Wildflower Center for Perinatal & Family Mental Health
We offer a specialized sanctuary for individuals and families journeying through the pivotal moments of parenthood and reproductive challenges. Through virtual and in-person perinatal mental health therapy in Chicago, Oak Park, and Boulder, our dedicated team of clinicians provides comprehensive support, ensuring you’re not alone during these transformative times.
How To Get Started With Wildflower
Request a Free Consultation
Schedule a 15-minute call online or by phone. We’ll cover key details and make sure we’re the right fit for your needs.
Complete New Client Paperwork
Receive registration forms pre-visit. Your therapist will review details, ensuring clarity on our policies and guidelines.
Attend Your First
Therapy Session
During a 60-minute intake session, you’ll get to know your therapist better and discuss your treatment needs.
Navigating Pregnancy & Postpartum?
Download Our Free Guide.
Pregnancy and the postpartum period can bring about a whirlwind of emotions, with some moments feeling more challenging than others. Recognize the signs and learn the steps to ensure your mental well-being during this vital phase. Dive into our free Pregnancy and Postpartum Mental Health Guide for insights and support.
Specialized Care for Perinatal and Reproductive Mental Health
At Wildflower, we pride ourselves on a foundation of specialized expertise in perinatal and reproductive mental health. Our dedicated team consists of professionals who either hold the esteemed PMH-C designation or are actively in the process of obtaining it.
We work diligently with individuals, couples, and families at various stages of the parenthood journey, providing evidence-based psychotherapy that encompasses a wide range of reproductive mental health challenges. From pregnancy and postpartum mood disorders to issues surrounding identity, infertility, and intimacy, we address it all.
Our comprehensive approach extends to challenges related to menstrual cycles, menopause, and trauma-based disorders. We strive for holistic care, understanding the socio-cultural influences on mental health, and providing unwavering support throughout the reproductive journey.
Perinatal & Reproductive Therapy: Holistic Mental Health Support for Every Stage
Navigating life’s reproductive stages and challenges can be emotionally taxing, affecting individuals and their loved ones in profound ways. Wildflower offers specialized psychotherapy, addressing the unique needs and experiences ranging from infertility to bonding with your baby, ensuring comprehensive care and understanding during these transformative periods.
Infertility
Facing infertility can be deeply challenging, affecting one’s emotional and relational well-being. Wildflower’s expert psychotherapists provide individual, couples, and group support to navigate the emotional turmoil, fostering understanding, coping skills, and resilience during this profound life journey.
Gynecology
Gynecological disorders can impact both physical and emotional well-being. At Wildflower, we address the intertwined mental and bodily distress, offering psychotherapy to navigate challenges like body image concerns, relational distress, and the emotional aftermath of medical issues, ensuring holistic healing and support.
Pregnancy and Postpartum
Pregnancy and postpartum are transformative periods requiring specialized care. Wildflower provides a supportive therapeutic environment, addressing challenges like postpartum depression, neonatal loss, and identity shifts. Our clinicians are trained to guide you through the unique mental health concerns of the perinatal period.
Pregnancy Loss
Experiencing pregnancy loss is deeply personal, often marked by isolation and unhelpful comments. Despite subsequent successful pregnancies, emotional scars can remain. Partners too face emotional turmoil. Wildflower offers psychotherapy for healing, understanding, and resilience during these challenging times.
Partners and Families
Wildflower addresses perinatal and reproductive mental health for the entire family. Beyond new moms, up to 1 in 10 fathers experience postnatal mood disorders. The center provides robust support for all family members, covering challenges such as identity shifts, unique experiences of the LGBTQIA+ community, and relationship stresses during these significant life changes.
Perimenopause
Perimenopause and menopause are natural stages, typically occurring in a woman’s forties and fifties. While this transition is a standard part of aging, it often comes with challenges like mood swings, sleep disturbances, and sexual issues. Wildflower offers psychotherapy to help you navigate these changes, collaborating with medical professionals to ensure comprehensive care.
Sexuality and Intimacy
Our therapists create a safe environment for discussing topics related to sexual self, orientation, identity, beliefs, struggles, and more. For challenges such as low libido, performance anxiety, and postpartum sexual satisfaction, our goal is to break the silence surrounding these topics and help individuals and couples embrace and understand their sexuality fully.
