Illustration of four adults walking together outdoors, including a pregnant person and a parent carrying a baby.

Reproductive experiences, relationships & everyday life

Reproductive & Perinatal Mental Health Therapy in Pittsburgh & across Pennsylvania

Space for what you are experiencing around fertility, pregnancy, birth, loss, and becoming a parent.

Schedule an Appointment Meet Our Clinicians
Explore Reproductive Mental Health Resources
More about this support

Forward Wellness offers therapy for people navigating reproductive decisions, infertility, pregnancy, postpartum changes, abortion, birth trauma, and pregnancy or infant loss. We welcome people of all genders, including partners and people whose experiences do not lead to parenthood.

You do not need a diagnosis before reaching out.

Online across Pennsylvania, with in-person options in Pittsburgh and Indiana, PA.
All intakes are currently virtual. Availability varies by clinician and location.

Your experiences have a context

There is more to this experience than how you are coping.

You may be moving through something you hoped for, something you did not choose, or an experience that has changed what you imagined for your life. Your feelings may also be different from what the people around you expect.

Illustration of two parents sharing everyday care: one plays with a baby on a floor mat while the other folds baby clothes.
What this experience means to you

Your relationship with your body, your hopes about family, previous losses, and experiences with health care can shape what you are carrying now. You might feel grief, relief, fear, tenderness, anger, or several feelings at once. There is room to talk about what feels difficult to explain.

What everyday life asks of you

Time away from work, treatment costs, disrupted sleep, caregiving, and access to support can affect what is manageable. Racism, disability, gender expectations, and whether your family is recognized or respected may also shape your experience.

Together, we can explore what you need emotionally, what support is available, and which expectations or arrangements may need to change.

What reproductive and perinatal therapy can support

Six areas of support. Explore what feels relevant to you.

Care that makes room for your experience and your choices.

People arrive with different relationships to pregnancy, parenting, and family. Some want to become parents. Some are unsure, have decided otherwise, or are living with a loss or outcome they did not choose.

Your priorities guide the work. You can bring feelings that are difficult to share, questions without clear answers, and concerns that reach beyond your reproductive experiences.

Fertility, family building & reproductive decisions

Support with uncertainty, decisions, and the emotional demands of trying to build a family.

More about this support

You may be navigating infertility, fertility treatment, queer family building, or questions about whether to pursue, continue, or end a pregnancy. Waiting, appointments, costs, and other people’s opinions can take up considerable space.

Therapy can help you explore what matters to you, differences within a relationship, and the feelings surrounding your decisions. Your choices remain yours.

Pregnancy, anxiety & changing expectations

Space for how pregnancy feels to you.

More about this support

Pregnancy can bring worry, sadness, panic, uncertainty, or the return of earlier painful experiences. You may be pregnant after a loss, preparing for birth after a difficult previous experience, or finding the physical and emotional changes hard to manage.

We can explore the concerns taking up space, what helps you feel supported, and how to communicate your needs with the people involved in your care.

Explore Mental Health Support During Pregnancy

Challenging or traumatic childbirth

Your experience of birth deserves attention.

More about this support

You may be carrying fear, anger, grief, or a sense of having lost control. What stays with you might involve an emergency, pain, separation, or feeling unheard during decisions about your body.

Therapy can offer space to understand what happened and how it affects your daily life, relationships, or feelings about future care. You can discuss the experience at a pace that feels manageable.

Explore Support After Traumatic Childbirth

Postpartum depression, anxiety & OCD

Support when life after birth feels difficult or unfamiliar.

More about this support

You may feel low, disconnected, irritable, constantly worried, or unable to settle. Unwanted thoughts, repeated checking, or a sense that you must prevent every possible problem may be taking up much of your day.

We can explore what you are experiencing and discuss the kind of care that fits. Sessions can also make room for sleep disruption, feeding pressures, recovery, and the support available around you.

Explore Postpartum Mental Health Support

Pregnancy loss, infant loss & grief

Room for your loss and what it means in your life.

More about this support

You may be grieving a miscarriage, stillbirth, the death of a baby, or ending a wanted pregnancy for medical reasons. Other people may not understand the relationship, hopes, or future you are grieving.

Therapy can support you through everyday responsibilities, anniversaries, differences in how people grieve, and decisions about what comes next. Pregnancy after loss can bring its own need for support.

Explore Pregnancy Loss & Grief Support

Relationships, identity & life as a parent

Understanding what is changing for you and the people around you.

More about this support

Becoming a parent can affect closeness, intimacy, work, friendships, and your sense of yourself. Partners may carry different expectations about caregiving, rest, money, or what each person needs.

You can explore these concerns individually. Selected clinicians also offer couples and adult family therapy, with attention to communication, boundaries, and shared responsibilities.

