Perinatal Mental Health Care
Building Healthy and Resilient families through high quality care and best practices
Hi I’m Alison a wife, mom to 2 girls, and a big Jesus lover, who is obsessed with all things books and reading and I follow everything that the Modern Mrs Darcy, by Anne Bogel podcast creates. If you are a reader as many of my clients are, check it out :)
Over the years, I discovered a love of painting (watercolor & gouache) and baking. I quit coffee the other year, which, whoa, was tougher than I expected and now I drink tea, All. The. Time. On many days you can find me sitting on the back porch with a cup of tea or since we get a lot of rain in Conroe, sitting on the couch with a cozy blanket, a warm drink and a book.
MY WHY
My path to having a baby, my postpartum experiences, my journey of motherhood, and the calling placed on my heart are my why for helping moms. My practice started 6 years ago when my youngest was 2, she just turned 9 this year. Time goes too fast.
But let’s talk more about why you’re here. Keep reading to discover my approach to working with clients.
Alison Hartman, MA, LMFT
CO MFT License #0001326
TX MFT License #205064
My Approach
The women who find me are often high achieving, driven, and goal oriented and tend to have high expectations for themselves. Not all of them, but a good amount.
Some are Stay at home moms (SAHM), some are career moms, some left their careers to become SAHM, and some are trying to decide what they want to do. All are welcome here.
Other moms are looking to prevent a difficult postpartum due to their history of anxiety or depression.
Some are 2nd or 3rd time moms who have experienced PPD or PPA and are looking to prevent or reduce the intense thoughts and feelings from before. And some are in the thick of postpartum looking for immediate support.
Clients describe sessions with me as “it’s like having coffee with an old friend”.
Meaning there is warmth, kindness, and a space that feels emotionally safe to share.
As mentioned above, my faith is important to me. If your faith is important to you and you want to incorporate your faith in our work or make sure our work doesn’t go against your beliefs, we will support that in our work together.
And if you don’t align with a faith perspective, then this will be honored in our work together.
What happens in session:In session, we will process and talk through your experience and we will identify practical tools you can use outside of sessions.
What I mean by practical is, moms don’t usually have much free time with littles. So, the tools are short and can be used in the moment.
We will laugh in session, (like if you share your baby pooped in the tub this past week) we are probably going to laugh. I have been there too. The things we encounter as parents. (You can’t see, but I’m shaking my head).
There will also be tears in session, we talk about hard things and I’m here to support you through it.
Now some people want to know what therapy techniques I use. If that’s you, scroll to the bottom. I listed them there :)
There is a blend of strategies depending on the needs of the client. As a marriage and family therapist, I come to sessions with a systemic lens. Meaning, I don’t see just you in the room, it’s your marriage, your family, kids, in laws, your friendships, your childhood, or work that all influence and impact our experience. Especially when we become parents, so many aspects of our life shift and adjust.
What brings moms to therapy:
Many of my clients are looking for support, a listening ear, and coping tools. Many are looking for ways to communicate with their spouse, how to bond with baby, set boundaries with family, or not pass on their stuff onto their child. Or find ways to enjoy being a mom or build confidence in motherhood.
As some clients have said, “you do life changing work”.
I want you to experience that as well.
We start with a free 15 minute consultation, typically by phone. Where we will talk about what prompted you to reach out, your needs, what you are looking for in a therapist, and answer any questions you may have.
You can head over to my contact page from the link below and there is an online scheduler where you can find a time for us to chat.
Educational & Professional Background
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of Colorado #0001326 and the state of Texas #205064 - licensed since 2016
MA in Clinical Counseling: Couples and Family therapy at the University of Northern Colorado - graduated 2012
BA in psychology from California State University, Northridge - graduated 2008
Completed PSI’s certificate courses in Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders: Components of Care training and the Perinatal Mental Health Advanced Psychotherapy training
Methods I use in therapy: An integrative approach of Mindfulness Based interventions, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Interpersonal Process Therapy, Systemic Family Therapy, Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, Internal Family Systems