Licensed Therapy for Birth Trauma in Canada

Therapy for Birth Trauma After an Emergency C-Section

Gentle, somatic, nervous-system-attuned care for moms across Canada

Want to connect first to see if working together feels like a good fit?

If you’re here, you’re likely smiling on the outside, while privately muting pregnancy posts, replaying your birth at night, shutting down during medical appointments, or pulling away from your partner without fully understanding why.

These are often the signs your body is still carrying what your mind has tried to move past.

Before we dive into talking about therapy, let’s name what you're likely longing for:

You want...

To stop feeling gutted by other people’s birth announcements.
To imagine labour or giving birth again without your whole body going into a trauma response.
To stop wondering if you “failed” as a mom, before you even got started.
To feel calm thinking about getting pregnant again, without immediately spiralling into fear.
To finally be able to say “I gave birth” without flinching.
To be present with your baby instead of stuck in dread, numbness, or overthinking.
To sleep without replaying your birth like a highlight reel of “what ifs.”
To feel close to your partner again- emotionally and physically.
To stop feeling betrayed by your body.
To feel confident advocating for yourself with medical professioals.
To make peace with how your birth unfolded, without forcing yourself to “just get over it.”

None of this is dramatic.

It’s the part of you that knows you deserve healing and postpartum peace.

But even when you know how you want to feel in your day-to-day, there’s what you’re actually living with:

You're likely experiencing...

Feeling alone in your postpartum grief because nobody seems to get it.
Snapping over small things because your system is overwhelmed.
Feeling like a different person than the one you expected to be after birth.
Feeling distant from your partner, and from yourself.
An internal voice saying, “My body failed me.”
The sting when someone says, “At least you have a healthy baby.”
Shutting down or being really good at changing the subject when people ask about your birth.
Feeling a wave of panic anytime someone mentions planning a VBAC (vaginal birth after a cesarean).

There is a reason you feel the way you do:

You’re not broken.
You went through something big.
Your nervous system is still trying to make sense of it.

You need...

A safe place to tell the truth about what happened, without your experience being minimized.
A therapist who actually understands unplanned cesareans and how they land emotionally and somatically.
A nervous-system-aware approach that doesn’t push you before you’re ready.
Support reconnecting with your body instead of bracing and fighting against it.
Tools to calm the spirals, the replays, and the self-blame.
A way to approach future pregnancy or VBAC from a place of clarity, not fear.

Introducing The Cesarean Recovery Roadmap

My Somatic + EMDR therapy framework for healing from birth trauma

In our work together, we'll:

Trace the moments where things shifted, collapsed, or felt like you didn't have agency or a choice.
Gently reprocess the emotional imprints with EMDR so they stop hijacking your body.
Use Hakomi-inspired mindfulness to meet what’s still living inside your system, with compassion, not force.
Help you disentangle from shame and the belief that you failed.
Build internal safety so you can show up more grounded with your baby, partner, and self.
Support you in preparing for future pregnancy or VBAC (if that’s your path) with clarity and confidence.

Relationship-Attuned Support

Because Birth Happens to Your Whole Family

One thing I’ve learned, both personally and professionally, is that an unplanned c-section doesn’t just impact the birthing parent, it affects the unit.

Your partner may not have been on the operating table, but they were in the room watching everything unfold.

And witnessing someone you love go through something terrifying leaves an imprint too.

That’s why my approach includes the option for couples sessions where...

You both get space to share how the birth affected you.
Your partner gets support for what they witnessed, the fear, the helplessness, the “I didn’t know how to help.”
You learn how your nervous systems influence each other in the days and months that followed.
We repair the tiny ruptures that often get ignored: the misunderstandings, the distance, the resentment, the silence.
You both learn how to communicate your needs more clearly, honestly, and safely.
You rebuild connection in a way that honours what you went through together.

Partners often say things like:

“I didn’t realize I was carrying fear too.”

“I didn’t know how to support her without saying the wrong thing.”

“No one ever asked how I was doing.”

These sessions are not about blame.

They’re about creating context, clarity, and compassion, so you’re not navigating postpartum or future pregnancy alone, or from opposite ends of the emotional room.

Birth is deeply relational.

Hi, I’m Jessica. Canadian-licensed therapist, somatic practitioner, EMDR clinician, and mom.

I help women who feel like their unplanned C-section cracked something open in them, and not in a poetic, spiritual-awakening way…

More like in a “I don’t recognize myself and I don’t know where to put this pain” kind of way.

I get this work deep in my bones because I lived my own version of it.

Becoming a mother in 2020 via an emergency c-section, changed me.

And it’s part of why I care so deeply about the spaces where mothers don’t feel seen, validated, or honoured after experiencing birth trauma.

My approach weaves:

EMDR - to process what got stuck, without re-traumatizing you
Hakomi somatic mindfulness - gentle awareness, body-first, pressure-free
Nervous system attunement - because healing doesn’t come from hustling your way through your feelings
Respect for your inner wisdom - you’re not broken; your body just adapted to something overwhelming

I support clients in the Canadian Provinces of:
BC, AB, SK, MB.

Here’s what clients often describe after doing this work:

“I feel like I can breathe again.”
“I’m not waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“I can talk about my birth without shutting down.”
“Medical appointments don’t send me spiraling anymore.”
“I feel closer to my baby, my partner, and myself.”
“Intimacy feels safe again.”
“I don’t feel like my scar defines me.”
“I’m actually imagining another pregnancy without panic.”
“I finally stopped blaming myself.”
"I'm ready to plan for a VBAC."

These shifts are possible for you too.

Healing can help your nervous system soften, your emotions feel more manageable, and your sense of self feel clearer and more connected, even as motherhood reshapes you.

So what do next steps look like?

If you're ready to jump in and get started, you can book a consult or initial session by clicking below.

Click here to book

or, if you have some questions that you'd like to explore before booking a consult, please email me via the button below. I look forward to connecting with you!

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