A gentle place to land in the first year of parenting

Therapy for new parents, in San Francisco or by video, at hours that fit around feeds, naps and early mornings.

A green shoot sprouting in a pot of soil on a windowsill

If you are in crisis, call or text 988 (the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline), any time. In an emergency, call 911.

Sleep and feeding
Birth stories
Who you are now
Partners welcome
Going back to work
Early mornings
Evenings
Video from home

Meet Bridgette

I'm Bridgette Dukes, a licensed marriage and family therapist. I see new parents in the first year: the sleepless weeks, the change in who you are, and the way a partnership shifts when there are three of you.

Sessions are 50 minutes, in person or by video, at times that fit around feeds and naps. Bring the baby if that is what the morning needs.

Licensed marriage and family therapist in California
In person in San Francisco, or by video
Early morning and evening hours
Partners welcome

A smiling woman with long braids in a maroon top stands outdoors with her arms folded

50 min
Each session
Video
Or in person
7 a.m.
Earliest session
Partners
Welcome in sessions

“I kept waiting to feel like myself again. Here I got to be a person first and a parent second, for fifty minutes.”

Mai T.

Sample reviews.

Where sessions can start

Each set of sessions is shaped around your first year as a parent. Your clinician sets the pace with you.

Individual sessions for new parents

A room of your own for an hour. Talk about the birth, the nights, the days, and who you are in the middle of it, at the pace you set.

Therapist talking with a client across a glass table in a bright room

Worry and the early weeks

When the worry will not switch off even while the baby sleeps. We talk through it, and look at sleep, feeding and the support around you.

Two women talk on a grey sofa, one holding a phone

Grief after a loss

For a miscarriage, a stillbirth or the loss of a baby, or a loss that came before this child. Grief has no timeline here.

A smiling woman gestures as she talks with another woman across a small round table

Who you are now

A new baby moves work, friendships and the way you see yourself. Make room to notice what has changed and what you miss.

A large round grey armchair with cushions beside wicker baskets and dried flowers

Partner and couple sessions

A baby changes a partnership. Sessions for the two of you, or for one partner who wants to talk about it alone.

A young couple sit on a sofa listening to an older woman in a rattan chair in a plant-filled room

THE FIRST YEAR

A year of sessions, month by month

A rough shape, not a plan. The pace is yours, and the hours move with the baby.

01
Step 1: Before you begin
A short call about fit, then a first session at a time that works around feeds and naps. Early mornings, evenings and video from home are all possible.
02
Step 2: Month 1
The early weeks. Sessions are for taking stock: how the birth went, if you want to say, who is helping at home, how you are sleeping. Bring the baby if the morning needs it.
03
Step 3: Months 2 and 3
Some parents come weekly in these months and some every other week; you and Bridgette set the pace. We look at the hardest part of the day and what you are no longer saying out loud.
04
Step 4: Months 4 to 6
Sleep, work and the people around you. A partner can join a session, and we plan for going back to work, or for deciding not to.
05
Step 5: Months 7 to 9
Rhythms change again: crawling, solid food, childcare. Sessions move with them, to video on a hard day or to a different hour.
06
Step 6: Months 10 to 12
Looking back over the year. You decide whether to keep going, meet less often or stop, and the door stays open.

Words from parents

“Nobody there looked at the clock when I cried, or at the baby when I could not find the words. I was given the whole fifty minutes.”
Riya S.
“My first session was at half past seven in the morning, before work. I had not known therapy could be that early. It is what made going possible.”
Cormac B.
“I am not the one who gave birth, and I thought there would be no room for me. There was. She asked about me, too.”
Alonso R.
“The sessions moved with my week. When the baby was ill we switched to video, no fuss, and I did not have to explain.”
Ayanna W.
“No one told me what a good parent does. We talked about what the nights were like and what I wanted the days to be.”
Haoran L.