transitionings: prenatal & postpartum wellness

Karen is a trained IFS (Internal Family Systems) Level 1 Practitioner and is a
Canadian Certified Perinatal Mental Health Practitioner (CC-PMH), Canadian Certified
Birth & Reproductive Trauma Practitioner (CC-BRT), and Canadian Certified Perinatal
Grief & Loss Practitioner (CC-PGL). She has been in private practice for close to 20
years as a certified Birth & Postpartum Doula and specializes in supporting birthing
families who have experienced trauma in their previous birth journeys and/or VBAC/HBACs.

Her experience as a doula has allowed her to understand birth trauma as it unfolds in real time, as well as to witness the reconfiguring of “Mom Parts” in the early postpartum period. The benefits of having intimately supported so many families over the years has allowed her to witness the struggles (and celebrations!) firsthand.

Karen facilitates an Emerging Mothers group that provides unbiased, non-judgmental, and open-ended support for new and emerging parents alongside
parents with more than one child. In a group setting, hot button topics such as sleep, feeding, identity, the complexities of relationship changes with partners, one’s own parents, and close friends take centre stage. Karen provides tools, dialogue, discussion, and space for honest conversations about perinatal mental health struggles and celebrations.

She is also the creator and facilitator of The McWilliam Method childbirth preparation and Life With Baby parenting preparation classes, is a certified prenatal & postnatal yoga instructor, lactation educator, and sleep educator.

Karen is passionate about helping families navigate the often surprising and turbulent waters of new parenthood. As a complex trauma survivor, Karen suffered
from postpartum depression herself with both her children and strives to help parents understand and integrate the complexities of the early parenting journey.

When not supporting families or attending births, Karen can be found with her two teenage children, her husband, two dogs, and two cats. She enjoys reading books in a hammock, paddling on her paddle board, learning about video games with her son
and criminology with her daughter.

Karen is working towards her Level 2 IFS, IFIO (Intimacy From The Inside Out) a couple counselling paradigm utilizing IFS and parts theory.

Practice focus: IFS, Individual and Couple Counselling, Birth Trauma, Grief & Loss, Perinatal Mental Health, Postpartum Anxiety, Postpartum Depression, Adjustment to Parenting.