determined only by the outcome. Feeling terrified, powerless, uninformed by medical staff or afraid for yourself or your baby can leave a lasting emotional impact.
You can be deeply grateful that your baby is okay and still be struggling with what happened to you.
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You can reach us anytime via our contact page or email. We aim to respond quickly—usually within one business day.
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Yes, birth trauma can lead to PTSD especially when you experienced intense fear, helplessness or felt that you or your baby were in danger. You may experience intrusive memories, nightmares, avoidance, anxiety or a sense that you’re still not fully safe after the birth.
Not every traumatic birth leads to PTSD and you don’t need a PTSD diagnosis for your experience to deserve support.
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Birth trauma therapy can help you process what happened, work through the fear and helplessness that may still be present and reduce the emotional intensity related to your birth experience. I often use EMDR to help process birth trauma, while tailoring therapy to what feels most helpful for you.
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Yes, birth trauma can continue to affect you years after giving birth even if you initially felt okay or thought you had moved past it. Symptoms may resurface during another pregnancy, a subsequent birth, medical appointments or when something unexpectedly brings your birth experience to mind.
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Yes, birth trauma can affect how you experience a future pregnancy, sometimes bringing up fear, anxiety, hypervigilance or a strong need to feel more in control. You may worry about the same thing happening again, feel anxious about medical care or struggle to feel excited about another pregnancy. Therapy can help you process the previous experience and feel more prepared and supported as you move through another pregnancy.
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Yes birth trauma therapy can be covered by insurance, we are in network with Curative and Employer Health Network (EHN). We provide superbills for out-of-network reimbursement and are an approved Texas Education Freedom Account (TEFA) provider for eligible teens and their families. Contact us to learn more.
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Yes, I offer online birth trauma therapy throughout Texas, including Austin, Dallas, Houston and communities across the state. Virtual therapy allows you to work through your birth experience from home without adding a commute, waiting room or childcare logistics to an already full season of life.
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The best birth trauma therapist for you is someone who has experience with trauma, perinatal mental health and specifically birth trauma experience. It’s also important to find someone you feel comfortable with especially if your experience involved feeling unheard, powerless or unsafe.
A consultation can give you a chance to see how it feels to talk with them before deciding if you want to work together.