Apple’s story:

LOS ANGELES, CA - I am a pediatric occupational therapist and a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar, a wife and a child and family advocate. As a pediatric occupational therapist, I am an advocate for children and families. Their vulnerability subjects them to circumstances outside of their choosing or control, and their experiences can have a lasting impact on their lives as well as on the generations after them.

When children are given opportunities to thrive, we all thrive, and this is what drives my advocacy including 1. Helping children in underserved communities in the Philippines and Filipino immigrant communities of Los Angeles, 2. Assisting mothers via the work of 2020 Mom so their children can thrive. 3. Working as an occupational therapist at a children’s hospital in Southern California.

Elyse’s story:

LOS ANGELES, CA - Long before working in perinatal mental health, I was a clinician working with trauma - but because therapists and clinicians aren't regularly trained in maternal mental health, I was completely unaware and unprepared for the wallop of postpartum PTSD following the emergency c-section of my first child. Unfortunately, none of my care providers had MMH training themselves, and it took a lot of tears and my own research to figure out that my experience wasn't 'just new motherhood' as my OB/GYN called it. Through my own journey, I understood how awful it can be for new parents who do speak up, who do reach out and aren't met with support. And my heart broke for those families who don't even have the language to explain their experience. I knew I had to shift my focus as a clinician because no parent deserves to suffer nor to be dismissed - emotional distress should not be linked to new parenthood. In my private practice, I see aspiring or new parents and offer them the kind of trained and educated support that wasn't available for my own transition to motherhood.

Rupa’s story:

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA - I am a first generation South Asian female clinical psychologist. I believe in providing people with effective evidence-based treatments. I also believe in suicide prevention and intervention and helping educate and connect individuals at risk for MMH problems with resources that empower them to get the services they need. I really enjoy working with new moms because I believe it is family therapy and when you can help support pregnant women and mothers you are supporting the well being of an entire family!

Here are articles that caught Joy’s eye this month:

CBS News: 1 In 5 College Students So Stressed They Consider Suicide

College can be so stressful that many students think about killing themselves, and some even try, a new study suggests.

Among more than 67,000 students surveyed, over 20 percent said they experienced stressful events in the last year that were strongly associated with mental health problems, including harming themselves and suicidal thoughts or attempts, researchers found. (Reinberg, 9/10)
Read it here.