Psychotherapy for life transitions, (in)fertility, pregnancy, and early parenthood
In person in San Francisco. Virtual throughout California.
Libby Orrick, LMFT, PMH-C
Many of the women I work with tell me, at some point, that they feel like they’re failing.
They are used to being able to think, plan, perform, and push through most things in life. Then they reach a period of transition when the tools and strategies they have relied on stop working.
Relationships, work, fertility, pregnancy, motherhood, and your sense of self can all shift in ways that expose the limits of control. You may find yourself facing uncertainty, competing needs, and physical or emotional limits that cannot be white-knuckled through or optimized away. Some decisions have no perfect, or even good, answer. The systems you have spent years developing may suddenly feel poorly suited to the life you are actually living.
You do not arrive at these moments as a blank slate. Your history comes with you. So do the ways you have learned to cope, the relationships that shaped you, and the expectations you carry for yourself. At the same time, there are often powerful ideas about how this stage of life is supposed to look or feel. The reality may be far more complicated.
It can be disorienting when a life you chose, wanted, or worked hard to build doesn’t feel the way you thought it would. Sometimes something is wrong and needs attention. Sometimes the difficulty comes from living through uncertainty, grief, responsibility, or limits that have no solution. Part of therapy is figuring out which is which.
My work is to help you understand what is actually happening and separate what is yours from what has been imposed, absorbed, or inherited. From there, we can identify what can be changed and what needs to be understood, accepted, or approached differently. Together, we can make sense of the patterns shaping your experience and build ways of responding that fit the person you are and the life you have now.
If this feels familiar, you can schedule a consultation below.
Specialty areas
Fertility & Family Building
Fertility can bring cycles of hope and grief, medical trauma layered with emotional trauma, and strain on your identity, relationships, and sense of time. It can take over enormous parts of your life while remaining largely invisible to the people around you, making an already difficult experience especially lonely.
Pregnancy & Postpartum
Anxiety, depression, intrusive thoughts, identity shifts, relationship strain, body changes, returning to work, or the persistent sense that you should be handling this better than you are. Pregnancy and new parenthood can be deeply meaningful while also being psychologically, physically, and relationally demanding.
Birth Trauma & EMDR
Birth experiences do not always line up with expectations. Birth trauma can show up as intrusive memories, rumination, avoidance, guilt or shame, or feeling disconnected from your body. EMDR can help process what remains stuck so the experience no longer feels as though it is still happening.
Ways we can
In person in Cow Hollow
Virtual throughout California
Walk-and-talk sessions in the Presidio, when clinically appropriate
In-home sessions for newly postpartum families in San Francisco and parts of Marin, depending on availability
Fees
Individual sessions: $250 for 50 minutes
Conjoint couples sessions: $325 for 75 minutes
I am out of network with insurance and can provide superbills for potential reimbursement. HSA and FSA funds may also be used when eligible.
A limited number of reduced-fee spots are available.
Let’s connect
I offer free 15-minute consultation calls to see if we’re a good fit. We’ll talk about what is bringing you to therapy, what working together might look like, and any questions you have.
If I’m not the right fit, I’m happy to help connect you with other excellent therapists in the Bay Area.
Email me at connect@libbyorrick.com or use the link below to schedule a consultation.