Online Therapy for Infertility and Pregnancy Loss in Bethesda, MD
Therapy for the grief of infertility, failed IVF, miscarriage, stillbirth, and TFMR. Serving Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Potomac, Rockville, Silver Spring, and throughout Montgomery County.
You’re grieving a future that was supposed to be yours, and somewhere along the way, you lost yourself too
There was a life you could see clearly. The nursery you'd already imagined, the holidays with a bigger table, the way your family was supposed to grow. You could picture the car seat, the first birthday, the moment you'd tell your parents. That future gets quieter every month, and grieving something that never existed is its own kind of disorienting, because there's no funeral for the life you pictured, no marker for the loss of what was supposed to come next.
And then there's what this has done to you. There was a version of you before all of this, someone who made plans without checking them against a cycle, who laughed without doing the math on whether she was allowed to feel good right now, who had opinions and energy and a sense of who she was that didn't revolve around test results. You can still see her sometimes, in photos or in the way other people describe you, but she feels far away.
The confidence you had in your body, the ease you felt in friendships, the ability to sit with uncertainty without spiraling, all of it has shifted. You're still functioning, still showing up, still answering "I'm fine" when people ask, but the person doing all of that doesn't feel like the person you remember being, and the life you're building doesn't look like the one you planned.
Maybe these losses happened gradually, cycle by cycle, appointment by appointment, until you looked up and realized you couldn't remember the last time you thought about something other than this. Maybe they happened all at once, the day you got a diagnosis, the day a pregnancy ended, the day you realized the future you'd been counting on might not come.
You're here because you want more than coping. You want to feel like yourself again, or at least like someone you recognize, living a life that has room for more than grief and waiting.
Specialized therapy for infertility and pregnancy loss
There's a loneliness to infertility and pregnancy loss that's hard to explain to someone who hasn't been through it. You're grieving something most people around you never knew existed, a positive test that ended in blood, a due date that came and went with nothing to show for it, a transfer you'd pinned all your hope on, a pregnancy you had to end because the alternative was worse. And the world keeps moving like nothing happened, because for everyone else, nothing did.
I've trained specifically in how reproductive loss affects the brain and body. You won't spend sessions teaching me why Mother's Day feels like a minefield, or why your sister's pregnancy announcement made you lock yourself in the bathroom, or why you flinch every time someone at work asks if you have kids. That understanding is already in the room, which means we spend your sessions on what matters: how this grief is showing up in your sleep, your relationships, your ability to get through a normal day, and what we can do about it.
When you understand the grief perfectly and your body hasn't caught up
After enough rounds of hope and loss, your body decides that hope is the problem. That's why your hands shake in the waiting room even when you're telling yourself to stay calm, why you scan every social media feed for pregnancy announcements so they can't ambush you, why your whole body tenses when a friend starts a sentence with "I have some news." Your body is trying to protect you from the next loss by never letting you feel safe enough to want something again.
You already know why you react this way, and knowing hasn't softened the reactions. That's not a failure on your part. It means the grief has settled somewhere that logic and insight can't reach on their own, which is exactly where the therapeutic approaches I use are designed to work.
How therapy for pregnancy loss and infertility can help
You run into a neighbor who's visibly pregnant and you have a normal conversation. You notice a sad pang, but it passes. By the time you're inside, you're thinking about what to make for dinner, and the encounter doesn't define the rest of your evening.
You're at work and a decision lands on your desk that has nothing to do with fertility treatment; just a regular professional choice, and you make it clearly and without second-guessing. You realize the fog that's been sitting over your thinking for months has started to thin.
Your partner says something clumsy about the whole situation, the kind of comment that usually sends you into silence for the rest of the night, and instead you tell him what you actually need. Your voice shakes a little, but the words come out, and the conversation doesn't end in a fight. It ends in something that feels like being on the same team again.
You wake up on a Sunday and your first thought is about the farmers market, not your next appointment. You get dressed, you go, you buy something you don't need because it caught your eye. The morning belongs to you.
A friend asks how you're doing and you give an honest answer, not the full story, but not the automatic "I'm fine" either. Something in between that actually feels true. And the conversation that follows makes you feel less alone instead of more.
