Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Cassidy Freitas.
Dr. Freitas, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I became passionate about supporting expecting and postpartum parents while working at UCSD Family Medicine, but my desire to dedicate my career to this work really set fire after having my first daughter. My partner struggled with postpartum depression (which I didn’t know was a thing at the time)! It really impacted our family and initiated my decision to pursue a doctorate degree in family therapy and start my private practice.
While getting my Ph.D. I researched and published studies on paternal postpartum depression, and started a private practice where I worked with expecting and postpartum families here in San Diego! Many of these new moms and dads didn’t come in until they were really struggling, and I saw the lack of support that these families received throughout their pregnancy and in that 4th trimester (the first few months with baby).
There was only so much time in the day, and I wanted to reach more new parents than I was able to in my clinical practice, so I started my podcast Holding Space. Through the podcast, I share conversations with perinatal experts from around the world and parents who have been through it.
One of the major pain points I heard from new parents was the lack of support they received from their healthcare team when it came to their emotional and mental health. For instance, after you have a baby you typically don’t see your ObGyn for six weeks! Six whole weeks navigating one of the most challenging physical and emotional transitions an individual and couple will ever go through! Around this time, I met board-certified ObGyn Dr. Christine Sterling. We met at a friend’s birthday (at a tiki bar to be exact!) We spent the whole party talking to each other, she shared her passion for changing the landscape of postpartum care for new parents and the rest was history. We became fast friends and teamed up to build the needed bridge between her world of perinatal health care and my world of mental health.
We’ve since dedicated our time to building accessible resources through social media and digital courses that address the physical, emotional, and relational challenges of having a baby for new parents who are expecting and for those who are in the thick of it. We’ve both recently had babies ourselves, so it’s been extra special to walk alongside the families we’ve connected with through our online communities. Especially during these unprecedented times with COVID-19, we don’t want to see new parents fall through the cracks. It’s our shared dream that every new family goes into parenthood equipped and better prepared, with support in place to protect the mental health of both parents which is not just good for them but is also great for baby!
Has it been a smooth road?
While my passion for this work was born through our own struggles, it was important that we first experienced healing ourselves. While the scars always remain, it was important to start this work from a scar and not an open wound. We sought support through therapy ourselves, and when we experienced other hardships (a pregnancy loss after our firstborn), I took breaks to heal. It’s important to me to not only break the stigma of reaching out for support but to model how important it is to pause and heal when we’ve gone through painful experiences ourselves.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I’m currently on maternity leave and focusing on creating content for new families through social media and resources/offerings through my podcast and digital courses.
Pricing:
- Flourish in the First Year – a digital course for parents who are in the thick of it ($97)
- Prepared Postpartum – a digital course for expecting couples ($297)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.drcassidymft.com
- Email: cassidy@drcassidymft.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/drcassidy
- Other: https://www.thesterlinglife.com/course-library
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