Presentation and Signing with Nicole Pensak, PHD author of Rattled

All are welcome to join at the bookstore for an amazing presentation and signing with Dr. Nicole Pansak author of RATTLED: How to Calm New Mom Anxiety with the Power of Postpartum Brain.

If you are interested in pre-ordering you can do so through this link : CLICK HERE TO ORDER

About the book:

matrescence

noun /ma'tres.?nts/ the process of becoming a mother: The physical, psychological, and emotional changes you go through after the birth of your child . . . largely unexplored in the medical community. —Cambridge Dictionary

Most new mothers bring their infants to the doctor but ignore any distressing feelings or sensations they might themselves have—that sense of being “rattled” at many moments throughout the day and night. In Rattled, Dr. Nicole Pensak shares her own experiences and those of her patients to help new mothers feel informed, validated, and guided through matrescence. After giving birth, a woman often feels like a completely different person. It may sound dramatic, but the rollercoaster of physical and psychological changes affects brain and body in a similar way that adolescence changes us. To compound that, many women hide these feelings, worrying that something is wrong with them.

Dr. Nicole Pensak is here to reassure us that being “rattled” is normal, and not at all surprising. After all, seismic changes in identity and emotion have occurred. Research shows that a woman’s brain shifts in real, biological ways very quickly after giving birth. Many women become hypervigilant, for good reason: the brain is telling her to stay alert because she has a human to keep alive and safe. While these brainpower boosts can cause anxious feelings, they can also help to manage the distress and harness the advantages of the postpartum brain. In fact, this is a time of neuroplasticity, when the brain is more receptive to positive reinforcement.

Trained at Yale and Harvard and certified in perinatal mental health, Dr. Pensak provides practical and emotional support, helping to relieve the anxiety and pressure for perfection in motherhood and paving the way for a better beginning for families and babies. She discusses mental health treatment and the upside of therapy during this changing time, and offers accessible scientific information, relatable anecdotes, and strategies for self-care. The result is a reassuring and practical handbook that new mothers and their families will refer to time and again.

About the author:

Dr. Pensak is a Clinical Psychologist and Author of RATTLED, How to Calm New Mom Anxiety with the Power of the Postpartum Brain, and specializes in postpartum and maternal mental health, anxiety, OCD, and depression. She is certified in postpartum mental health and provides evidence-based therapy to her patients. Dr. Pensak serves on the Expert Review Board for Parents Magazine, Expert Provider Board for Mother Untitled, and is a TEDx Speaker.

Dr. Pensak received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from University of Rhode Island and completed her APA accredited internship and specialty training in behavioral medicine at Yale School of Medicine. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital/ Harvard Medical School in psychiatric oncology and an NIH T32 fellowship at the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Center in Aging and Palliative Care. As a Harvard and Yale-trained Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Pensak provides empirically-based treatment that is uniquely tailored to meet the needs of each client.

Prior to moving into full-time private practice, Dr. Pensak was the Director of Psycho-Oncology at Jersey Shore University Medical Center (JSUMC), Hope Tower. At JSUMC, she supervised and taught psychiatry residents how to provide Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to their patients. In addition, she directed the psychosocial oncology service, conducted research, and provided direct clinical services to patients with cancer. Prior to JSUMC, she was Assistant Scientist at Hackensack University Medical Center/John Theurer Cancer Center and Assistant Professor of Oncology at Georgetown University Medical Center. Prior to that, she was Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine. She was a Career Development Award recipient from the National Palliative Care Research Center (NPCRC) for which she conducted technological intervention development and dissemination research for caregivers of patients with advanced illness. As a 2016 NPCRC Career Development Award grantee, she conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial of a mobilized intervention to help caregivers manage distress and to enhance intimacy.

Hope to see you at the shop on May 18th at 7pm! Having a free ticket is not necessary for entry but it does give us a good idea of attendance.