Why this work?
Over and over again, I saw it happen: someone in the middle of a profoundly difficult experience — pregnant, postpartum, navigating a diagnosis, grieving a pregnancy they never got to keep — being told, in so many words, to keep moving. That what they were feeling was normal. That so many people had been through exactly this and been totally fine.
It may be common, but that does not make it easy. And being common does not mean it does not deserve care.
What I saw, and what the research has confirmed, is that minimization makes things worse. Struggles that are dismissed tend to deepen. People who are brushed off stop asking for help. And the window for early, effective intervention closes.
I became a psychologist because I did not want to be one of the people doing the brushing.
My background
I am a licensed clinical psychologist with doctoral-level training and a focused clinical practice. My specializations — OCD, perinatal mental health, and reproductive health psychology — are not accidental. They reflect the places where I have seen the greatest need and the greatest evidence gap: conditions that are prevalent, undertreated, and often surrounded by stigma or misinformation.
I practice from an evidence-based framework. That means I use treatments with strong research support: primarily Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) for OCD, and Cognitive Behavioral approaches for perinatal and reproductive health concerns.
An advocate, as well as a clinician
Reproductive mental health is not a niche concern. It affects a significant proportion of people across their lifetimes and yet the care infrastructure has not caught up. Many providers are not trained to recognize PMDD. Perinatal OCD is regularly misdiagnosed or missed entirely. Fertility-related grief is frequently invisible to the healthcare system.
Part of my role is clinical. And part of it is this: insisting, that these experiences count. That the person sitting across from me deserves to be believed, to be assessed properly, and to be offered treatment that actually addresses what is happening for them.
If you have been told that what you are feeling is "just hormones," or that you should feel grateful, or that other people have it worse. I want you to know that none of that changes what you are carrying. And it does not mean you have to carry it without help.
About Ally
I live and practice in Vermont, where I try to spend as much time outside as possible — hiking, gravel riding, and camping are my reset buttons. I also serve as Board Secretary for the Vermont chapter of Postpartum Support International, which reflects the same commitment that brought me to this specialty: the belief that people navigating the perinatal period deserve better support than the system currently provides.
Let’s work together
I work with a small caseload deliberately. I want to know your story, track your progress, and be genuinely present for the work we are doing together.
If something here resonates, if you recognize yourself in any of what I have described, I would be glad to connect. The first step is a consultation, and there is no obligation beyond that conversation.