Explore Couples & Family Therapy

Our approach

How we work with you

We begin with what you want support with and get to know the circumstances around your experience.

Your feelings, choices, and needs belong in the conversation.

Start with what matters now

You can bring a specific concern, something that happened recently, or an experience from years ago that still affects you. Together, we identify what you would like from therapy.

Respect your language and decisions

We work to use the names and language you share for your body, relationships, and family. Your decisions about pregnancy, treatment, parenting, and what you disclose remain yours.

Understand your experience in context

We consider thoughts and feelings alongside relationships, culture, health care experiences, work, money, and access to support. We can explore both how you are managing and what is being asked of you.

Make room for feedback and changing needs

You can ask to slow down, clarify a question, correct an assumption, or say that something is not helping. The direction and pace of therapy can change as your circumstances change.

Schedule an Appointment

People you can work with

Meet clinicians who offer reproductive and perinatal support

You may want someone who understands fertility, pregnancy, postpartum changes, loss, relationships, or a particular part of your experience. Explore their approaches and share what matters to you when requesting an appointment.

Swipe, scroll, or use the arrows to meet the clinicians.

Colleen Kilbane

Colleen Kilbane

she/her

Therapist Intern

Reproductive experiences, identity & grief

More about her support

Colleen supports people navigating fertility concerns, pregnancy, postpartum changes, abortion, and reproductive grief or trauma. Her approach makes room for emotions, body awareness, and creative expression, alongside LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent experiences.

Read About Colleen
Cheryl Lewis

Cheryl Lewis

LPC · she/her

Clinical Therapist

Reproductive mental health, relationships & loss

More about her support

Cheryl works with reproductive mental health concerns, trauma, grief, and couples. She brings attention to communication, relationship patterns, and your individual needs, with space to adjust the approach and pace of sessions together.

Read About Cheryl
Jessica McConnell

Jessica McConnell

MS, LPC · she/her

Clinical Therapist

Pregnancy loss, postpartum changes & identity

More about her support

Jessica supports people navigating pregnancy, postpartum anxiety and other concerns, reproductive loss, and early parenting. Her work also includes LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent support, with attention to feeling heard, recognizing strengths, and finding an approach that fits you.

Read About Jessica
LaToya Hamm Wilson

LaToya Hamm Wilson

LCSW, PMH-C · she/her

Clinical Therapist; Owner, Motherhood Redefined

Motherhood, reproductive experiences & expectations

More about her support

LaToya supports people navigating pregnancy, postpartum changes, reproductive trauma, and relationship concerns. Her work makes room for honest conversations about motherhood, identity, and the expectations you carry, drawing on practical approaches, humor, and your priorities.

Read About LaToya
Maria Brown

Maria Brown

LPC, CCTP · she/her

Clinical Therapist

Reproductive trauma, NICU experiences & grief

More about her support

Maria supports people navigating reproductive trauma, pregnancy and postpartum concerns, NICU experiences, and reproductive or child loss. She also works with ADHD and relationship concerns, bringing a feminist perspective, compassion, and attention to what has or has not helped you before.

Read About Maria
Tracy J. Stone

Tracy J. Stone

LPC · she/her

Clinical Therapist

Reproductive experiences, trauma & loss

More about her support

Tracy works with reproductive mental health concerns, grief, trauma, anxiety, and life changes. She offers a calm, straightforward approach shaped around your goals, with space for LGBTQIA+, trans, nonbinary, and gender-diverse experiences.

Read About Tracy
Katie Shaw

Katie Shaw

LPC · she/her

Clinical Therapist

Family building, reproductive loss & life changes

More about her support

Katie supports people navigating fertility concerns, surrogacy, pregnancy, postpartum changes, and reproductive grief. Her work also includes exploring life without children and LGBTQIA+ experiences. Sessions are collaborative, with room for complicated feelings and the support you want now.

Read About Katie Shaw
Katie Ashman

Katie Ashman

LPC · she/her

Clinical Therapist

Reproductive experiences, grief & self-understanding

More about her support

Katie supports people navigating reproductive mental health concerns, grief, trauma, and neurodivergent experiences. Her relational approach explores feelings, body awareness, and connections between past and present, with respect for your pace and choices.

Read About Katie Ashman

Availability, fees, insurance participation, and appointment options vary by clinician. Share your preferences when requesting an appointment.

View All Clinicians
Illustration of an adult holding a sleeping baby against their shoulder.

A first step

Starting reproductive or perinatal therapy

Complete our appointment request form and share what you would like support with. You can include preferences about your clinician, scheduling, and appointment location, along with anything you would like us to understand about your circumstances.

You can begin with what feels hardest to carry right now.

Schedule an Appointment

All intakes are currently virtual.

In-person options and locations

Our offices are in Downtown Pittsburgh, Squirrel Hill, and Indiana, Pennsylvania. In-person openings are limited and discussed with your clinician during intake.

