Therapist recounts using CT Paid Leave: "It was our best time in parenting lives"

In a Paid Leave podcast interview, Samantha El Zate, founder of Mindful Transformations LLC, described how Connecticut's paid-leave program allowed her family to step away from work after the birth of their child without the financial strain that often forces new parents back to work early. "They let you know exactly how much you were gonna be making. I was able to just really be like, okay, I can step away from the business and it will be okay," El Zate said.

El Zate recounted that when she learned about the program early in her third pregnancy, she paid a small early contribution and prepared for leave. She said both she and her husband each took 12 weeks and that shared leave improved sleep schedules, caregiving coordination and parent-child bonding. "We both did 12 weeks. We just were talking about this the other day around how it was like the best time in our parenting lives," she said.

She contrasted this with a client she wrote about in an opinion piece who, before the program existed, returned to a fast-food job three days after delivery because she could not afford unpaid leave. "If she had CT Paid Leave, it would be a different tune for her," El Zate said.

El Zate emphasized that paid leave also enables people to attend necessary therapy appointments without jeopardizing pay or employment. She noted some intensive therapy formats are not covered by insurers and argued income replacement reduces barriers to effective treatment. She cautioned listeners to verify exact benefit calculations and caps with official CT Paid Leave Authority guidance rather than rely on recall from the episode.

The episode ends with a call to action: for more information or to apply for benefits, visit ctpaidleave.org.