Rachel Shimoni Simons, MA

achel Shimoni Simons is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Beverly Hills, CA, with over 15 years providing direct therapy and clinical supervision. She specializes in issues related to past trauma, self esteem, multigenerational family conflict, life transitions including marriage and parenting, post partum depression and post partum anxiety, pregnancy loss, and generalized anxiety and mood disorders. She received extensive training in trauma treatment, and utilizes cognitive behavioral, psychodynamic, experiential, and post-modern/narrative theories as appropriate. In addition to being licensed in Illinois and California, Rachel is a certified facilitator of both the Parent Project program and the Nurturing Parenting program.

​Rachel received her Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology with an Emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology, and she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego.

Specialties

Pregnancy Loss and Infertility

• Why isn’t my body cooperating and working like it “should”? Am I “broken”?
• Why does it seem like everyone else can get pregnant and/or stay pregnant?
• Where do I go from here? Will I ever be a parent?

According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), infertility affects 6.7 million women in America. Yet the predominant discourse, from middle school sex-ed classes to movies to Instagram, is that getting pregnant and having a baby happens easily for everyone. In reality, 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage. As common as pregnancy loss and/or infertility are, they can feel like lonely experiences. Recovering from pregnancy loss is both a physical and emotional process. I work with clients in their individual fertility journeys to process grief, manage feelings of sadness and anxiety, and cope with hormonal changes and the accompanying relationship stress. Finally, I support clients in becoming their own fertility advocates.

Postpartum Anxiety and Postpartum Depression

• 1 in 5 women experience a postpartum mood and anxiety disorder.
• 1 in 10 men experience a postpartum mood and anxiety disorder.
• Research shows that marital satisfaction is at it’s lowest 5 months and 24 months postpartum.

The moment you first see your children, no matter how you came to parenthood, is simply transcendent. It is one of the most life changing experiences an individual or couple will go through. But for many new parents, mingled with the joy may be unrelenting thoughts and fears, overwhelming feelings of sadness and failure, irritability, and crying spells. It can feel so isolating to struggle with these feelings during what is supposed to be the happiest times of your life, and many parents suffer in silence. I combine years of personal and professional experience with my advanced training from Postpartum Support International (PSI) to support new mothers and their partners in correctly identifying postpartum mood disorders, reducing isolation and negative thought patterns, and working holistically with other related health partners to build a supportive village. I also incorporate my background in couples therapy to realign relationships and build healthy co-parenting.

Therapy With Me

Taking the step to participate in counseling demonstrates motivation and takes courage. Therapy should be tailored to each individual client’s strengths and challenges. With that in mind, I believe in taking a collaborative approach. Whether adjusting to current life stressors or coping with past trauma, I seek to empower individuals, new moms, couples, and families to change negative communication and behaviors.