Gardner Counseling & Guidance

07/11/2025

📣 Calling all advocates, professionals, and parents!
Be part of shaping the future of Perinatal Mental Health care 🧠✨

Postpartum Support International is helping connect researchers with participants who want to make a difference. 💬 Your voice and experience matter—whether you're a provider, a parent, or somewhere in between.

🔍 Go to https://loom.ly/zOb_Wn0 to explore current research opportunities you can support or join!

07/09/2025

As an introvert, I still felt so lonely and triggered when I was by myself -- especially without a distraction. It was hard to understand and to explain to others because I didn't want to have to do anything, be anywhere, or talk to people but I also didn't want to be alone.

The night was the hardest because I would lay in bed and think about my cycles, my grief, and what should be happening but isn't. For some reason I was most aware of my empty womb when I laying down at night. And the grief was so loud.

Here are some things that have helped me or helped clients of mine who struggle with their grief in this way:

🌙 Put a lamp next to your bed that way you can lessen the amount of lighting in the room in stages (big light, lamp, etc)
🌙 Communicate with your partner and create a plan that makes you feel safer at night, especially if falling asleep is a difficult part for you
🌙 Night lights aren't just for children - they can help our nervous system not feel under attack when we have trauma

🤍 make plans with friends that feel safe / someone you can cancel with last minute without drama / someone who feels safe even if your plans are just to sit in the discomfort of grief
🤍 if you have a partner, plans dates ahead with your partner that way you have things on the calendar
🤍 if being home alone is a trigger, on days where you're by yourself -- go to a park, a public place, bring a book, headphones, a journal and just exist

Unfortunately for all of us -- grief is so much work and that part truly sucks. Let's find ways to feel the grief without making it heavier and heavier.

If you've found something that helps this specific aspect of grief, comment below 📲

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07/07/2025

Summer months are so hard after pregnancy loss because we often see more families, there's sunshine and joy (when we aren't feeling joyful) and for those of us with due dates or anniversaries, it's a gloomy rainy cloud over what appears to be a sunny time.

If you have a July baby -- whether they were due to be born in July (of any year) or if you lost a baby in July, we want to spend a moment remembering them.

You can comment below their July date, their name, an emoji -- whatever feels right for you.

xoxo
Arden

07/02/2025

06/30/2025

06/27/2025

The death of your baby can make you feel as if your life is out of your control. Some grieving parents take on a personal challenge such as finishing a degree, training to run a marathon, starting an exercise program, raising money for a cause or taking up a new hobby. This can not only keep your mind and body busy, but it can also help manage the feeling that you can’t always control what happens.

Have you taken on a personal challenge or a new hobby since your loss?

06/25/2025

Here's the thing that people don't KNOW about pregnancy loss until they EXPERIENCE pregnancy loss (myself included).

It's not just the loss of one thing, one event, one life.

There are so many losses that we navigate following pregnancy loss. These are called "secondary losses" and I know in the fertility world this term can feel repetitive because we have secondary infertility and secondary pregnancy loss (meaning someone has a living child/children and then experienced infertility or loss) but this is referring to the losses that are secondary to the main loss of pregnancy/your baby.

These losses can be almost anything, some of the more common ones shared in our support groups:

🫶 loss of identity or comfort within yourself (or your life)
🫶 financial loss (especially in the US when healthcare costs can be thousands)
🫶 loss of trust in your body or the loss of hope you once had
🫶 loss of your social battery (a lot of people tend to be less social for awhile after loss)
🫶 loss of ambition or feeling that work is important or meaningful
🫶 the loss of specific dates having a good meaning / now they are met with grief

and there are so many more!

what's a secondary loss that you have experienced or are experiencing? comment below! 👇

06/23/2025

06/19/2025

If you are beating yourself up for how you are dealing with the loss of your beloved baby, STOP. You are doing the best you can in a situation you have no control over. Be kind to your heart. Treat yourself as gently as you would treat a loved one who was going through what you are.

06/11/2025

Having to say ‘Hello’ and ‘Goodbye’ at the same time is not normal. There is nothing that could prepare you for something this unexpected. The feeling of being blindsided by your loss and grief is common. Talking with others who have had similar experiences can be so helpful. This helps you feel less alone and brings understanding to your feelings and reactions. Having a support system is so important both for your long-term healing and for processing your loss.
Call us, message us online, or email us. Because no one should go through this alone.

04/12/2025

Join PSI-trained peer facilitators with lived and/or professional experience for a recovery-focused virtual gathering in our Substance Use Recovery Support for Perinatal Moms and Birthing People. This peer support group is for those from pregnancy to two years postpartum who are engaged in recovery or considering recovery from substance use disorders (SUD). This is a meeting focused on recovery, meaning a goal of abstaining from use, excluding medications taken as prescribed. For people who are considering recovery or have had a slip and have used the day of the meeting, listening and observing is welcome, rather than active participation. No diagnosis is needed to attend. The perinatal period brings about unique challenges for those trying to maintain sobriety, and this group is a space to share those experiences and receive support whether you’ve been sober for one day or one hundred days. Substance use disorders may include, but are not limited to, alcohol use disorder, opioid use disorder, and/or ma*****na use disorder. PSI recognizes SUD as a chronic illness of the brain from which we can recover and lead healthy lives, and we honor that there are multiple, unique pathways to recovery for each individual. We hope to support those on their recovery journey as they also navigate pregnancy and postpartum. We do not treat, diagnose, or conduct therapy in our sessions, as the focus is peer support. These sessions would not be a replacement for therapy, addiction treatment, or medical care.

View the schedule and register at bit.ly/FindSupportGroup