You were told this would be the happiest time of your life. Instead you are tired in a way that sleep does not fix, crying at things that should not matter, or snapping at the people you love most and then hating yourself for it. Perhaps the worry never switches off, even when the baby is finally asleep and you could be resting too. None of this makes you a bad parent. It means something is happening that has a name and a treatment, and it is far more common than anyone thought to tell you.
- No referral needed, and no waiting list to join
- Start with a free 30-minute assessment
- Therapists registered with the CRPO and the OAMHP
- Appointments in Vaughan, or by secure video anywhere in Ontario
- Ongoing sessions from $100
- Sessions available in English, Russian and Farsi
Is This the Baby Blues, or Something More?
Almost every new parent feels raw and tearful in the first days after a birth. That is the baby blues, and it is not an illness. According to CAMH’s guidance on postpartum depression, the baby blues begin within the first three or four days of giving birth, need no treatment, and lift within a few hours or days. Postpartum depression is a different thing. It runs deeper, it lasts much longer, and it does not lift on its own.
It is also ordinary, in the sense that it happens to a great many people. The 2019 Statistics Canada survey on maternal mental health, run with the Public Health Agency of Canada, found that almost one quarter of mothers who had recently given birth reported feelings consistent with postpartum depression or an anxiety disorder. Those were self-reported screening results rather than clinical diagnoses, so the figure is not a diagnosis rate. What it does show is how many people are quietly having this experience while assuming they are the only one.
The simplest way to tell them apart is time. The baby blues lift on their own. If low mood, dread or numbness is still there a couple of weeks later, and it is there most of the day on most days, that is the point to talk to someone.
What We Help With After a Birth
Postpartum difficulties do not all look like sadness. Some of the most common ones are mistaken for personality flaws, which is exactly why people wait so long to ask for help.
Postpartum Depression
Low mood that does not lift, no interest in things you used to enjoy, guilt that sits on your chest, difficulty bonding with your baby, or a flat numbness where feeling should be. Postpartum depression treatment usually begins with talking therapy rather than anything more drastic. CAMH’s recognised treatments include psychotherapy such as interpersonal and cognitive behavioural therapy, along with supportive counselling. If depression is your main concern more broadly, we cover it in full on our depression therapy page.
Postpartum Anxiety
Constant checking. A racing heart at 3am. Catastrophic thoughts about everything that could go wrong. Anxiety after a birth is easy to dismiss as normal vigilance, and that is part of the problem. A peer-reviewed review of postpartum anxiety research in the International Journal of Women’s Health reports that anxiety disorders are more common in postpartum women than in the general population, with incidence in the first six months ranging from 6.1 to 27.9 per cent, and that treatment rates remain low. The same review notes there is still no anxiety-specific screening routinely used after birth, which is one reason so many people go unrecognised. For anxiety outside the postpartum period, see our anxiety therapy page.
Postpartum Rage
This is the one almost nobody says out loud. A short, hot fuse that comes from nowhere. Slamming a cupboard door. Shouting at your partner over something trivial and then sitting in the bathroom shaking with shame. Rage after a birth is not a character defect and it is not evidence that you should not have become a parent. It is very often anxiety and exhaustion arriving in a different shape, and it responds to the same treatment. If anger is a long-standing pattern rather than something new since the birth, start with anger management instead.
Intrusive Thoughts and Postpartum OCD
Sudden, vivid, horrifying images of your baby being harmed. Compulsive checking that the baby is still breathing. Rituals you know are irrational but cannot stop. These thoughts are frightening precisely because they are the opposite of what you want, and having them does not mean you will act on them. They are a recognised feature of postpartum anxiety and postpartum OCD, and they are treatable. We have written more about intrusive thoughts and when they become OCD, and about OCD therapy more generally.
Birth Trauma
A birth that did not go to plan can leave more than a physical recovery behind. Flashbacks, avoidance of anything that reminds you of the delivery, or a sense of having been frightened and not listened to are all common afterwards, whether or not anyone told you the birth was traumatic. Trauma-informed therapy addresses this directly.
If what you are carrying is a miscarriage, a stillbirth or an infant loss, start with grief and loss counselling, delivered by the same therapists.
The Identity Shift Nobody Warns You About
There is a word for the transition into parenthood: matrescence, coined by the anthropologist Dana Raphael to describe the passage from pregnancy and birth through to the postnatal period and beyond. It is a useful word because it names something real. Grieving the person you were before, feeling invisible, or not recognising yourself is not ingratitude. It is a developmental change, and it is worth talking through rather than pushing down.
When It Starts Before the Baby Arrives
Not all of this begins at the delivery. Depression and anxiety during pregnancy are common and often go unmentioned, because saying you feel low while pregnant carries its own guilt. Clinicians group the whole span, pregnancy through to the first year after birth, under the term perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Prenatal depression, pregnancy anxiety and perinatal depression are all part of that picture, and all of them respond to therapy.
If you are pregnant now and something feels wrong, you do not have to wait until after the birth to be taken seriously.
When to Get Help the Same Day
Most postpartum difficulties are safely worked through in weekly therapy. A small number are urgent.
Postpartum psychosis is rare. CAMH puts it at roughly one to two cases per thousand births. It is a medical emergency. Warning signs include hallucinations, delusions, severe confusion, paranoia, or a sudden burst of energy and agitation with no need for sleep.
If you are having thoughts of harming yourself or your baby, or you are seeing or hearing things other people cannot, do not wait for a therapy appointment.
- Call 911 or go to your nearest emergency department.
