About Therapy
The world keeps moving, and you feel frozen.
After perinatal loss, the world does not stop. People return to work, text messages slow down, baby showers still happen, and social media continues to scroll. Unfortunately, you are left carrying something that feels both enormous and invisible.
Inside, you feel shattered, numb, or anxious in a way you cannot explain. At night, the same moments might keep replaying in your mind. You might wake up at 3 a.m. with “what if” thoughts you cannot quiet. You may feel guilty for laughing one minute and devastated the next. You may even feel unlike yourself.
Many of the individuals and couples who come to me say the same thing: “I don’t know how to hold this.” They love their baby deeply, and they cannot imagine letting go of that bond, but they also cannot keep living in constant pain.
If that is where you are, you are not broken. You are grieving something profound.
Here’s what it feels like to sit with me.
Therapy with me is quiet in a good way – grounded and steady. I am not afraid of your tears or uncomfortable with silence. I will not rush you past the most complex parts or try to put a silver lining on something that feels unbearable.
You do not have to protect me from your anger, jealousy, intrusive thoughts, or the parts of grief that feel taboo. If you feel resentful of other pregnant women, we can talk about it. If you are tired of people telling you everything happens for a reason, we can say that aloud.
Many clients tell me they feel relief simply from being able to speak their baby’s name without worrying about someone else’s discomfort. In our sessions, your story is fully acknowledged. Your child is fully acknowledged.
You may notice that your breathing slows as we talk, and your shoulders drop slightly. That, for the first time in a while, you do not feel alone inside the pain.
Hold love without being consumed by sorrow.
Over time, our work gently shifts. At first, it is about stabilizing, helping you get through the day, supporting sleep, and reducing the intensity of panic or intrusive thoughts. We make space for the waves of grief without being knocked down each time they come.
As trust builds, we begin to make meaning. We look at the beliefs that have formed around the loss. The guilt, self-blame, and sense that you should have done something differently. We gently challenge what is not yours to carry.
For couples, we also explore how differently each of you may grieve. One partner may want to talk constantly. The other may withdraw. Without guidance, this difference can feel like rejection. In therapy, we slow those moments down and create language for what is happening beneath the surface.
Clients often describe subtle but powerful changes over months. The pain does not disappear, but it feels less sharp. There are moments of laughter that do not feel like betrayal. Work becomes possible again, and intimacy returns in small, meaningful ways.
The goal is not to forget. It is to integrate.
The chrysalis is not the end.
I often use the image of a chrysalis. Inside, it looks like everything is falling apart, but that space of breaking down is also a space of becoming.
Grief changes you. There is no going back to who you were before. But there can be a version of you who carries this loss with depth, strength, and meaning rather than constant despair.
Therapy is not about rescuing you from the struggle. It is about sitting with you inside it until something new begins to emerge.
You are capable of profound transformation. Sometimes you need someone who understands the terrain to walk beside you.
About Nicole Waite, LPC
I know this grief from the inside.
I did not choose this work by accident.
My practice is shaped not only by clinical training, but by my own lived experience of perinatal loss. I have sat in therapy rooms as a client and attended group sessions. I know what it feels like to wonder if the pain will ever soften.
That experience changed me. It deepened my empathy and sharpened my ability to recognize the subtle layers of grief that others may miss.
When I say I understand, it is not a phrase. It is lived.
Why do I do this work?
Healing happens when people feel genuinely understood, and their most painful experiences are met with steadiness rather than discomfort.
My clinical background includes trauma-informed cognitive behavioral therapy, grief-focused treatment planning, and person-centered, strengths-based approaches.
I integrate practical tools with emotional processing and making meaning. I will offer psychoeducation when it helps you feel grounded. I will also sit quietly when words are not enough.
I share parts of my own story only when it serves your healing, never to center myself. My role is to guide, to witness, and to help you see what may be hard to see on your own.
Outside of my work…
I value connection, reflection, and honoring the quiet spaces where growth happens.
If you are navigating the unimaginable and longing for steadiness, understanding, and hope, I would be honored to sit with you.