Leslie Butterfield PhD - Speaker, Educator, Clinician
Welcome to my website!
I'm a clinical psychologist specializing in perinatal psychology and women's health. My areas of expertise include: promoting a healthy transition to parenthood, the prevention and treatment of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, the repair of reproductive loss or trauma, and the provision of services to families with a NICU stay or a medically complex infant. Each person's experience is unique and important and I look forward to providing loving support and challenge to each individual or couple I work with.
Throughout my years of clinical experience I've developed a substantial base of training material appropriate for the health care providers who work with a perinatal population. For the last decade I've offered training and consultation for numerous organizations and agencies, both in the United States and abroad. I enjoy using the knowledge and intuition I've acquired during my years of clinical practice and teaching to help others understand the great importance of the perinatal time period.
My Areas of Focus
N.I.C.U. Stays / Parenting Medically Complex Infants
Parents with a baby in the NICU or medical complications struggle with the painful complexities of an unexpected and crisis oriented situation. The typical tasks of new parenthood must be adapted to fit a baby who is fragile or ill.
Perinatal Grief & Loss
Healing from any significant loss demands time, patience and courage. Miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant death are particularly challenging as couples face the loss of hope, the absence of established rituals of mourning, and the consequent social isolation and loneliness.
Abortion & Medical Termination
Conflicting values, ambivalent feelings, and societal changes make it difficult for women and couples to reach decisions about abortion. Sometimes our life experiences or expectations don't prepare us fully to manage issues in which no decision is free of pain or loss.
Traumatic Birth
According to the National Institute of Health up to 45% of birthing people experience their birth as traumatic. The impact of such trauma often continues long after the birth itself - negatively affecting parental mental health, marital satisfaction, parent-child attachment, and even the developmental well-being of the child.
Positive Transition to Parenthood
Pregnancy and early parenthood offer unique opportunities and motivation to understand our past attachments so that we can create the best possible relationships with our children and for our children.
Postpartum Mood & Anxiety Disorders
Approximately 15% of women experience postpartum mood disorders in the year after giving birth. These disorders include depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and (rarely) psychosis.
“Intelligence + Compassion + Skill = Leslie Butterfield.”
— MF