"Dr. Deborah Issokson is an incredible asset to the field of perinatal health. She has a thorough grasp of the psychological aspects of pregnancy, labor and delivery, birth and breastfeeding, and she adds much to these fields by bringing her unique perspective. She is one of a handful of psychologists working in perinatal health, and is truly on the cutting edge. Dr. Issokson is a wonderful and inspiring presenter, a competent writer, and a compassionate clinician. I regularly refer women to her practice, and have gained much from my association with her."
Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, Ph.D, Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Texas Tech University School of Medicine, Author, The Hidden Feelings of Motherhood and Postpartum Depression: A comprehensive approach for nurses.
"Words cannot adequately express the depth of my gratitude for your commitment, support and guidance along my journey of discovery…I am so much more self aware and cognizant of what I can achieve in my life. Thank you for being a facilitator to my change process."
Psychotherapy client
"Debbie Issokson has provided professional training and consultation to our programs for many years. Debbie is a solid, thoughtful, responsive presenter. She brings to each training information, ideas and a responsiveness to her audience. Through her years of work in the field of perinatal mental health, she has developed a unique expertise. This expertise is filled with research, theory and clinical casework. I highly recommend Debbie’s work and feel privileged to have the opportunity to train with her and continue the work to better understand and develop the field on behalf of women’s health."
Peggy H. Kaufman, Director Center for Early Relationship Support, Jewish Family & Children’s Service, Boston, MA
"Thank you for all you do for women and especially for our clients in difficult circumstances."
Certified Nurse-Midwifery Service
"I appreciate all you are doing for the birthing community. The work you do is so meaningful and vital to women. Everyone I have referred to you has raved about you."
Birth Doula
"The transition to parenthood usually heralds radical change in our lives. Debbie Issokson brings an extraordinarily high level of expertise, compassion, warmth and integrity to supporting new mothers and partners to move through that change with grace, thriving in their new roles and identity. Debbie's dynamic skills, unique perspective, and cutting edge resources shepherds postpartum women through the transition of early parenting to help create the best start for everyone in the family. Debbie's capacity for listening is extraordinary. For more than 20 years Debbie continues to be one of the most dedicated therapists, counselors, psychologists in the field of perinatal health I know."
Joan Singer, owner of Mothercare Services,
a postpartum doula service
"Working with Deborah over the past years has proven to be one of my most valuable resources in caring for women."
Ob-Gyn Healthcare Provider
"I thoroughly enjoyed the forum, learned much, and am inspired to improve my office’s awareness and response to the whole realm of post-partum mood changes."
Chief of Obstetrics
"I attended the conference on perinatal loss and bereavement and wanted to let you know how much I appreciated your presentation. The material you presented will be extremely useful to me in my work with pre-adoptive families, most of whom come to our program after a long struggle with infertility. Your style of delivery was very effective as well and your words gave me a great deal to think about."
LICSW, Coordinator of Adoption Services
"…an absolutely wonderful speaker who gave a bounty of information in a short time."
Breastfeeding Educators Conference, Maine
"Debbie is insightful, intelligent and nurturing. She is very much a midwifery advocate and an excellent counselor. She is supportive and makes our group feel successful and cohesive."
Midwifery students at Boston University Nurse-Midwifery Education Program
"Debbie has been such a gift during my clinical training. She is generous with her time, she willingly shares her resources, and her passion for her work is contagious. She has been a wonderful mentor and a huge source of encouragement as I develop my clinical skills and focus in on this specialty of perinatal mental health."
Psychology Graduate Student
"It was so helpful to speak with Debbie when I was struggling with some issues and questions surrounding my care of a patient with sexual abuse issues. She guided me in such a way that we made a great team for this patient."
Nurse-Midwife
"Debbie's approach to women is exquisitely sensitive, thoughtful and caring. Her understanding of the prenatal journey and its special meaning in a woman’s life and development gives her a deep capacity for making a difference."
Gayle Peterson, MSSW, Ph.D. Author, An Easier Childbirth and Making Healthy Families Developer of the Preventive Prenatal Education and Counseling Program
"Thank you for all your support before, during and after my pregnancy. You helped me give myself the most precious gift."
Second time mom
"Thank you so much for helping me prepare for a positive birth experience. I cannot explain how much your words of wisdom helped me with my daughter’s birth. You helped me to recapture control of my body. You helped me to give myself permission to accept my fears and feelings and overcome them. You helped me to regain the strength and confidence that I had lost."
Second time mom
"You are in the right line of work. How magnificent a birth it was. Your gentle understanding of why we couldn’t bear another c-section and your kind guidance as to how we could reclaim our own power for this birth was integral. You helped us see our daughter born perfectly. Thank you."
3rd time mom, VBAC
"The visualization process made me feel ilike I was more than halfway there by the time I got to the birth which was a VBAC."
Mother who has birthed twice
"Childbirth classes gave me some baseline information. But the meditation tape with visualizations and affirmations is what really made me feel ready for labor and birth."
First time mom
"We are so thankful that you reconnected us to feelings about our son’s death that we had put off. Once reconnected, it was like seeing an old, dear friend. We had a sadness, an openness and feelings of faith and love and hope. It was bittersweet and very welcome."
Parents whose 1st baby died after birth
"After my baby daughter died, my emotions and my ability to cope were all over the place. Debbie reassured me that my feelings were normal and she gave me specific suggestions for coping that I found immensely helpful."
Mother who has birthed three times
"Talking about my miscarriages and listening to your wonderful relaxation tapes helped me, I’m convinced, to conceive again."
Woman who had 2 miscarriages
"After a significant postpartum depression with my first child, I was very anxious about the thought of having another child. But with Debbie's support and encouragement and her ability to connect me to a variety support systems, my second postpartum experience was fantastic, thoroughly enjoyable."
Mother who has birthed twice
"Postpartum is such a fragile time…the time I spent with Debbie after the birth was a saving grace. She made a postpartum tape for me which was as helpful as the prenatal and birth tapes. Debbie is very intuitive and insightful."
2nd time mom
"I truly believe your guidance was essential to making our transition into parenthood a positive and successful one."
1st time parents
"Thank you for your wisdom and compassion. My sessions with you were an invaluable part of my postpartum experience."
Mom with postpartum adjustment struggles
"Debbie has been an incredible support and resource throughout my journey through infertility, multiple miscarriages, pregnancy and motherhood. Through working with her, I have learned how to better take care of myself, work through loss and disappointment, and cope with the joys and challenges of being a new mom."
1st time mother with history of infertility
"My sessions gave me the strength, courage, and hope that I needed to survive fertility treatments. That strength, courage, and hope carried me through IVF, the birth of my child, and is now guiding me through being a nervous first time mother. Dr. Issokson helped me to not lose myself in the overwhelming world of fertility treatments."
1st time mom with history of infertility
"I sought out Debbie's help for individual counseling before my husband and I had decided whether we wanted children. She helped me explore my ambivalence about becoming a mother as well as marital issues, and, once my husband and I decided we did want children, she saw me through the harrowing process of IVF, and a good portion of my first pregnancy. Throughout, I appreciated Debbie's vast expertise in the areas of preconception, reproductive technology, pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting. She was a great source of information and resources. I found her approach grounding for my anxiety and would highly recommend her."
former client