Hi! My name is Irinel and I am an Licensed Professional Counselor at Wisdom Within Counseling via telehealth online counseling.
Perinatal Mental Health Counseling with Irinel Fishlock
Irinel Fishlock specializes in perinatal mental health counseling, supporting women through the emotional, psychological, and relational changes that can happen during pregnancy and after having a baby. Becoming a mother can bring profound joy while also creating stress, uncertainty, overwhelm, identity changes, and unexpected emotions. Irinel provides a compassionate, nonjudgmental space where you can talk openly about what you are experiencing and receive support tailored to your individual needs.
Postpartum depression can make it difficult to feel connected to yourself, your baby, your partner, or the life you imagined after becoming a mother.
You may feel persistently sad, emotionally numb, exhausted, irritable, guilty, overwhelmed, or unlike yourself. Irinel helps women understand their emotional experiences while developing practical tools for coping, self-compassion, emotional regulation, and connection. Seeking therapy for postpartum depression is not a sign that you are failing as a mother; it is an important form of support during a major life transition.
Postpartum anxiety is another area of Irinel’s specialty. You may find yourself constantly worrying about your baby, imagining something going wrong, struggling to relax, feeling restless or on edge, or having difficulty sleeping even when your baby is sleeping. Sometimes postpartum anxiety can feel like your mind is constantly scanning for danger or trying to control every possible outcome. Irinel offers a supportive environment where you can slow down, understand your anxiety, and learn healthier ways to manage worry while developing greater confidence in yourself as a mother.
Perinatal mental health can also involve challenges that extend beyond depression and anxiety. Irinel supports women experiencing maternal overwhelm, birth-related stress, pregnancy anxiety, adjustment to motherhood, parenting stress, changes in identity, relationship difficulties, loss of independence, emotional exhaustion, and difficulty balancing motherhood with work and other responsibilities.
With Irinel Fishlock, perinatal mental health therapy can provide space to process the transition into motherhood rather than expecting you to simply “push through” and take care of everyone else.
Your emotional well-being matters, too.
At Wisdom Within Counseling and Coaching, Irinel Fishlock provides women’s counseling and maternal mental health support in a compassionate and affirming environment. If you are struggling during pregnancy or after giving birth, you do not have to wait until things become unbearable before reaching out for help.
Irinel Fishlock can help you feel heard, supported, and less alone while you navigate this important chapter of your life. If you are looking for perinatal mental health counseling, postpartum depression therapy, postpartum anxiety therapy, or maternal mental health counseling, Irinel offers a caring place to begin.
Talk about postpartum rage and anger with Irinel Fishlock at Wisdom Within Counseling via telehealth video therapy.
Postpartum rage can be one of the most confusing and frightening experiences for a new mother.
You may find yourself becoming intensely irritated, snapping at your partner, feeling overwhelmed by small things, or experiencing anger that feels much stronger than you expected. Sometimes postpartum rage is connected to exhaustion, anxiety, depression, feeling unsupported, sensory overload, or the tremendous mental load of caring for a baby. Irinel Fishlock provides compassionate postpartum mental health counseling where you can talk honestly about anger without being judged or shamed. You deserve support in understanding what is underneath your anger and learning healthier ways to regulate your emotions.
Mom guilt can make motherhood feel like you are constantly falling short. You may feel guilty for needing a break, returning to work, struggling with breastfeeding, wanting time alone, feeling frustrated with your baby, or not experiencing motherhood the way you thought you would.
Unfortunately, social media and unrealistic expectations can make new mothers believe they should be happy, grateful, patient, and completely devoted every moment of the day. Irinel Fishlock helps women work through mom guilt, perfectionism, maternal anxiety, and unrealistic expectations while developing greater self-compassion. You can love your baby deeply and still need support, rest, boundaries, and time to care for yourself.
Birth trauma can also have a lasting emotional impact, even when others believe everything went “fine.” A difficult labor, emergency C-section, unexpected medical intervention, loss of control, frightening complications, feeling ignored by medical providers, or simply experiencing your birth as frightening can leave you feeling anxious, disconnected, or overwhelmed afterward. ACOG notes that a birth experience can be traumatic from the mother’s perspective even when she and her baby are physically healthy. At Wisdom Within Counseling, Irinel Fishlock offers a compassionate space to process your birth experience, explore the emotions that remain, and begin healing from birth trauma and postpartum emotional distress at your own pace.
Specialized Counseling For New Moms with Irinel Fishlock
Difficulty bonding with your baby can bring tremendous shame and fear, especially when you expected to experience an immediate sense of connection.
