Ad Astra Collaborative Therapy

Processing pregnancy loss, infertility, and reproductive grief

Pregnancy loss — miscarriage, stillbirth, TFMR, failed IVF cycles — is a grief that exists in a strange cultural in-between. It is real and significant, and it is often treated as something to move past quickly.

Individual therapy gives you space to grieve on your own timeline, without managing anyone else's comfort. We can also work through the ways loss has affected your sense of self, your body, and your hopes for the future.

I have published peer-reviewed research on the lived experiences of patients going through perinatal loss — including work exploring what those experiences feel like from the inside, in patients' and partners' own words. That research shapes how I listen.

Trauma, PTSD, and traumatic grief

Trauma doesn't always look like what we expect. It can be a medical experience that went wrong. A loss that happened too fast. A relationship that left marks. A childhood pattern that keeps showing up in adult life.

I use two evidence-based treatments specifically designed for trauma: EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), which helps the brain process memories that have become "stuck," and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), which targets the beliefs trauma leaves behind — things like self-blame, helplessness, and distorted trust.

Both approaches are supported by substantial research. Neither requires you to relive the trauma in detail to be effective. 

Grief, loss, and major life transitions

Grief isn't only about death. It's about any significant loss — of a relationship, a pregnancy, a diagnosis that changes your future, a version of yourself you expected to be. Grief after a disability diagnosis, a chronic illness, or a life transition that doesn't look the way you imagined can be just as disorienting as the grief we more easily name.

Therapy doesn't speed up grief or resolve it. It gives you a place to understand what you're carrying, and a way to carry it that doesn't require holding it alone. 

Disordered eating, eating disorders, and body image

Eating disorders and disordered eating patterns are among the most misunderstood and underestimated mental health challenges. They are not about food, or vanity, or willpower. They are complex, often long-standing coping strategies — and they respond to thoughtful, specialized treatment.

I have clinical experience working with individuals managing anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, and orthorexia across the lifespan, including adolescents and adults navigating eating concerns alongside pregnancy, fertility, and loss. My graduate research included a thesis on women's lived experiences of anorexia nervosa.

Treatment at Ad Astra is non-diet, weight-neutral, and recovery-oriented. I coordinate with medical providers and dietitians when appropriate.