Kirsten Finn is a Clinical Psychologist and its Director Prosperity restored, a perinatal psychology practice in Brisbane. With lived experience of birth trauma and infant loss and over 20 years experience as a psychologist, Kirsten is committed to improving the mental health and wellbeing of expectant and new parents. Kirsten and her team offer psychological support to address a range of issues including antenatal and postnatal anxiety and depression, adjustment difficulties and bonding and attachment issues. Prosperity restored Therapists also offer a safe and compassionate environment for those navigating the complex emotions and challenges associated with traumatic birth experiences and pregnancy and baby loss.
The passion: What inspired you to create your business?
I have always been drawn to working with mothers and babies and started working as a perinatal psychologist long before I had children of my own. Stories shape our narrative and identity. My own birth was medically traumatic and I spent the first 6 weeks of my life in a neonatal intensive care unit. These early life experiences led to a deep curiosity about the impact of trauma on our attachment relationships and how trauma has historically been undertreated in women. Attachment theory was a key component of my learning. What makes a good mother? Why does it sometimes go wrong? That’s the fascination – what are the psychological issues, obstacles or events that affect a mother? How do we support a mother to deal with these challenges to ensure that she is able to meet her own needs and thrive and then meet the needs of her child? Perinatal psychology allows us to examine all aspects of the parent, baby and their relationship. Working in a private perinatal practice allows me to have a significant impact on the life and mental health of the whole family systems, mainly by strengthening the mental health of the parents.
What attracts me?
The perinatal period, from preconception to 3 years after birth, is a critical period where a baby’s mental health begins and is a unique time when women are highly motivated to seek help. Women are much more open to accessing support when they know their baby will benefit! By supporting mothers, we support entire family networks and break cycles of intergenerational trauma or mismanagement of mental health problems. We work with women at a point where they just don’t feel like themselves – they know something is wrong, even if they’re not sure exactly what it is. They worry about how their mental health might affect their baby, family or relationship and know that things could be so much better. While a mother takes care of her baby’s needs, the therapist’s role is to take care of the mother’s psychological needs.
Being a perinatal psychologist means that I must be able to provide psychological interventions for all mental health conditions, but be able to tailor those interventions to the specific needs of women at this developmental time.
Why focus on women?
There is a complexity to women’s mental health. In the perinatal period, there are significant hormonal changes, physical body changes, identity changes, role changes, work and financial changes, and often significant changes and changes in our social and bonding relationships. Interestingly, any time of change is a time of high risk for mental health symptoms, and a woman in her childbearing years experiences many significant changes at once. In the Prosperity restored, our therapists take a holistic view of each mother in mind and consider the many stressors and pressures that may be affecting her well-being. Each woman we meet has her own unique experience that we seek to understand and together we develop plans to improve her mental health and well-being.
The launch: How did you get started in the first place?
At first, I started out as a dedicated clinician, working a lot of part-time work as my children entered elementary school. As my children grew, I expanded my practice to include other clinicians, all with a focus on providing perinatal mental health support.
I met my colleague, Dianna Giles, in 2009 when we worked together in a large maternity hospital. We talked about one day opening our own practice to really focus on meeting the needs of families in a time of vulnerability and change. Several years ago, we managed to do just that, and we haven’t looked back since. Our practice is slowly growing as we come to serve more and more women and families throughout their fertility and parenting experience.
Innovation: What has been the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
What we value in our practice is the different areas of expertise and skill that each therapist brings. While we all work broadly in the field of perinatal mental health, we each have areas of interest in which we have developed further skills and clients can seek out a therapist that best suits their needs. These days, I work primarily in the area of childbirth trauma and/or loss, working with women who have psychological symptoms stemming from traumatic birth or traumatic postnatal experiences. Dianna Giles has extensive experience as a grief and loss therapist offering support to those who have experienced fertility, pregnancy or infant loss. Dianna is also an experienced relationship counselor who helps new parents overcome relationship difficulties that often worsen under the pressure of additional parenting responsibilities. Kamellia Trebilco brings years of experience working with parents and children and focuses on issues of adjustment, depression, anxiety and bonding. We also have new staff joining us in the coming months.
