Sandra Rodriguez-Siuts, PhD.

My  motherhood story was not one that I had imagined, but many mothers would say the same. In short, I had a difficult pregnancy, a traumatic delivery, and an overwhelming postpartum period. My postpartum story, which I openly share with others, involved struggles with balancing family and work, career concerns, anxious feelings of inadequacy with my work and motherhood, changes in my marriage and friendships, physical/hormonal changes, medical issues after delivery, and sleep deprivation which was impacting my overall functioning. I learned a lot of hard lessons and I always said I would do things very differently if we had another child.

I started my career working in university counseling centers and I was confident this was the setting that I would stay in long-term. After giving birth, I questioned my career path for many reasons. My priorities shifted and I struggled with keeping up with my demanding job. My identity and perspective on life had changed and how I wanted to live my life was suddenly different. I anxiously took a leap of faith and changed career paths by pursuing private practice. Once I was in this setting, I quickly learned that working with women was my passion. Women helping women in this world is what I stand by! As I continued to work through understanding my new identity as a mom, businesswoman, and clinician, I realized that my other deep passion was helping other mothers and mothers-to-be begin their process of healing.

I believe many mothers would agree that having children changes your whole life. However, I was surprised to learn how rare it was for moms to talk about the challenges of motherhood. I always find it disappointing when mothers feel a pressure to “have it all put together” when in reality no mother does. Even though I was a psychologist when I became a mother, I didn't think to prepare for how to prevent postpartum adjustment issues. My journey to motherhood could have been so different if I had just prepared a little differently. With the clinical knowledge and personal experience that I have in maternal mental health, I feel confident that I can guide women in a healthy direction. I believe that my less-than-ideal start to motherhood has led me to become the type of psychologist who constantly strives to help women feel optimistic and hopeful about their future. I am privileged to work with women who proactively prepare for the postpartum period or work through their motherhood challenges and this work truly makes my heart sing.