Hello Baby, Goodbye Intrusive Thoughts: Stop the Spiral of Anxiety and OCD to Reclaim Wellness on Your Motherhood Journey

Say goodbye to anxiety, OCD, and alarming thoughts with this compassionate guide for new moms.

Many parents envision pregnancy and birth as occasions for celebratory joy, but it can also be a difficult and demanding experience that leads many women to physical exhaustion, mental fatigue, and ultimately, chronic burnout. Yet, if you're like many other women, you may also be struggling with fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. While women are regularly screened for and educated about postpartum depression at prenatal and postnatal care visits, most are not screened for anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). If you're experiencing anxiety or OCD, this gentle guide can help you find peace from worry, get unstuck from scary thoughts, and start focusing on the beautiful journey ahead of you.

Hello Baby, Goodbye Intrusive Thoughts offers evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and exposure and response prevention (ERP) strategies to soothe anxiety and stop the spiral of frightening thoughts during the crucial perinatal period-so you can spend less time "in your head," and more time connecting with your child during this crucial bonding period. You'll learn to understand what's driving your anxious thoughts and behaviors; make peace with uncertainty; avoid unhelpful mind traps; connect with your values; set boundaries with others; and create lifelong, stress-free habits that better serve you and your growing family.

Maternal wellness" has traditionally focused on the physical health of women, thereby ensuring the health of the baby. However, the actual wellness of a mother as a whole person has often been neglected, leaving many to experience emotional and mental challenges without adequate resources or even acknowledgement. If you're struggling with perinatal anxiety or OCD, this essential guide can help you reclaim your mental health, so you can get back to the things that truly matter to you.

Jenny Yip, PsyD, is a board-certified, licensed clinical psychologist; author; speaker; media contributor; and a nationally recognized obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety, and parenting expert. Since childhood, Yip has fought her own personal battle with OCD. Inspired by her childhood struggles and motivated to help others overcome theirs, Yip has dedicated her professional career to treating families and individuals with severe OCD, parental stress, and anxiety disorders. She is board certified in behavioral and cognitive psychology, and has treated severe OCD and anxiety disorders for more than two decades.

Yip is on the board of directors of the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF), where she co-chairs the Diversity Advisory Council and facilitates the Perinatal OCD Task Force. She is a clinical member of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), and a clinical fellow of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA). She founded the Renewed Freedom Center (Los Angeles, CA, in 2008) and the Little Thinkers Center (Los Angeles, CA, in 2016) to provide the most advanced treatments to children, parents, and families. She is a regular speaker about mental health, family dynamics, pediatric development, and maternal wellness, and has presented her work at more than one hundred national and international conferences. She has published numerous articles and continually provides training in her areas of expertise. As the go-to expert, Yip regularly appears on television, podcasts, national radio, and in print-lending more than twenty years of professional experience in evidence-based clinical treatments, teaching, and research.