Recently I have had several psychiatrists, psychologists and therapists reach out to me about creating a list of providers similar to the list I put together of support groups around the country. I’ve been hesitant to do it for this reason: I haven’t had personal experience with each and every one of them, so how could I endorse them?
A lot of healthcare professionals say they treat postpartum depression, but they’re really just trying to increase their roster of clients, or start up an area of expertise in PPD. My first psychiatrist ensured me he knew plenty about it, and to tell you the truth I don’t think he did. He told my husband I had postpartum psychosis, which he never mentioned to me by the way, even though I clearly had symptoms of PPOCD and not PPP. I feel that the readers of this website trust me, and I would be crushed if I ever recommended a doctor that really didn’t have a lot of experience treating postpartum mood disorders.
So, what I’m considering doing is gathering recommendations only from women who have suffered a postpartum mood disorder and recovered and are willing to heartily endorse someone who they themselves were treated by. Not someone they’ve heard about, but someone they have direct personal experience with. For instance, in my case, there are two doctors in the Atlanta area that have treated me that I fully believe in and trust and would recommend to others — Dr. Denise Shipman in Smyrna and Dr. Jeffery Newport in Atlanta.
Ladies, what do you think?
I think this is great. I suffered PPD with both of my children, was inpatient with the first and did an Intensive Outpatient program with the second. I would recommend Dr. Sara Zuchowski at the Far West Center, she is in a suburb of Cleveland. Offices in Amherst and Westlake, Ohio.
I think personal experience with a physician is very important and often word of mouth recommendations are the deciding factor in choosing one physician over another. Of the course the caveat being that the recommendation is coming from someone whom you know and can trust their opinion.
I think you could possibly open it up to other clinicians who can prove to you that they've acquired the requisite training and experience, for instance, have them provide you with a list of trainings they've attended and books and research articles they've read specifically pertaining to this area. I suffered from Postpartum Major Depression and after I recovered, began to educate myself as much as possible (attending every training, reading every book and research article I could get my hands on) and plan to specialize my practice in this area (I have a Master's degree in Psychology, with an emphasis on Marriage and Family Therapy) once I obtain my license (I just completed my required 3,000 pre-licensure counseling hours and will be taking the first of two state licensure exams in the next month). I would hope that I can count that as proper experience and training to be counted on a resource list once I am licensed. I think it is also important to find out how committed the clinician is to CONTINUING training and not just feel they are done and an expert in this area as information is continuously changing and being learned!
One thing to keep in mind is that sometimes the very informed, specialized, and highly recommened Drs.etc. have no room in their practice. Sometimes for short periods and sometimes longer. This can be a great disappointment for a suffering Mom who thinks she has a good lead, only to find out there's a wait. Somehow if this can be mentioned, I believe it would be good.
Speaking from experience.
Also…..do they what to be on a list ?
Great idea, and I like having personal recommendations from women that have had direct experience. Of course you have to feel/decide for yourself if that professional is a good match for you.
Remember that you can contact the Postpartum Support International Coordinator in your state to ask for names of professionals with expertise. One of the coordinator's jobs is to keep track of reliable resources. And if you know of helpful resources, please let the PSI coordinator know! You can find state and country coordinators for PSI at http://www.postpartum.net, under "Social support and Area coordinators." If there is not one in your state, please consider volunteering. PSI has coordinators in all but 6 states, but it sure we be wonderful if there were a knowledgeable contact person in every state.
Thanks for the great blog!
HI. Glad you are being cautious.
I suffered a PPD in 1989 and got help after 10 months even though I knew I should have done it sooner. I get the resistance and the shame and all of it and even my clients who do ont know my history know that I truly understand.I am a Social Worker and was already licensed at the time ! We got very little ,well really, no training specifically regarding PPD in Social Work School. I have since developed a specialization in treating women ante and postpartum and have the inside perspective, of course. I also was on the Board of Directors of DAD Inc for about 8 years.
Lauri Klein, LICSW
Hingham, Massachusetts
Hello,
I think gathering a list of doctors, therapists ect. is a wonderful idea if they are referred by women who have been treated by them for PPD. I was lucky to have been referred to a PPD support group run out of the UCLA medical center, but the process of finding help was a long road and not very easy. I suffered for 3 months before I was finally treated by someone who understood PPD. Had a list like this been availiable to me before being released from the hospital it would have saved me and my family alot of suffering.
Samantha Guan
I am a therapist in the Berkeley, CA area who specializes in PPD and am a member of PSI. We (PSI members) are currently in dialogue about this very issue, how to be confident that people who get their names on referral lists actually have expertise in the area. There are a number of ideas floating around including having a questionnaire that potential referral sources fill out stating what their experience is, how much specific training they have had in this area, what books they read, and what is the range of people they have treated. In some areas it can be very difficult to find knowledgeable referrals, so I think some combination of personal recommendation and formal qualification would be important. I would be happy to share some of the specifics if anyone is interested. Thanks – Gina Hassan, Ph.D.
I love this idea! Finding a doctor who is an expert in PPD and an advocate for their patient's overall quality of life is rare.
I highly recommend Dr. Karin Drake Miller, 1150 5th Avenue, 212-876-3736.
you can tell her Kathleen sent you:>
Good Luck!
St Louis Behavior Health Institute in St. Louis, MO. Dr. C. Alec Pollard specializes in OCD and I've been treated by him for PPOCD. Very helpful, saved my life.
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