Are we ready to get married?

Why guess when you can be sure? Pre-engagement and pre-marital counseling can help you remove the guesswork and make an informed, confident decision. Information + Awareness + Valuable Tools = Confidence in your decision.

Should I invest in pre-marital counseling?

Studies consistently demonstrate that investing in pre-marital counseling creates a powerful foundation for lasting love. The time and resources you invest pay dividends throughout your relationship. Many couples report that the skills they developed during sessions help them navigate challenges years or even decades later.

What are the benefits of pre-marital counseling?

Research shows couples who participate in quality pre-marital counseling have significantly stronger, more resilient marriages. They report 30% higher relationship satisfaction over time, greater ability to navigate life's challenges together, stronger emotional connection and intimacy, more effective communication during conflicts, and higher levels of commitment to their partnership.

Do you offer LGBTQ+ affirming pre-marital counseling?

Yes, we proudly offer inclusive, affirming pre-marital counseling for LGBTQ+ couples. Our specialists understand the unique challenges LGBTQ+ couples may face and provide a safe, supportive environment to address navigating family dynamics, building resilience against minority stress, creating meaningful ceremonies, and planning for family building options.

PMAD Therapy: You Are Not Alone, and You Can Feel Like Yourself Again

Struggling through pregnancy, after baby arrived, or through a reproductive loss? What you are feeling has a name, it is not your fault, and it responds to treatment.

At Empower Counseling, we offer specialized therapy for Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADs) — supporting women through postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, prenatal mental health challenges, the emotional toll of infertility, and grief after pregnancy loss. Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), one of the most well-researched approaches for perinatal mental health, our therapist Anna Mills Fleenor, LMSW, will meet you exactly where you are and walk with you toward real recovery — not just relief, but reconnection with your life, your relationships, and yourself.

Ready to Take the First Step Toward Feeling Like Yourself Again?

Request a Free 10-Minute Consultation

Why Choose Empower Counseling for PMAD Therapy in Birmingham?

When You Need a Therapist Who Actually Specializes in This

If you are navigating postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, intrusive thoughts that horrify you, the aftermath of a traumatic birth, the emotional weight of an infertility journey, or grief after pregnancy loss, you need more than a general counselor. You need a therapist who specializes in perinatal mental health and understands how different this season is from anything else.

We meet you where you are right now — whether you are sad when you are supposed to feel grateful, anxious when you are supposed to feel at peace, or disconnected when you are supposed to feel bonded. None of those things make you a bad mother or a broken woman. They make you someone who needs the right support.

It is our mission to walk with you out of suffering and into recovery — and to give you the tools, strategies, and understanding necessary to feel like yourself again. Your therapist Anna Mills Fleenor, LMSW, specializes in this work and will guide you at your own pace, without judgment, without rushing.

What Does PMAD Recovery Look Like?

Through our ACT-based counseling approach, you will gain the tools and strategies necessary to carry the hard things without being controlled by them — and to slowly reconnect with what matters most to you.

Recovery is a place where you can expect:

Relief from the sadness, numbness, or constant dread - A quieter mind and a steadier heart
Freedom from intrusive thoughts - Without the shame that keeps so many women silent
Reconnection with your baby or your journey toward one - Presence that feels real, not forced
Reconnection with your partner - Communication and closeness that has felt out of reach
A sense of who you are again - Even in this new form, in this new season
Practical tools for the hard moments - That work in real life, not just in the therapy room
Hope that things can be different - Because the research and our experience confirm they can

Up to 80% of women with postpartum depression achieve full recovery with appropriate treatment. You are exactly who this treatment was designed for.

Comprehensive PMAD Therapy Services in Birmingham, AL

Here's How You Get to This Better Place:

1. Reach Out — Your Free Consultation

A free 10-minute consultation is the first step. You do not have to know what to say or how to describe what you are feeling. You just have to reach out. We will listen, answer your questions, and help you understand what specialized PMAD therapy could look like for you.

2. Your First Session — Discover Hope

In your very first session with Anna Mills, we will gently explore what life looks like for you right now and what you would like to feel different. If you are not sure exactly what you are experiencing — or whether what you are feeling even has a name — that is okay. You don't have to know yet. We will guide you toward understanding.

3. ACT-Based Treatment — Real, Lasting Recovery

Through Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, you will learn to make room for the hard things — the grief, the worry, the intrusive thoughts — without being controlled by them. You will reconnect with your values and your sense of self, even before symptoms fully resolve. Recovery is not about returning to who you were before. It is about finding yourself again, in this new form, and discovering that she was there all along.

Perinatal Mental Health Conditions We Treat

We offer specialized therapy for: • Postpartum Depression (PPD) • Postpartum Anxiety (PPA) • Postpartum OCD and Intrusive Thoughts • Postpartum PTSD After a Traumatic Birth • Prenatal Depression and Anxiety • The Transition to Motherhood (Matrescence) • Bonding and Attachment Difficulties • Postpartum Rage and Irritability

Counseling Through Reproductive Loss and the Infertility Journey

Our perinatal mental health services also include: • Counseling for Miscarriage and Pregnancy Loss Grief • Therapy for Stillbirth and Reproductive Grief • Emotional Support Counseling for the Infertility Journey • Mental Health Support Through Fertility Treatment

How We Serve You

Beyond specialized PMAD therapy, you have access to: • In-Person Sessions at our Birmingham office in Office Park • Online Therapy throughout Alabama for the days getting out of the house is too much • A Full Team of Specialists if your needs evolve over time • Flexible Scheduling that respects the demands of this season of life

Request Your Free Consultation

About Empower Counseling in Birmingham, AL

Empower Counseling offers in-person and online therapy in Birmingham and throughout the state of Alabama. Our office is conveniently located in Office Park between HWY 280 and Mountain Brook Village with plenty of free parking. Our team is led by founder Kathryn Ely (Licensed Professional Counselor, National Certified Counselor, Advanced trained in ACT), and our perinatal mental health work is led by Anna Mills Fleenor, LMSW, who specializes in counseling women through postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, the emotional weight of the infertility journey, and grief after pregnancy loss. The first step is to reach out for a free consultation — you do not have to keep carrying this alone, and recovery is possible.