What is Patrescence: The Transition We Miss
We don’t talk enough about what actually happens to a man when he has a kid. It’s not just about “getting used to it.” It’s patrescence—the distinct, biological process of becoming a father. From remodeling neural pathways to shifts in stress hormones, a dad’s transformation is real, measurable, and essential to his child’s development. Let’s dive into the science behind the paternal identity shift and look at why treating fathers like backup caregivers is costing everyone.
Matrescence: You’re Not Falling Apart. You’re Becoming.
There is a word for what happens to a woman when she becomes a mother—and it is not postpartum depression, not baby blues, not “the adjustment period.” It is matrescence: a developmental process as profound, disorienting, and biologically driven as adolescence, except that nobody talks about it the way they should. This post explores what the science now tells us about the maternal brain, the maternal body, and the maternal identity—and why having a name for this might be one of the most useful things we can offer the people living through it.
Therapists have the poetry, but prescribers need the math: what therapists should know about psychiatric medication.
Every week, therapists sit with clients who are on psychiatric medication — holding the most detailed, continuous picture of how that medication is actually going. They hear about the side effect that showed up in week two. They notice when the affect has gone flat in a way that feels different from the depression. They know about the ibuprofen for the back pain, the supplement someone started taking, the doses that got skipped during the work trip. And most of them have no idea what to do with any of it — not because they don’t care, but because nobody ever taught them that this information was clinically urgent, or how to move it across the treatment team in a way that actually changes care. This post is about that gap.
We need to be talking about weaning.
Weaning from breastfeeding is one of the most significant hormonal transitions a woman will experience in the postpartum period — and one of the least clinically supported. This post explores why the 3–6 month postpartum window, when most American mothers are weaning, is a period of compounding vulnerability: shifting reproductive hormones, the return of estrogen cycling and menstruation, postpartum thyroiditis (which affects 5–10% of postpartum women and often goes undetected), cumulative sleep deprivation, and the withdrawal of oxytocin and prolactin can converge into a perfect storm of mood disruption that is often more destabilizing than the early postpartum period itself. While breastfeeding is consistently associated with lower rates of postpartum depression, the direction of that relationship is complex — and the medical literature on post-weaning psychiatric symptoms remains startlingly thin, with only thirteen documented syndromes across six published case reports, even as thousands of women describe the same experience in online communities. Drawing from both personal experience and clinical practice, this post examines the neuroendocrine landscape of lactation and weaning, the emotional weight of ending a breastfeeding relationship, and what evidence-based treatment actually looks like — including interpersonal and cognitive behavioral therapy, SSRIs and other medications, psychosocial breastfeeding support, and the kind of compassionate, unhurried care this transition deserves. If you are experiencing mood changes, insomnia, or anxiety during or after weaning, this post is for you.
The Praxis Standard: Elevating Mental Health Care Through Thoughtful, Integrated Mental Health Care
This article explores the Praxis Signature Framework, our model of elevated mental health care that integrates advanced psychiatric expertise with depth-oriented psychotherapy to deliver highly personalized, evidence-based treatment. Moving beyond routine medication management, we emphasize continuous reassessment, patient education, and shared decision-making to foster meaningful therapeutic progress. This journal entry highlights, through a case reflection, the importance of evaluating treatment effectiveness and discussing milestones in care. This entry underscores the need for clinicians to remain actively engaged in their patients’ mental health journeys. The Praxis Mental Health approach combines individualized, data-informed treatment plans with clear patient education and responsive support from the multidisciplinary team, including registered nurses. Our model exemplifies a higher standard of psychiatric and therapeutic care, aiming to empower patients and improve long-term outcomes through collaboration, curiosity, and compassionate care.
