Ep. 231: Dr. Alissa Jerud — Effective Ways to Manage Anxiety Related to Pregnancy and Miscarriage

My guest this week is Dr. Alissa Jerud, a clinical psychologist who specializes in treating anxiety.

Topics we discussed included:

• The anxiety conditions Alissa treats
• Anxiety related to pregnancy and fertility
• The difficulty of experiencing miscarriage
• My guest’s own experience of two miscarriages
• The conditioned anxiety after the first loss
• Pregnancy as a perfect setup for anxiety
• Dealing with the desire to avoid distressing reminders
• The benefits of facing certain things that are painful
• Talking with others about difficult experiences
• Learning to sit with uncertainty
• Accepting the possibility that things might not go the way we want them to
• Ways that we try to subtly protect ourselves from anxiety or disappointment
• Embracing the good and the bad—opening to all of it
• The benefits and limitations of cognitive techniques for dealing with worry
• The willingness to talk with and listen to those who have experienced miscarriage

Alissa Jerud, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist working in private practice and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania.

She completed her doctoral training at the University of Washington and did a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety.

In her private practice, Alissa specializes in exposure-based treatment of anxiety-related disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social anxiety, panic disorder, specific phobias, and generalized anxiety.

Additionally, she specializes in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills training, which includes skills in mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.

Alissa is passionate about helping as many people as possible, not only through her clinical work, but also through her writing and speaking engagements. She enjoys training other clinicians in exposure-based treatments and frequently gives workshops on anxiety, stress, mental health, parenting, and social support to companies large and small.

She especially enjoys helping parents (including herself) learn to accept, regulate, and tolerate their emotions, as well as their children’s.

Find Alissa online at her website.