Parenting Without Losing Yourself
Support for parents who want to show up for their children while also maintaining their relationships, careers, interests, boundaries, and sense of self.
Parenting asks a lot, and it keeps asking as your kids grow. The toddler years, school years, and teen years each bring new demands, and it can feel like there's always a reason to put yourself last. Maybe you're juggling a career and wondering if you're shortchanging everyone. Maybe your friendships have faded, your interests are on hold, or family members have opinions about how you should be doing all of this.
You can be a loving, present parent and still have a life of your own. In fact, your kids benefit when you do.
Being a devoted parent does not require disappearing from your own life.
What you might be struggling with
- Balancing work, parenting, and everything else, without feeling like you're failing at all of it
- Setting boundaries with kids, extended family, or work
- Guilt when you take time for yourself
- Losing friendships, hobbies, or goals that used to matter
- Parenting differently than you were raised, and the stress that can bring
- Feeling like your whole identity has become "mom"
How therapy helps
Therapy helps you get clear on what kind of parent, and what kind of person, you want to be. Together, we work to:
- Clarify your values and priorities, for your family and for yourself
- Set boundaries that protect your time and energy
- Let go of guilt about having needs of your own
- Navigate family expectations and parenting differences
- Make room for relationships, work, and interests that feed you
How we work together
Our work is often informed by Internal Family Systems (IFS), helping you understand the different parts of you: the part that wants to give your kids everything, the part that wants something for yourself, the part that carries lessons from how you were raised.
You may also find helpful
-
Motherhood & Identity
For the “I love my children, but I don't know who I am anymore” experience: identity, resentment, guilt, perfectionism, burnout, and finding yourself again.
-
The Mental Load & Mom Burnout
Support when you're carrying everyone's schedules, needs, emotions, and responsibilities, and feel like there's nothing left for you.
-
Couples Therapy: Pregnancy, Parenthood & Beyond
Therapy for couples navigating fertility, pregnancy, loss, postpartum life, intimacy, communication, conflict, parenting, and reconnecting after becoming parents.