Bonding with Your Baby
Bonding with a baby is a profound emotional and relational process, starting even before birth. Parental feelings, shaped by personal experiences, range from warmth to anxiety. Psychotherapy helps navigate these emotions and dynamics, especially during challenges like medical issues or postpartum complications, offering compassionate support and guidance.
Meet Our Perinatal Mental Health Program Manager
Gabby Pendley, LCSW, PMH-C, CADC, serves as the manager of Wildflower Center for Perinatal and Family Mental Health. Gabby is responsible for overseeing mental health services, educational programming, and outreach related to Wildflower’s core specialty of perinatal and reproductive mental health.
She is passionately committed to supporting women throughout their journey to motherhood and all birthing people and families in the transition to parenthood. Gabby has experience in a variety of inpatient and outpatient healthcare settings, after having earned her bachelor’s degree at Marquette University, and her master’s degree at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration.
Gabby believes in the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to the perinatal period and in empowering clinicians and care providers to offer attuned and effective care to families in their reproductive and perinatal experiences. As part of her role, she provides education and promotes awareness of perinatal mental health within our community and serves as a connecting force between Wildflower and perinatal health care providers.
Flourish With Wildflower:
Discover. Heal. Grow.
Dive into a transformative therapy experience with Wildflower. Uncover hidden strengths, embrace emotional growth and journey toward a renewed sense of self.
Core Tenets of Wildflower’s
Clinical Philosophy
Deeply Relational &
Personalized Therapy
We recognize that you are the expert on your life. Therapy at Wildflower is a collaborative journey. Our caring, affirming therapists tailor sessions to your unique needs and experiences, emphasizing the therapeutic relationship as a catalyst for growth.
Commitment to
Excellence & Learning
Every client deserves the best of our clinical skills and knowledge. Our team is a community of professionals who not only uphold shared values and clinical excellence but also engage in regular training and consultation to stay at the forefront of therapeutic practices.
Stigma-Free View on
Mental Health
Mental health is a vital component of overall well-being, deserving of attention without any stigma or judgment. Everyone faces challenges, and seeking help is a sign of resilience and strength. Every person’s mental health journey is valid, and we aim to support that with the utmost respect.
Advocates of Social
Justice & Inclusivity
We recognize that no one exists in a vacuum. Complex systems of oppression and privilege shape individuals’ lives. We believe that as mental health professionals, we have an obligation to promote social justice and contribute to a world that celebrates every person’s inherent worth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Our Clients’ Growth Stories
Wildflower and my therapist provided a safe, warm, understanding, non-judgmental space, both literally and figuratively, to do meaningful work. I am so grateful for my therapist’s compassion and guidance.
I can’t thank [my Wildflower therapist] enough for getting me through the roughest times of my life, not only through my postpartum depression but through Covid. Therapy was never something that I thought I would ever need but it’s something that changed my life. If you are looking for something that will help you get through whatever you’re going through in life this is definitely the place for you. They will make sure that you find a therapist that fits your needs. (…) You guys are amazing for what you do!
Wildflower is such a warm space with incredibly caring therapists! I have grown so much during my years here and always recommend coming here to friends looking for a therapist.
My experience at Wildflower has been absolutely seamless. Starting therapy takes courage and Wildflower respects that by responding to inquiries quickly and in a straightforward manner. It became very obvious that my therapist had been matched with me thoughtfully. I have loved my time working with [my therapist], even working through difficult topics and situations. I recommend Wildflower to anyone looking to be pushed towards growth in a respectful and safe space.
Wildflower has been a breath of fresh air. I’ve gone to a few different offices over the years and this is by far the best experience I’ve had. From the space itself to the people you hire, you’ve made something that can be very intimidating to people easy and enjoyable.
The Wildflower team guided me through what I can only hope was the most difficult period of my life. During a nightmarish time of crisis, extreme grief and trauma, they matched me with an exceptional therapist who was genuine, caring, and attuned. Our weekly sessions were simultaneously the best and hardest parts of my week … and eventually the heaviness got lighter.
Blooming Insights:
The Latest from the Wildflower Blog
We believe that knowledge and learning are key aspects of helping you to grow and thrive on your mental health journey. Stay updated with our latest articles on emotional well-being, perinatal mental health, sexuality, and more on our blog.
Blossom Into Your Best Self with Wildflower
Work with Wildflower to cultivate emotional strength and clarity. With expert support and a deeply personal touch, let’s nurture your growth and well-being. Ready to bloom? We’re here to guide you.
