Therapy for Moms
Get in touch with a Wilmington therapist
Motherhood is incredible, inspiring, magical, beautiful, and unbelievable. It can also be life-changing, and it’s not always easy to wrap your mind around the woman you’ve become and what you may have left behind. Recognizing and addressing the **causes of depression associated with these life changes is crucial for every mother navigating this transition.
Becoming a mother is something many women look forward to for much of their lives, often from girlhood. Once it finally happens, it’s like a dream come true, as giving birth is miraculous and brings new meaning to a woman’s life. The first few weeks are fulfilling due to the joy and love you feel for your newborn, but becoming a mother is also tricky because it changes everything, including how you see yourself. Many women may experience feelings of loss regarding their former identities, and understanding this is key to finding balance.
When you become a parent, you are responsible for yourself and a tiny human who is entirely dependent on you. That said, there are other factors, such as you wanting to remain present with your partner, or maybe you have a job that needs your attention as well. All of this can take a toll, so you must also recognize the importance of taking care of yourself to preserve your health. Engaging in trauma therapy can help you process any underlying feelings that emerged during pregnancy or childbirth, and provide you the emotional support you deserve. But there are only so many hours in the day, and you have only so much energy. You begin to question how you could ever do it all and feel overwhelmed. As time passes, at some point, you may find you no longer recognize the woman you thought you were, and you may wonder who you have become.
How Therapy for Moms Can Help
We at Clarity Counseling Center offer therapy for moms, with specialists who are mothers themselves and understand your situation. We know motherhood is indescribably fulfilling in so many ways. Still, we also understand the part of you that struggles with the reality that your identity has suddenly become inextricably bound to your role as a mother. Behavioral therapy can provide effective tools for managing these challenges, allowing you to rediscover your personal identity alongside your new role.
Baby Blues
Although many women fit the criteria for postpartum depression, fewer than half seek help. Mothers can expect to have mood changes after having a baby. In fact, our society has come to refer to postpartum depression as just “postpartum.” The question remains — if so many women are having trouble feeling like themselves after having children, why aren’t they getting the help that they need?
While postpartum depression is well known, less than half of the women suffering from it do not seek help. Why? You don’t have to be a Supermom. Depression doesn’t make you weak or less than a great mother. On the contrary, if you tend to your own needs, you will be in a better space to care for your baby and the rest of your family. Seeking therapy can help you identify the pressures and expectations placed upon you, allowing for a healthier mindset.It’s essential to seek the support you need to address your emotions and express your concerns, worries, and anxieties in a healthy way.
You don’t have to suffer just because you now have more responsibilities than you’re used to, made worse by your hormones struggling to find equilibrium. Therapy for moms will help you regulate your life to find a healthy balance between your role as a mother and all the other parts you play.
Some of the following symptoms are signs of depression:
- Loss of interest
- Trouble sleeping
- Excessive fatigue
- No energy
- Sadness or tearfulness
- Apathy
- Thoughts about harming yourself or your child
Many new mothers experience melancholy or have these symptoms from time to time. It’s important to let someone know if you’re not feeling like yourself. Whether or not you are diagnosed with depression, you deserve to live a fulfilling, enjoyable life.
While it may be hard to admit that your little bundle of joy isn’t exactly making you happy, it’s okay to feel less than ecstatic about losing yourself in motherhood. This doesn’t mean that you have to live with those feelings.
Therapists in Wilmington can help you optimize your life to find balance within your family dynamic and the other roles you play. Postpartum depression doesn’t always hit right away; it can develop within the first year after having a child. Anxiety and other emotional struggles can set in at any time and can have just as strong an effect on your life. Through ongoing therapy sessions, we can explore how past trauma may influence your current emotional state, providing insight and coping strategies for moving forward.
You Need Support After Having the Baby
From the moment you became pregnant, you probably heard repeatedly — from your doctor, family, or friends — to focus on having a healthy baby. But what about your health and birthing experience? What happened to the value of the mother’s experience?
Giving birth is undoubtedly one of the most uniquely intimate, vulnerable, and powerful events a woman will ever experience. Yet, a woman’s needs are often not considered or met, leading up to and during labor and delivery or later, in recovery.
Many women aren’t even aware they may have a say in( let alone control over) the birth process. Despite clinical research demonstrating this is a vital factor in a positive birth experience, most western doctors still do not collaboratively approach birth. This can create a feeling of lack of control over your own body, which compiles with the overactive hormones accompanying the birthing process, from pregnancy through labor and after delivery.
Even if your overall experience is relatively “easy,” you may still be affected by trauma from everything you went through. Know that you don’t have to do this alone. Processing your birth experience through a therapy designed for new moms can help you work through intense, often conflicting feelings of fear, disappointment, anger, and shock.
More than 50% of mothers report that postpartum discomfort interferes with their daily activities. Even if you don’t need physical support, you have to navigate your emotions after bringing the baby home. New mothers experience high levels of stress, exhaustion, and sleep loss within the first several months after having a little one.
The fourth trimester is real. Learning how to manage your emotional highs and lows as your body tries to find a new routine can be daunting. It’s hard enough to take a shower with a newborn around, so making other types of self-care a priority may seem impossible.
Therapy for moms offers you space and time to receive the support you need for your body, mind, and spirit from someone — both a professional and a mother —who understands what you’re going through and can give you the tools to get you through it. Taking care of yourself is fundamental to being the mother you want to be. Through compassionate counseling, we help you find a way that works for you to heal and manage your new routine so you can enjoy the experience, not just endure it.
