Ali Dart

Becoming a parent is life-changing.  Whether you are beginning your parenting journey or have finally found the breathing room to reflect on it, I would be honored to support you in this important, joyful, but extremely challenging endeavor.  In addition to pushing us to our limits, parenting transports us back to our own childhoods and gives us a chance to replicate the best parts and to come to terms with the worst.  Our experience of being parented can have a profound impact on the way we parent our own children.  Children learn from their earliest relationships about the world, about humanity, and about themselves. They learn from responsive and attuned caregiving that they have value, that people can be trusted, and that their needs will be met. 

 

When caregivers are dealing with their own trauma, addiction, depression, domestic violence, grief and loss, poverty, or other hardship, it can be nearly impossible to focus on parenting the way they would like.  Sometimes, strained or impoverished parent-child relationships are passed down from generation to generation like uninvited ghosts in the nursery.  If your parents didn't make you feel safe and loved, your working model of the world was formed by those early experiences.  You may have developed an attachment style that makes parenting, and relationships in general, harder to manage.  But your history is not your legacy and it doesn't have to be your child's either. 

 

My role is to wonder with you about what's getting in the way and to help you develop the loving, trusting relationships you've always wanted.  Together, we can learn how to repair relationship ruptures and find new ways of relating and responding that help everyone feel safe.  We will also learn and incorporate positive and respectful parenting practices that build your bond and lead to improvements in behavior, mood, and your relationship with your child.  Parenting is hard, but it can be easier with the right foundation and a few tricks up your sleeve.  ​

 

I have received specialized training in perinatal and postpartum mood disorders and I am a certified perinatal mental health provider.  I enjoy working with new and expectant parents.  There are many factors that contribute to mood and anxiety disorders during pregnancy and after childbirth.  I am trained to help moms and dads with perinatal anxiety, depression, OCD, PTSD, and other issues in a non-judgmental way and to walk alongside you as you make decisions about your desired birth plan, medications, nursing, and caring for yourself and your baby.  

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I work primarily with adults who are coming to therapy for parenting concerns, but I may also be a good fit for adults with adult attachment concerns, adjustment issues and life transitions (divorce, separation, loss, pandemic anxiety, work stressors, etc.), or issues related to family of origin.  I can also offer the Making Sense of Your Worth program in an individual therapy format.  Services for adults are offered in the office or via a secure telehealth platform.  Masks are no longer required in the office, but I am more than happy to wear my mask upon request.