Breaking the stigma: Flourish Counseling provides specialized services for women, mothers

Messenger-Inquirer - 4/20/2023

Apr. 20—Beth Partain made the decision to open her own counseling practice — Flourish Counseling — in 2020 to provide support to women and mothers in different stages of life.

"I work with pregnant and postpartum mothers and moms who have experienced loss and miscarriages," she said.

The reasoning behind the services Partain provides comes from a personal experience. She had her first child in 2017 and said everything was going well, until it wasn't.

"I had a random placental abruption which landed us in an early emergency delivery," she said. "It was a life-threatening situation for both me and my child. She was in the NICU for three weeks. I really struggled."

After that experience, Partain realized there needed to be more specialized services for mothers.

"That support was not available," she said. "Obviously there are therapists around, but there's not any specialized in that perinatal field for helping moms that really struggle."

However, Flourish Counseling sees all women, typically beginning at the age of 18, depending on what service is needed.

"I can work with depression, anxiety, trauma, neurodiversity like ADHD, any kind of life changes," she said. "General stress and stress management."

Partain received her masters of science in social work in 2014 and began practicing shortly after, going through the process to become fully licensed. She tested to obtain the full credentials of a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW).

Before opening her own practice in 2020, Partain went through "extensive training" for her perinatal mental health certification (PMH-C).

"In order to even sit for the exam, you have to have a certain amount of hours working with moms," she said. "In May 2021 I applied and sat for the exam and passed."

To her knowledge, Partain said she is the only therapist locally to have that certification.

Partain said she has received referrals from the Owensboro Health Medical Group Women's Pavilion and other medical practices in the area.

Since moving the practice to 320 Booth Ave., Partain said she has seen extensive growth.

"I think people didn't really know these services existed unless it was word of mouth or a referral from a doctor's office," she said.

One of Partain's goals is to let women know they are not alone in their struggles.

"There are people that, like me, have that certification and experience of working with moms," she said. "There's nothing wrong with you because you're experiencing this, and you're not alone. There are people working to help in that stigma and those mental health concerns."

Partain said a lot of mothers, especially first-time mothers, worry that they will be a "bad mom" if they admit they are struggling.

"I think that's the biggest piece," she said. "They worry about telling the truth on screeners because they don't want to have their child taken away or they don't want to admit they're having these struggles because they think it 'confirms' they're a 'bad mom.' "

Along with individual counseling, Partain provides support groups for mothers — parenting without your parent, the fourth trimester, calm mama meditation and mama circles.

For more information on services Partain provides, visit www.flourishcounselingobky.com or call 502-963-7938.

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