About Me
Hi, I’m Marnie
I’m originally from the midwest and trained in Psychology at the University of Minnesota, before ditching my parka for a raincoat and heading to the Pacific Northwest to establish my counseling practice. I eventually invested in new Birkenstocks and sunglasses and made the move to the Bay Area.
To recharge, you’ll find me hiking in the hills with my dog, Louise, strumming my ukulele, or taking a few moments on my yoga mat. I value my relationships and find joy sending handmade cards to friends as well.
My own journey to motherhood has been messy and beautiful at the same time. The days seem to last forever and time passes in the blink of an eye. I founded Becoming Mothers Counseling because I wanted to support women in my own community and be a part of supporting a gentler transition to motherhood.
My STORY
I like to joke now that I’m a “recovering perfectionist.” I never really knew how much of a perfectionist I was until I became a mother. I’m someone who craves structure, control and likes to be prepared…for everything. During pregnancy, I listened to all the podcasts and read all the books (but always skipped the sections about postpartum complications and mental health challenges).
I figured I’m a therapist — I don’t have to worry about this without realizing that perinatal / maternal mood disorders don’t discriminate. No one is immune, no matter how educated or informed you are.
I never really knew how much of a perfectionist I was until I became a mother.
When my son joined our little family, all seemed well and “normal” after his birth. Then things changed. I suffered from unresolved physical pain from the labor and delivery that eventually required surgery. But the cause of my distress was much deeper than that. The identity change of becoming a mother and the demands on me combined with the loss of control was shocking and debilitating. Despite my education and experience as a mental health therapist, someone trained to recognize depression and anxiety in others, I couldn’t see what was happening right within myself.
I finally sought professional help. Eventually, I started to recognize myself and began to accept this new part of my identity as “mom.” Three years later, the birth of my daughter led me into that familiar darkness once again and I felt powerless to stop it. After surviving postpartum depression and anxiety yet again, I emerged from these experiences with a profound respect for the power of therapy, medication, and a good support system as tools for healing.
In our work together, the focus is on you, your healing process, and your journey to maternal wellness. I won’t often share about myself or my personal story, but if I do, it’s because I’ve thought carefully about whether my experience will be meaningful to you. I share my story here, not only because we must spread awareness and decrease the stigma about perinatal mental health challenges, but also because perhaps it’s helpful to have a better sense of who I am and understand the path that led me here.
HOW I SHOW UP AS A THERAPIST
Welcome to my practice. I enjoy teaching mothers to know their worth. We tend to be our own harshest critics and, at times, underestimate our value. Out of love for our child, unrealistic expectations, or comparison to other moms, we also often strive for “perfect” when perhaps “good enough” could be a better standard.
In our work together, you will learn how to be kinder and more compassionate with yourself while facing the unique challenges of motherhood.
I believe therapy can be an opportunity to get to know yourself better. I will help you see yourself through lenses of kindness and empowerment. I’m collaborative and see myself as an active part of your journey in being well.
Humor is a part of who I am, both personally and therapeutically, and I like to bring that to our sessions. My aim is to develop a relationship where you feel respected and understood, yet challenged to engage in meaningful self-exploration. You don’t have to do this alone and you deserve to be well.
“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.”
— Rajneesh
an accessible, helpful resource that comes through on the promise to meet clients where they’re at
“Becoming Mothers is an accessible, helpful resource that comes through on the promise to meet clients where they're at. Marnie’s social media content is a refreshing treat amidst the excess of flippant parenting advice across the internet. Her expert insights on maternal wellness are grounded in clinical research and enriched with honest and real personal mothering experience. It makes you want to sit down and chat longer with Marnie! I highly suggest you put up your feet, open that bag of chips, and have a scroll!”
exactly the type of support I was looking for as a new mother
“I feel so fortunate to have met Marnie. Her calm nature, grounded energy, and knowledge was exactly the type of support I was looking for as a new mother. When voicing my concerns, she was very present, paid attention and internalized what I was saying. Just having Marnie help bear the mental load and really listen was so validating. I immediately clicked with her -- after our conversations I even felt like I had the warm fuzzies, I can't recommend her enough!”
— Christina L.
a transformative postpartum therapist… marnie was present, insightful, grounded, attuned and astute.
“Marnie Levenson is a transformative postpartum therapist. She came to my home and sat with me and talked through the significant trauma surrounding the birth of our second daughter. Marnie helped me shift the narrative I was holding onto which gave me ease and peace. She created an intentional space to have conversations about the challenges of new motherhood as well as processing the shock of a really difficult hospitalization and birth. She was intimately aware of how hard and dysregulating new parenting can be (and parenting multiple children).
There are so many shifts that take place as a new parent: the pain from childbirth, the wildly shifting moods and hormones, the difficulties of sleep deprivation, navigating the new relationship you have with your partner and the shifts in identify. Marnie gently yet purposefully guided me through all of these spaces. With her as my guide, delving into all of these topics (especially trauma) wasn't too overwhelming. She was keenly aware of the difficulties of mothers during the very vulnerable postpartum time and she was focused and asked questions just at the right moments.
Marnie was present, insightful, grounded, attuned and astute. It was easy to be honest and forthright with her. She guided me on the exact journey I needed to take and she managed to find the right balance of support, listening, guidance and sage advice. I can't express enough how helpful it was to work with Marnie.”