Online therapy for infertility and pregnancy loss in Bethesda
Online therapy means you can have your session from wherever feels most private, whether that's home, your car, or a quiet room at work. No driving through Bethesda traffic, no sitting in a waiting room, no running into someone you know on the way in.
I provide online infertility and pregnancy loss therapy to clients in Bethesda, Rockville, Silver Spring, Chevy Chase, Potomac, Germantown, Gaithersburg, Kensington, Takoma Park, College Park, and throughout Maryland.
Who this is for
I work with my Bethesda clients at every stage of the infertility and pregnancy loss experience: during treatment, after a failed cycle or transfer, after a miscarriage or stillbirth, after a TFMR, after deciding to stop trying, or years later when the grief resurfaces. I also work with people who are pregnant after loss and carrying fear through what everyone else treats as happy news.
This is a good fit if you want a therapist who specializes in reproductive loss and who uses approaches that work with your body and nervous system, not just your thoughts. This is not a good fit if you're looking for couples therapy (I work with individuals), parenting support, or fertility coaching.
About Summer
I'm Summer Verhines, a Licensed Certified Social Worker - Clinical (LCSW-C #34104) practicing virtually in Bethesda and throughout Maryland.
Before becoming a therapist, I spent nine years working in child welfare, where I saw firsthand how deeply loss reshapes a person's relationship with their own body, their sense of identity, and their ability to trust that good things can happen. That experience is what led me to specialize in reproductive grief.
I've trained specifically in how reproductive loss affects the brain and body. You won't spend sessions explaining why the baby aisle at Target makes your chest tighten, or why you can't open another gender reveal invitation, or why you're furious at your own body for failing at something that seems effortless for everyone else. That understanding is already in the room, which means your sessions go straight to what this grief is doing to your sleep, your relationships, and your ability to get through a normal day.
If you're navigating infertility or pregnancy loss in Bethesda or anywhere in Maryland, I'd like to talk with you. You can schedule a session or reach out through the contact form below.
Logistics
50-minute Sessions are $250.
I also offer 90-minute sessions for $375 and intensive sessions (2-4 hours) ranging from $500 to $1000 for people who want to work intensively.
I don't take insurance directly, but I can provide superbills for out-of-network reimbursement if your plan covers that.
I am available early mornings, evenings, and weekends. I provide services online only.
Self-Schedule or Contact Me Below
For the quickest and most confidential option, you’re encouraged to book directly into my calendar by clicking the Self-Schedule Here button below. That button will take you to my HIPAA-compliant calendar where you may request an appointment. Once I confirm your appointment request (typically within 24 hours), I will email you the new client forms to digitally sign. Then, we will meet on your scheduled day.
If you have questions prior to scheduling, you can also use the contact form below, and I’ll reply within 48 business hours. If you don’t see a reply, please check your junk/spam folder.
I look forward to hearing from you!
— Summer Verhines, LCSW
Contact Summer
Frequently Asked Questions
-
The first session is about me understanding what you've been through and how it's showing up in your life right now. I'll ask about your history, but I'm also paying attention to what's happening with your sleep, your energy, your relationships, and the situations you avoid. That tells me where to focus. You don't have to share everything in the first session.
-
No. EMDR and ART don't require you to narrate your trauma over and over. We work with what's happening in your body and brain in ways that process the pain without needing you to retell the whole story.
-
Yes. Many people find it helpful to have support during treatment rather than waiting until it ends. We can work on the emotional toll as you go.
-
Not at all. Many of my clients come to me months or years after a loss, often because something triggered it again, a friend's pregnancy, a milestone birthday, a life change that brought the grief back to the surface. The body holds onto what hasn't been processed regardless of how much time has passed.
-
I charge $250 per session. I provide superbills, which are detailed receipts you can submit to your insurance company for potential out-of-network reimbursement. The amount you get back depends on your plan. Call the number on the back of your insurance card and ask about out-of-network mental health benefits to find out what's covered before your first session.
-
Support groups can be a real source of comfort, and they can remind you that you're not the only person going through this. But they can't help you process what's stored in your nervous system or change the automatic responses that are running in the background. Trauma therapy can.