Explore Our Locations

Have a question before completing the form?

412-660-6100 info@forwardwellnesscounseling.com

Questions about reproductive and perinatal therapy

What does reproductive mental health include?

Reproductive mental health includes emotional and relationship concerns connected with fertility, reproductive decisions, pregnancy, birth, postpartum experiences, and loss.

Perinatal mental health focuses on the period during pregnancy and after birth. Your concerns may involve anxiety, depression, OCD, trauma, grief, identity, or changes in everyday life.

Do I need a diagnosis before contacting you?

No. You can reach out because something feels difficult, unfamiliar, or hard to manage. You do not need to know what to call it before asking for support. An initial conversation can help clarify your concerns and the care that may fit.

Can I come if I am not pregnant or my experience happened years ago?

Yes. Support can include infertility, abortion, reproductive loss, and the lasting effects of an earlier birth or health care experience. Tell us what continues to affect you and what you would like to explore.

Do you support LGBTQIA+ people and different kinds of families?

Yes. Forward Wellness’s reproductive mental health work includes queer family building and support for people of different genders and family structures. Let us know what you want your clinician to understand about your identity, relationships, culture, or route to parenthood.

Explore LGBTQIA+ & Gender-Affirming Care
Can a partner seek support or attend therapy with me?

Partners can seek support for their own experiences of pregnancy, birth, loss, and parenting. Selected clinicians also offer couples and adult family therapy. Let us know whether you are looking for individual or joint sessions so we can discuss the available options.

Our family therapy service is for adults. Babies in arms are welcome.

Learn About Couples & Family Therapy
Can I talk about frightening or unwanted thoughts?

Yes. Unwanted intrusive thoughts can be distressing. Having an unwanted thought is different from wanting to act on it. A clinician can help you understand what is happening, assess your needs, and discuss appropriate care.

If you feel you may act on thoughts of harming yourself or someone else, seek urgent help.

Learn About Perinatal OCD
Does this include medication or medical care?

This page describes counseling and mental health support. Questions about medication, fertility treatment, pregnancy care, or physical recovery should be discussed with an appropriate medical professional.

Therapy can help you prepare questions and explore the feelings and decisions surrounding that care.

Can I access therapy online outside Pittsburgh?

Online therapy is available across Pennsylvania. Share where you will be attending sessions and your scheduling preferences when requesting care. All intakes are currently virtual; ongoing appointment options vary by clinician and location.

What does therapy cost, and do you accept insurance?

Fees and insurance participation vary by clinician. Depending on the clinician and specific plan, accepted insurance includes:

  • UPMC Commercial
  • Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Commercial
  • Cigna
  • Aetna
  • UnitedHealthcare/Optum

Selected clinicians accept Medical Assistance through CCBH for Allegheny County. Ask about self-pay fees and any available reduced-fee options.

Please confirm your specific plan, clinician’s participation, and expected costs before scheduling.

Care and community

Support beyond the therapy room

Support might also come through a friend who brings a meal, a partner sharing overnight care, a doula, a peer group, or people who understand a loss that others struggle to acknowledge.

You may need practical help, reliable information, or somewhere to speak honestly about your experience. Therapy can be one part of that wider network.

Visit each organization’s website for current programs, eligibility, and ways to connect.

Postpartum Support International Information, peer support, and help finding resources during pregnancy and after birth. Pittsburgh Bereavement Doulas Local support and resources for people navigating pregnancy and infant loss, including connections to support groups.

Information, connection & practical support

Reproductive mental health resources

You might be looking for information about what you are experiencing, support after a loss, perspectives from other parents, or help preparing for conversations about your care.

These resources offer different starting points. Services, eligibility, fees, and availability may change. Contact each organization directly for current information.

Choose a category to explore its resources.

Pregnancy & postpartum mental health Explore information about emotional health and available support. 3 resources
Pregnancy loss, infant loss & grief Find information and connection around loss and life afterward. 3 resources
Family building, identity & informed care Explore resources that consider your family, choices, and experiences with health care. 3 resources
  • Family Equality

    Resources for LGBTQ+ people considering parenthood or raising children, including family building, community connection, and family protections.

  • Black Mamas Matter Alliance

    Black-led advocacy, education, and resources focused on Black maternal health, rights, and reproductive justice.

  • Evidence Based Birth

    Educational articles, podcasts, and classes about pregnancy and birth to support informed conversations with your care team.

Explore More Reproductive Mental Health Resources

Your next step

Start with what you need support with now.

You may be facing uncertainty, grieving a loss, trying to understand a difficult birth, or finding everyday life harder than you expected.

Tell us what has been happening and what you would like support with. There is room to begin even when your feelings are mixed or the next step is unclear.

Schedule an Appointment Meet Our Clinicians