Our second episode! And this is a good one. Clare is one of our wonderful support staff and also co-ordinates all of our fabulous volunteers – among so many other things. It might be her soothing Scottish accent, it might be that she’s just an all-round superb human being, but I always love the conversations we have and this interview did not disappoint.
In this episode, Clare and I talk about:
- How long she’s been in Canada and how long she’s been at PPPSS
- All the pies she has her fingers in at PPPSS
- The power of sharing our stories
- The mixed feelings that came up when she first found out that she was pregnant
- The challenges of navigating prenatal care as a newcomer to Canada
- How pregnancy wasn’t the glowing and wonderful experience that she expected
- Her very quick birth experience!
- When her mood started to go downhill – and how it caught her off guard
- The impact of sleep deprivation on her mood
- The lengths they went to to get her daughter to sleep
- How angry she felt all the time – for two years!
- Her experience of intrusive thinking and when and how she found out what intrusive thoughts are
- The difference between intrusive thinking and psychosis – and how to tell between one and the other
- Why she didn’t reach out for help at the time she was struggling the most
- The creative way they FINALLY got her daughter to sleep – and it’s definitely not what you would think!
- How frightening it can be to reach out for help when we are having intrusive thoughts
- How common intrusive thoughts really are
- What can help with intrusive thoughts
- Postpartum RAGE
- Rage and anger as a sign our needs are not getting met and that we need more support
- Seeing rage and anger as a catalyst for change
- How common rage and anger really are, why we don’t talk about it, and why we really do need to talk about it
- What she would say to her younger self when she was struggling the most
- The joy she now finds in parenting
- How she is coping with the Covid-19 pandemic – and one of the ways is a bit of a surprise!
- After the interview, I share some tips and strategies for dealing with anger and rage
