Ep. 58: One OT's Lived Experience Journey with Perinatal OCD with Guest Jen Anderson-Frost in support of Maternal Mental Health Week

One OT's Lived Experience Journey with Perinatal OCD with Guest Jen Anderson-Frost in support of Maternal Mental Health Week PART 2

⚠️ CONTENT NOTE This episode includes open discussion of perinatal OCD, intrusive thoughts about harm to self and children. Everyone in Jen's story remained safe. If this content isn't right for you today, Episode 55, a more ACT-focused conversation with Jen, may be a better fit: Listen Here

What happens when an occupational therapist, someone who has worked in mental health, supported others through crisis, and carries all the professional knowledge of how care is supposed to work, becomes the one who needs that care?

In this episode of The BRAVE OT Podcast, Jen Anderson-Frost and I join you for Part 2 of our conversation to share the deeply personal story behind their work and lived experience perinatal mental health. This is a rare, honest, and at times difficult account of navigating perinatal OCD as an OT and a new parent, through a high-risk pregnancy, profound grief, intrusive thoughts, and a long road to recovery. Jen also shares what they're building now: the Intuitive Perinatal Collective, a membership offering neurodivergent and queer-affirming perinatal mental health support, with a Crowdfunder currently live to support low-income families.

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In This Episode, We Discuss:

- What Jen's perinatal OCD actually looked and felt like, including the shame, the hiding, and the compulsions that happened entirely internally

- How a traumatic pregnancy, a terminal diagnosis in the family, a trauma history, and a newborn's medical needs converged into a perfect storm

- Why being an OT and mental health professional made it harder, not easier, to accept help

- The moment the word "ego-dystonic" changed everything and why it was also a double-edged sword

- How ACT concepts like defusion, experiential avoidance, and values-based living showed up in Jen's recovery (even before they named them as ACT)

- The role of medication, mental health nursing, trauma timelines, and ERP in a complex, layered recovery