Category Archives: Self Care

10 Mantras for Moms

10 Mantras for Moms

New Parents, Parents, Self Care
A mantra is a word or a phrase that is repeated often.  Some of you may be familiar with the use of mantras in prayer or meditation, but the use of repeated phrases can also be used in more of a general way when coping with intense emotions.    Some people may consider a mantra to be an affirmation.

Many moms that I work with have found the use of mantras to be effective in helping them cope with feelings of anxiety, frustration, overwhelm, inadequacy, uncertainty, loneliness and more.  I have compiled a list of 10 mantras which may be especially helpful for moms.   As with anything, you can adapt my suggestions to fit you and your needs.

Continue reading 10 Mantras for Moms →

Identity2

Where am I? What happened to me? Re-Discovering Your Identity After Becoming a Parent

Counseling, New Parents, Parents, Self Care

The dictionary defines identity as “the condition of being oneself or itself, and not another”

Often times, people describe feeling like they have lost a bit (or a lot) of their identity as they become parents.    Some people may feel fine with this shift and others find it distressing.

I’ve heard this loss of identity presented as a concern from many women that I have encountered inside and outside of the therapy office. After their children are born, some women report that they don’t feel like themselves and struggle to find a sense of who they are outside of being a mother. Some mothers also report that they struggle in figuring out how to make time for the things that they love outside of their families because they are focused on their children and feel guilty if they shift their focus elsewhere for even brief periods of time.   These types of concerns have been shared from parents across the board including; expectant parents,  parents of infants, parents of school age children and parents of teens. Continue reading Where am I? What happened to me? Re-Discovering Your Identity After Becoming a Parent →

IMAG3410

What Should I know about PMADs? Tips for New and Expecting Parents from Mental Health Professionals

Counseling, New Parents, Parents, Self Care

Through the magic of social media and the internet, I have been able to connect with many professionals around the country (and world) who specialize in in maternal mental health.

I asked some of my colleagues to share their thoughts on the following question:

As a mental health professional, what information do you think new or expecting parents should know about perinatal mood and anxiety disorders? 

I noticed 5 themes in the answers my colleagues shared. Continue reading What Should I know about PMADs? Tips for New and Expecting Parents from Mental Health Professionals →

IMG_2181

10 Self Care Tips for New Parents

Counseling, Families, New Parents, Parents, Self Care

What is self care?  How does becoming a parent impact our self care?

Self care is purposeful action we take to ensure our wellbeing.   Wellbeing includes our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health.

As we take on the new role of being a parent and learning how to balance our new responsibilities, it can be easy to put self care on the back burner.   We focus on taking good care of our babies and can forget to take care of ourselves, too.  In order to be the best parents that we can be, we need to make sure we are tending to our self care needs, too.

10 Tips Self Care Tips for New Parents Continue reading 10 Self Care Tips for New Parents →

IMAG2829

Helpful Holiday Links from Therapists: Surviving the Holidays (Part 1)

Families, Parents, Self Care, Stressors

Over the years that I have been practicing therapy, I have had the honor of witnessing the variety of ways in which people experience the holiday season.  Some clients have shared excitement and joy about the holidays, while others report feeling that the holidays amplify their existing struggles.

Based on similar experiences in their work, many of my therapist colleagues across the country have written powerful and helpful posts about navigating the holiday season.   Because there is so much great content that I wanted to share with you, I obtained permission from some my colleagues to compile their links into this series of posts on my blog. Continue reading Helpful Holiday Links from Therapists: Surviving the Holidays (Part 1) →

Gift of self care

Giving the Gift of Self Care

Families, Parents, Self Care

Have you ever considered giving the gift of self care?    The gift of self care is a gift that encourages someone to prioritize his or her self care.  Self care is purposeful action that an individual takes to ensure their well-being.   Well-being can include; emotional health, mental health, physical health, and spiritual health.     Given this definition of self care and a little creativity, there are many possibilities for how we can give someone the gift of self care. Continue reading Giving the Gift of Self Care →

IMAG2686

Creating a Self Care Basket

Parents, Self Care

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been out speaking to different groups about self care.    Many of you know this is a topic that I am passionate about, but to be totally honest, I often struggle to “walk the walk” in this area.  I am really good at telling myself excuses that get in the way of prioritizing my own self care.   There are always so many other things to be doing!

During these last few weeks as I was speaking more about self care again, I was reminded of an idea that I had this summer to create a self care basket.   This idea originally came to me when a fellow therapist asked me about the coping box activity I do with children and what items I would include in a coping box for adults. Continue reading Creating a Self Care Basket →

IMAG2018

Self Care For Children

Children, Families, Parents, Self Care

If you’ve been following my series on self care, you already know that I believe self care is really important!   Lately, I’ve been thinking about how we can teach children about the benefits of self care from an early age and set a strong foundation that will help them prioritize self care as they get older.

Self care is defined as purposeful action that an individual takes to ensure their well-being.   Well-being can include; emotional health, mental health, physical health, and spiritual health.  When our children are young, we support our children in achieving well-being in each of these areas, but as our children get older they will become more independent and need to have the skills to ensure their own well being.

Continue reading Self Care For Children →

Self Care Revisited

Self Care Revisited

Parents, Self Care

At the beginning of the year, I decided to make self care a priority for myself and invited you to join me on this journey.   This included a commitment on my part to write a 6-month series of blog posts dedicated to the topic of self care.  This is the last post scheduled for the series, but I will continue to advocate for each of us to prioritize self care.  Self care is important!   In my previous post, I shared some of the personal benefits I’ve noticed from focusing on self care even though it was a struggle for me.

Here is the definition of self care that has guided the posts in this series:

Self care is purposeful action that an individual takes to ensure their well-being.   Well-being can include; emotional health, mental health, physical health, and spiritual health.

Continue reading Self Care Revisited →

IMG_3813

Self Care: Walking the Walk

Self Care

It has been almost five months since I invited you to join me in making self care a priority and to follow this series of posts on self care.  Today, I wanted to share a post that is a personal reflection on my experience over the last few months.   In addition to blogging about self care monthly, I’ve offered two self care workshops and focused a portion of my posts on social media to the topic of self care.

Focusing so much of my energy and work on the topic of self care has had tangible benefits for me and my family, but it hasn’t been easy.    It seems like prioritizing self care should be easier, but I definitely struggled more than I thought I would.   As a mom, wife, therapist and business owner, I always believe I have something that I should be doing, but if I don’t focus on self care I can’t be as strong in each of those roles as I would like.  I am not just talking the talk, but actually walking the walk.

Continue reading Self Care: Walking the Walk →