Annette Martin
Perinatal Mental Health Counselling
Hi, I'm Annette Martin (she/her)
Areas of Practice
I am a registered social worker providing mental health counselling to individuals during their perinatal transitions in life. The perinatal period includes the pre and postpartum stages of parenthood. In addition to this, I also provide support around grief and loss because sometimes, on this path towards fulfilling hopes of becoming a parent, we experience profound loss due to miscarriage, stillbirths, medical terminations and infant loss.
Pre and Postpartum: anxiety, depression, relationship strain, role & identity changes.
Parenting Support: attachment & attunement, parenting stress & burnout
Grief and Loss: miscarriage, pregnancy loss, still birth & infant loss.
I am a Registered Social Worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers and a member of the Ontario Association of Social Workers. I completed my Master of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University. I have received training and certification through Canadian Perinatal Mental Health Trainings and using various modalities, I work from a client-centered, systems approach, strengths based, connection and relational focused, intersectional, anti-oppressive feminist and trauma-informed lens.
I have worked in the field of mental health for over 10 years. Some of my previous work has included supporting parents and children who have experienced domestic violence and other forms of trauma. More recently, I have worked in the area of infant and early childhood mental health. It was through this work that I solidified my interest in working directly with parents in order to support both parent and child to thrive. I come to this work with my own lived experience of becoming a parent and experiencing loss. Furthermore, I identify as queer and recognize the added barrier and isolation that many individuals and families from the 2SLGBTQIA+ community face and the need for supports to feel inclusive of their identities and experiences.
Becoming a parent is amazing. And it's hard.
Becoming a parent can bring joy and fulfillment, but the changes and stresses that accompany the perinatal (pre and postpartum) period can also have substantial impacts on parents' mental health. Nothing can easily prepare us for this significant new role as a parent, which we often enter with preconceived notions that can differ dramatically from our lived reality. This can affect our mental health and our ability to cope, and create changes and stresses within our relationships. We may feel a sense of disappointment or disillusionment that parenting isn’t what we envisioned, and it is not uncommon to long for our pre-parenting life and identity. If you're feeling any of these things, rest assured: you're not alone.
Counselling
can help
Counselling can help reduce the sense of isolation and feelings of overwhelm that many people experience. I offer individual counselling to support parents like you in navigating this challenging period in your life.
I support you to make meaningful gains towards addressing your mental health challenges, thereby increasing your sense of ease in parenting. I help you understand and validate your own needs to make it easier for you to access family and community supports.
I work with you to help understand your child’s emotional, developmental and attachment l needs, provide insight into your child’s behaviour, and help you build a sense of confidence in your new role as a parent.
It is important to feel heard and understood during this transitional period in your life. Together, we will build your resilience and capacity to work through parenting challenges. I am committed to helping you foster a sense of possibility and connection with yourself, your child(ren), and your support system.
If you have experienced grief and loss on this path towards expanding your family, you are going through a profoundly painful experience. Counselling can help you understand what you're needing to grieve this significant loss, get the supports you need from those around you and slowly find ways to hold both this loss while also experience movement towards a life that can include joy and hope.
I work to understand and support you from a place of deep compassion, acceptance, and respect for your personhood and the various identities and experiences you bring with you. I recognize and celebrate the expansive ways we can create families and community and aim to support you to feel a sense of belonging and contentment within them and within your self.
My commitment
I practice on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation of the Anishinaabek Peoples. I honor with gratitude this land that we are on and Indigenous peoples past, present and emerging. As someone with a settler heritage, I commit to learning more about how my heritage is tied to and has profited from the colonizing of Indigenous peoples so that I may understand and validate these lived realities and strive to interrupt the current manifestations of colonization. Furthermore, I acknowledge the over surveillance of Indigenous and Black families and communities and its role in the over representation of Indigenous and Black families in the child protection system. As a clinician supporting families, it is essential that I am aware of this and continue to learn and understand these experiences and be reflective of my socialization and acquired biases. I am committed to this ongoing learning.
My Services
I offer one hour virtual counselling sessions for individuals
Counselling fees are $150 per hour. Social Work is covered by many insurance plans.
I also offer free 15min initial consults to help you determine if I am a good fit for the support you need. Availability for consults can be found in my booking schedule or reach out through e-mail at annette@annettemartinrsw.com to inquire further .
However, if you are in need of immediate support, please call Here 24/7 in Guelph at 1-844-437-3247 or if this is a crisis, call 911 or go to your local hospital.