Notas del episodio
Interview with Mental Health Specialist- Kelly Smedley on maternal mental health, self-care, and staying well through every stage
This conversation with Kelly Smedley, a board-certified psychiatric mental health clinical nurse specialist and founder of Waypoint Counseling and Maternal Wellness, focuses on the realities of maternal mental health across pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause, and beyond. Kelly shares how her own lived experience shaped her work with women and moms, and why support, movement, and realistic expectations matter more than perfection. We discuss how to know when it is time to get help, how exercise can support mental health, and why modeling self-care can benefit both parents and children.
Key topics
- Kelly shares her path into mental health nursing, starting right out of undergrad and building more than 26 years of experience across inpatient, emergency, and outpatient settings.
- She explains how her own postpartum anxiety, depression, and infant loss deepened her focus on maternal mental health and grief.
- We discuss how Waypoint Counseling and Maternal Wellness grew into a multidisciplinary practice serving women and moms across North Carolina through telehealth and in-person care.
- Kelly describes the range of support her practice offers, including therapy, medication management, and nutrition support.
- She talks about the difference between normal stress and when support becomes necessary, especially for moms who feel they need to “white-knuckle” everything.
- We discuss why talking to a therapist or clinician is often less about being in crisis and more about getting unbiased, unfiltered feedback.
Connect with Kelly in North Carolina at Waypoint Counseling https://www.waypointcounselingnc.com/
Connect with Kelly on instagram: www.instagram.com/psychnursekelly
Connect with Dr. Mbong Henry
www.instagram.com/mbonghenry.dpt
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