A therapy practice, recently transplanted to Roslindale, specializes in treating the whole family after the birth of a new baby.
While it is common for new mothers to suffer from post-partum depression after a birth, psychotherapist Jen Erbe Leggett and her partners at The Legett Group, located at 4238 Washington St., also treat co-parents, siblings and the new babies as part of their post-partum care.
The practice cares for the mental health of new moms, new dads, hopeful parents and anyone else having mental health issues stemming from reproduction, including terminations and infertility.
“Stresses are so incredibly high. It’s hard to enjoy that time [with a newborn]. There’s difficulty in bonding, or what happens when a partner doesn’t adjust to a baby the same way?” she said. “A lot of people come in and say, ‘It’s just what I thought it would be.’”
Which is exactly what she and her partners in practice want to help.
“We’re having the best time. We’re getting the cases we wanted and doing the kind of work we wanted,” Erbe Leggett told the Gazette last week.
She personally endorses mindfulness techniques to help parents focus and stay in the moment.
“Thirty seconds [of meditation] on the train or an hour in the house, it can really help people build the capacity to take care of themselves. It’s incredibly effective,” she said.
When Erbe Leggett and her partners moved to Rozzie from the Back Bay in September, leaving a “run-down” office for her new, “gorgeous space…with a bit more heart and soul,” she said she was looking to move to JP or Roslindale because she “missed the feeling of community” the she finds crucial to her practice, from collaborating with her partners to sharing that feeling with the community outside her office door.
“I might see a dad, [the therapist] next to me might see mom and someone else will see the couple,” she said. “It’s deeply satisfying. It can really help to have a supportive third party helping [new parents] get back to life.”
“The real vision here is that we’re working collaboratively,” she said.
But ultimately, Erbe Leggett wants her patients to feel like they’re worth the self-care.
“We’re just trying to create a space where people feel OK talking about the more difficult aspects of parenthood,” she said.
The Leggett Group’s website is theleggettgrouptherapy.com.
CORRECTION: THis article has been edited to correct the spelling of Erbe Leggett’s name.