Spotlight Series
Guest Name: Betty Flores
LCSW, PMHC – Perinatal Wellness
Betty Flores: awesome thanks for having me
Dr. Betty DeLass: yeah so Betty Flores is a licensed clinical social worker and a certified perinatal mental health specialist with extensive experience in supporting individuals through the emotional challenges of pregnancy postpartum and reproductive Health she is EMDR certified and currently pursuing certification ERP exposure and response prevention enhancing her abilities to address anxiety and Trauma Related Disorders specializing in the treatment of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders Betty works with the individuals facing complex issues such as postpartum depression OCD birth trauma reproductive trauma and infertility for therapeutic approaches client centered and strength-based empowering clients to find relief and healing from attachment wounds childhood trauma and the unique stresses of Parenthood Betty’s dedicated to creating a safe and non-judgmental space where her clients can process their experiences and regain control over their emotional well-being she is passionate about helping others build resilience and Thrive during some of life’s most challenging transitions awesome well I’m so excited that you’re here um and the first question we’re going to jump in right off the bat is what made you decide to be a mental health therapist in general
Betty Flores: yeah so my parents actually are both in the health care field my mom um is is has a nursing background and my dad um has a counseling background along with a couple other things but um so always having them around and kind of modeling you know helping and um being in that space um but honestly I think it was undergrad and it was like the last semester of undergrad I’m like I don’t know what I’m doing in school and so I took a bunch of like um just random courses and I think it was Social Work 1010 and I had to do do like so many hours of community service and I did it at the Christmas Box House out in Ogden and I just loved to being in that space of of supporting others and yeah yeah
Dr. Betty DeLass: amazing amazing okay what would you say Makes You Different in your approach
Betty Flores: um makes me different well I think so I think my Niche is very specific right it’s perinatal Focus but also like I’ve even niched down more of being really EMDR and ERP focused so really those are the only clients that I’m taking at this point um of like yeah really wanting to focus on those things really wanting to um um create that create that um name for myself I guess as being the EMDR and yeah ERP specialist in in the perinatal world
Dr. Betty DeLass: and then can you for those who don’t know what EMDR are and ERP can you explain that a little bit of like what is that and like and that would lead into our next question of like who’s an ideal fit for like that type of role to get that
Betty Flores: yeah for sure so I think both modalities um really do a lot of Shifting in in in the brain in thought process processes um but Eye movement um desensitization reprocessing or EMDR is a lot of trauma they um depression so um pregnancy infant loss um infertility birth trauma reproductive trauma um would be good fits for that and they use bilateral stimulation so either some people will be like is that when you follow the ball across the screen I’m like yeah that’s one way to do it you know or they have tappers too to really help um shift those thoughts in regards to the experience that you had it’s either a more neutral one or a positive one yeah and then um ERP or exposure response prevention is more for OCD anxious clients um and and and basically you’re really exposing yourself to the fears that you have um and teaching your brain that they’re not that scary um they’re not as scary as your brain is making them and that you can like withstand the fear um that it’s creating so
Dr. Betty DeLass: super cool awesome um what does the process look like to work with with you then
Betty Flores: um so people either find me through my website um text me you know on my Instagram so really any of those places is a good a good way to contact me um and um once once you reach out to me I I feel like I’m pretty quick I try to respond you know within the hour if I can if I’m not in between clients whether that’s a text or call um to set up a consultation see if we’re a good fit um whether you know clients are in network or out of network with me um if they feel like We Vibe or you know have the same kind of energy um they want virtual or in person all of those kind of things are explored and if ultimately at the end it’s not deemed a good fit for whatever reason I do my very best to connect them with somebody that is yeah yeah
Dr. Betty DeLass: awesome okay um what does recovery look like from like pregnancy postpartum that transition that you know from your lens like what is that
Betty Flores: um like what do I see in my clients is that what you
Dr. Betty DeLass: yeah what do you walk your clients through in that recovery period or that transition
Betty Flores: yeah so a lot of the times I mean first it’s like the initial assessment really trying to get see which modality is going to work best for them right if it’s any anxiety type I I really try and steer more ERP um and then if it’s you know the other ones that I had mentioned with the trauma or depression I really do EMDR and the nice thing about those modalities too it’s like very structured and there’s like a light at the end of the tunnel right so it’s not like this endless talk therapy um and I’ve seen great success in it and so that’s kind of the cool thing is like they get kind of like in pelvic floor right like you get them getting into these exercises or getting to shift their brain in certain ways um really challenge some of those patterns that have been there or have been created since birth um and then they can do a lot of the work on their own but really being able to see this shift um in those brain Pathways and them not being so distressed with the events that were distressing when they came in so I would say I probably see people six months you know maybe Max a year but again it’s pretty structured and if people are putting in the work then like you can see the results pretty clearly
Dr. Betty DeLass: yeah amazing amazing okay what’s something that most people don’t know that you think that they should know whether that’s about your practice about therapy about pregnancy postpartum like what’s something around that
Betty Flores: yeah I mean um one I think the you know the likelihood is 25% you know to have a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder so it’s really not that um uncommon people just think it is um one if you’ve had any sort of mood or anxiety disorder family history of that too you’re more prone to have one so really just some of the signs and symptoms that could be preventative or at least you could be aware of right um a lot of what’s normalized isn’t normalized normal it’s just common um and a lot of people will be like yeah we’ll be like oh no that’s normal it’s like well it’s not it’s common but it’s not normal you know and like let’s get you thriving instead of just surviving
Dr. Betty DeLass: yeah awesome awesome okay is there anything special that you want to promote to the audience listening here it can be anything at all
Betty Flores: um I I think this I would say I’m already in Dr CI so like really any ERP if you’re worried about you know intrusive thoughts scary thoughts that’s really what I’m trying to delve into I think the most right now I’m feeling really confident in in both modalities but with finishing up my certification like if that’s anything that you’re interested in exploring or want support with like each become my way I am I am so happy to to be able to support in that in that area
Dr. Betty DeLass: awesome awesome okay my last last question but favorite question to ask is what’s the main thing that you want to be known for
Betty Flores: um I think I answered this a little bit but I think just being again EMDR um the EMDR ERP kind of Niche and perinatal right any of those like um really scary thoughts that some parents don’t want to talk about right like dropping my baby hitting my baby whatever you know um drowning my baby like all of those things can be scary and it’s different than psychosis right and so like being able to have the space of being really vulnerable with some of those scary thoughts and deciphering like hey is this anxiety or is this something else and like if it is anxiety you know OCD like there is treatment for it and like let’s get you the right treatment because um those other modalities are just going to exacerbate the issue
Dr. Betty DeLass: totally totally well thank you so much for sharing that where can we find you where where’s your social media all things like that
Betty Flores: yes so um my website is Perinatal Wellness will you be linking it the things as well maybe
Dr. Betty DeLass: yeah
Betty Flores: okay I like Perinatal Wellness and that’s also my Instagram handle as well um but it should if you search Perinatal Wellness or Betty Flores LCSW my we my website’s linked right on my bio as well so
Dr. Betty DeLass: amazing amazing well thank you so much for jumping on here and highlighting all the things that you’re doing in our community and we’re so thankful to have you we’ll see you soon
Betty Flores: yeah thank you so much bye