You may care deeply about your baby while simultaneously feeling numb, detached, overwhelmed, or uncertain about how you are supposed to feel. Bonding does not have to happen instantly, and struggling emotionally does not mean you are a bad mother. Irinel Fishlock provides maternal mental health counseling that allows you to talk openly about difficulty bonding, postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, exhaustion, identity changes, and the complicated emotions that can accompany early motherhood. Therapy can give you a safe place to slow down, process what you are experiencing, and build a more compassionate relationship with yourself as you adjust to motherhood.
Areas I Help Support:
- Stress and anxiety
- Depression
- Self-harm
- Couples and relationship issues
- Sex and intimacy
- School concerns
- Life changes
- Peer relationships and dating
- Alcohol use
- Trauma and PTSD
- Eating and feeding disorders
- Family conflict
- Self-esteem
- Military families
- Emotional regulation
Click the button below to meet with Irinel.
My Holistic Approach To Counseling Children, Teens, and Couples
As a holistic practitioner, I view children, teens, and couples through a whole person, integrative lens. This means that I strive to support children, teens, and couples in every facet of their life including one’s mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, and social wellbeing. Whether it be past experiences or future goals, I help clients explore and understand the depths of their inner-selves.
In session, I work with clients to integrate mind and body. I offer children, teens, and couples somatic work, meditation skills, and grounding techniques. These strengthen the connection between your neural network and your physical awareness. Engaging in these mindfulness skills also allows you to become more in tune with your bodily sensations. These techniques even help to tap into and resolve past trauma that is being stored within the body.
Client Testimonial: “Our experience was excellent. Irinel is wonderful and we are really looking forward to working with her!”
Client Testimonial: “We are very happy with Irinel. We are hoping to get our child in every Tuesday. The schedule for counseling works perfectly with our child’s art classes at Barn for Artistic Youth across the street.”
Play Therapy for Anxious Children
I find play therapy to be an effective means of supporting a child’s growth and development. Children are naturally imaginative, creative beings. Therefore, play is the language in which they perceive the world around them.
Engaging in play therapy allows the therapist to enter into the child’s world and communicate with them in a way they understand. Play therapy can help a child learn how to self-soothe, process big life changes, regulate and express their emotions, and form deeper connections with others.
I love using puppets, stuffed animals, sensory modalities, books, musical instruments, and other therapeutic toys to help anxious children conquer their fears and feel confident in their endeavors.
Trauma Therapy For Children, Teens, and Couples
I am deeply passionate about helping clients heal from past trauma. If left unresolved, traumatic events can linger in our every day lives and impact our daily functioning. Trauma is often stored within the body. Working with myself, a trauma-informed therapist, can help you to access and release the tension you are holding within.
Holistic therapies are evidence-based and highly effective at targeting symptoms of trauma and PTSD. Somatic experiencing techniques such as meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, and visualization can alleviate trauma, ease tension in the body, and help children, teens, and couples cope with PTSD symptoms in healthy ways.
My Favorite Coping Tool!
If you are prone to stress or anxiety, having a self-care box handy is a great way to cope!
Gather personal items that bring you happiness, peace, and comfort. It can be helpful to include something that stimulates each of your senses. For example, you may use putty for touch, chocolate for taste, an essential oil for smell, a wind chime for sound, and a happy photograph for sight.
The idea behind the self-care box is to have an array of items to choose from when you are feeling emotionally overwhelmed, overstimulated, or have heightened anxiety. These items will help you to feel grounded and return to a relenting state of relaxation.
Supporting Couples In Counseling
I am Gottman Marital Therapy Level 1 and Level 2 certified to support couples in overcoming conflict, developing effective communication skills, and establishing long-lasting, meaningful relationships.
I also have a passion for navigating sex and intimacy struggles as they surface in relationships. I offer a safe environment for individuals and couples to open up about sex in a healthy, productive manner.
One fun tip you can do with your partner to foster connection is download Gottman Card Decks on the Appstore. This app is a virtual card deck packed with questions, statements, and ideas for improving the quality of your relationship. Begin by reading the question on the first card aloud and then answering it about your partner. Then, it is your partners turn to read the next card and answer the question about you. This is a playful way to learn new things about your partner and engage in novel conversations about your life together.
Client Testimonial: “She was very patient, caring, and supportive. I know that first sessions are just laying the foundation. I’m excited to hear her thoughts more on these follow up sessions.” – October 2023
Fun Facts About Me!
I am an avid sea-glass collector and I love walking along the shoreline to look for pieces. My other favorite hobbies include barre class, creating art, hiking, kayaking, and spending time with my pets.
I would love to work with you, you and your partner, or your child! I provide in-person sessions to Connecticut families, and Telehealth video sessions.