- The 988 Suicide Crisis Helpline is available 24 hours a day, by call or by text.
- In York Region, the Community Crisis Response Service can be reached at 1-855-310-COPE (2673), 24 hours a day.
Psychotherapy is not the right tool for a crisis in progress. It is the right tool afterwards, and we can pick things up once you are safe.
101 Psychotherapy – Always caring, always here
How Postpartum Therapy Works Here
Your first appointment is a free 30-minute assessment. It is a conversation, not a form to fill in. You describe what has been happening, we ask some questions, and together we work out whether therapy is the right next step and which of our therapists is the right fit. There is no obligation to book anything after it.
From there, sessions are usually weekly to begin with. Depending on what you are dealing with, your therapist may draw on cognitive behavioural therapy for the thought patterns driving the worry, dialectical behaviour therapy for emotional regulation when everything feels too loud, internal family systems or emotionally focused approaches for the identity and relationship strain, attachment-based work where bonding is the difficulty, or mindfulness and trauma-informed somatic techniques where the distress is sitting in your body.
Babies are welcome in the room. So are partners. Sessions can be in person at our Vaughan office or by secure video, and many people move between the two depending on the week.
Some people find medication alongside therapy is the right combination, and that is a conversation for your family doctor or midwife. The 101 Medical Centre shares our Vaughan location and offers psychiatric care by physician referral, so that pathway is a short walk rather than a new search.
Partners and Fathers Get This Too
Postpartum depression is not confined to the person who gave birth. Partners and fathers develop it as well, and they tend to go undiagnosed for longer because nobody thinks to ask them. It can look like irritability, working late to avoid going home, drinking more, or a flatness they cannot explain.
What Sessions Cost
Ongoing sessions are from $100. The initial 30-minute assessment is free, and there is no obligation attached to it. No referral is needed to book. Sessions with a Registered Psychotherapist are not covered by OHIP. Many extended health plans cover psychotherapy, so it is worth checking your benefits before you decide, and we can provide receipts for reimbursement.
Book Your Free AssessmentWho You Would Be Working With
Our team includes therapists registered with the CRPO and the OAMHP, working in English, Russian and Farsi.
Natalie Besharat
Clinician, Pediatric Care and Addictions Specialist, MSc, CCAC, CICAPP Candidate
Full profile
Postpartum Therapy in Vaughan, Woodbridge, Thornhill and Across Ontario
We're here to support individuals and families across Vaughan, including Concord, Woodbridge, and Maple, and in nearby communities such as Aurora, Brampton, Markham, Mississauga, Milton, Oakville, Oshawa, and Richmond Hill, as well as Thornhill. We also welcome clients from across Toronto, including North York, Midtown, and Uptown Toronto. If you can't make it to our office, we offer virtual appointments across Ontario.
Visit us: 1520 Steeles Ave W #101A, Vaughan, ON L4K 3B9 (Steeles & Dufferin, Concord). Phone: (905) 597-2521
Frequently Asked Questions About Postpartum Therapy
What type of therapy works best for postpartum depression?
There is no single answer, but cognitive behavioural therapy has the strongest evidence base and is the most commonly recommended starting point. CAMH lists psychotherapy including interpersonal and cognitive behavioural therapy, along with supportive counselling, among the recognised treatments. In practice most of our clients get a blend: CBT for the thought patterns, plus whichever approach fits the rest of what is going on, whether that is emotional regulation, trauma or the strain on a relationship.
How long does postpartum depression last?
Untreated, it can last weeks or months, and in some cases longer. It usually begins within the first month after childbirth, though it can start at any point in the first year. How long therapy takes varies a great deal from person to person, so rather than promise a number, we will review how things are going with you as we go and adjust.
What is the difference between postpartum anxiety and postpartum depression?
They overlap and often arrive together, but the centre of gravity is different. Depression tends toward low mood, loss of interest, guilt and numbness. Anxiety tends toward worry that will not switch off, physical tension, checking behaviours and a constant sense that something bad is about to happen. Poor sleep and irritability show up in both. You do not need to work out which one you have before booking. That is what the assessment is for.
How can I help someone with postpartum depression?
Ask them directly how they are, and then wait through the silence rather than filling it. Take a specific job off their hands instead of offering to help in general. Avoid reassurance that dismisses the feeling, such as telling them they have nothing to be sad about. Offer to make the first phone call, or sit with them while they book. Keep asking a month later, and three months later, once the visitors have stopped coming.
One thing not to wait on. If they mention thoughts of harming themselves or the baby, or they seem confused, agitated or not themselves in a way that frightens you, treat it as urgent rather than as something to raise gently later.
What is postpartum psychosis, and how urgent is it?
Postpartum psychosis is a rare but serious condition involving hallucinations, delusions, paranoia or severe confusion after childbirth. CAMH puts it at roughly one to two cases per thousand births. It is a medical emergency and needs same-day attention: call 911, go to your nearest emergency department, or call or text 988. It is not something to bring to a weekly therapy appointment first.
Is it normal to still feel anxious three months after giving birth?
It is common, and it is also worth acting on. Many people find anxiety builds rather than fades over the first few months, often as the initial support falls away and the exhaustion accumulates. Common does not mean you have to live with it. If the worry is running your days at three months, four months or a year, therapy can help at any of those points.
Book a Free 30-Minute Assessment
You do not have to be in crisis to deserve help, and you do not have to have the right words ready. Tell us what has been happening in whatever order it comes out. The first conversation is free, it takes half an hour, and nothing is committed after it.
