Welcome to My Website!
I know from personal experience that life can be exhausting, exhilarating, and everything in between. Navigating life’s ups and downs can be challenging, especially when you’re doing it alone.
I also know that you can not only overcome whatever life brings your way–you can become and even flourish! As a wise person once said, “Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely” (Karen Kaiser Clark). Join me and my community and choose to grow and become–a better woman, a better parent, a better child, a better family, a better you.
“The Psychologist, The Mom, & Me” Blog:
While you’re here, check out my blog, “The Psychologist, The Mom, & Me,” named one of the Top 100 Women’s Empowerment Blogs of 2012!
The Psychologist in me shares principles and tools to make life easier and more fulfilling.
The Mom writes about the ups and downs of family, marriage, life, and staying sane trying to raising 6 kids!
And Me? I’m just trying to be a little bit better each day, and I hope to help you do the same.
Read the Intro, browse below, or click here to read a post on Parenting, Emotional Health, Personal Growth, Pregnancy & Postpartum, Grief & Loss, and more!
“This is How We Grow”© Summer Book Club: Chapter Two
ShareWelcome back! Here we go with chapter 2. Thanks for all the feedback through comments and emails. It’s been a huge help. Looking forward to more! If you missed the Prologue or Chapter 1, be sure to check them out first. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy! (Oh, and, be sure to SUBSCRIBE, below, for book updates and exclusives) Read Title Page & Prologue Read Chapter 1 This Is How We Grow©: Part 1, Patience 2. “Live Strong. Love life. Don’t ever let the chance to say ‘I Love You’ pass you by…” (from my song,...
read moreIn Praise of Fathers: 10 Research-Based Ways Dads Impact Kids for the Better
ShareI specialize in working with mothers. I also happen to be a mother. But I’ve always held a deep respect for fathers. I am, of course, the daughter of a father, the daughter-in-law of a father-in-law (who died three years ago and I deeply loved), and the wife of a father—the father of my children. I’ve also worked with countless fathers—fathers supporting mothers, fathers doing it on their own, fathers who want the best for their children, who work tirelessly for their families, who nurture and love and inspire. Fathers Are...
read moreSummer Self-Improvement: 25 Inspirational Ideas
ShareSummer is here. Again. And that means warmer weather, time at the pool or beach, visiting family and friends, and, for many, changing schedules, travel plans, and time off. Summer Goals In our home, summer also means summer goals—for the kids. Instead of them lying around, bored, all the time, we sit down at the beginning of summer and create a list of goals, together, that each of them may (or may not) accomplish over the summer. They select their own goals, how many they’ll do, and how difficult they’ll be, but I...
read more“This is How We Grow”© Summer Book Club: Chapter One
ShareThanks so much for joining me for my This is How We Grow© Summer Book Club! I hope you enjoyed the Prologue, and I’m grateful for the comments you’ve already provided. As I mentioned before, I appreciate your feedback tremendously. That’s one of the main reasons I’m doing this “Summer Book Club”–to gather your ideas, thoughts, questions, and concerns, allowing you, the reader, to help me, the author, make this memoir the best it can be. Today, we dig in with Chapter 1! Since you don’t have...
read more“This is How We Grow”© Summer Book Club: Join & Preview Chapters of My New Book!
ShareYes, I’ve been writing a book. For quite some time now. 4 years, on and off, to be exact. Most of my friends and family know this by now, as well as those I’m connected to on Social Media sites like Facebook, Pinterest, & Twitter. I’ve had several inquiries about where to purchase the book (It’s not published yet, but will be by year’s end). And, many people have asked what it’s about. Those who know me as the “Postpartum expert” ask, “Is it about postpartum depression?”...
read moreHow to Get Your Needs Met: 4 Tips on Asking & Receiving
ShareSome time back in graduate school I realized that if I don’t ask for help when I need it, it might never come. Like so many women, I’d spent the first several years of my marriage expecting my husband, OJ (no, not Simpson), to just “see” what I needed, wanting him to “notice on his own,” feeling that if I had to actually tell him what was wrong then he obviously didn’t love me well enough. Sound familiar? We’ve all seen this before, whether in a friend, on TV or in our own relationships. But friends, I hate to break...
read more“Mommy Fails” & Mother’s Day: 3 Messages Every Mom Needs to Hear
ShareWhy does Mother’s Day always make me think of all I’m not doing right as a Mother? Every year I try to avoid it, but I can’t escape. The images of crafty, fulfilled, do-it-all moms who are (seemingly) perfect, fill the world, and at first, I love it. I love glorying in this role that I truly find life-altering, holy, and divine–being “Mom.” But at some point I start comparing to those images. I see what I want (or wanted) to do and be, and feel I’m missing the mark. This week, for example, I had...
read morePSI Blog Hop 2013–Moving Beyond Shame: The Ultimate Power of Support and Time
ShareToday, as part of the Postpartum Support International (PSI) Blog Hop 2013, I am happy to host a guest post by colleague and friend, Laura DiVenti. Laura has an incredible story of postpartum recovery, one she shared many times at our Arizona Postpartum Wellness Coalition educational events. Let me just say that when Laura talked about what she’s experienced, the room went silent and each ear tuned in, every time. I am honored to get to share just a little of Laura with you here. You’ll see what I mean when you read her...
read morePSI Blog Hop 2013–16 Things I’d Like My Postpartum Self To Know, 16 Years & 6 Kids Later
ShareIt’s cliché, I know, but I certainly wasn’t expecting postpartum depression (PPD). Newly graduated from college and recently married, I couldn’t wait to start a family, to finally become a mother. It was something I’d wanted my entire life. PPD Round 1 Fast-forward 9 months. I didn’t expect to be induced and deliver my first baby boy breach. He came out bottom first and had the most perfectly round, golden head. When I came home from the hospital, I didn’t expect sleep deprivation to make me feel so crazy, and I...
read moreFEEL: How to Cope with Powerful Emotions (plus video)
SharePowerful emotions can be scary. Grief, anger, sadness, pain, fear, can feel intense, overwhelming, and out of control. We fear feeling powerful emotions because we believe they will overtake us; we fear that once they are free, we may never be free of them again. So, we ignore, distract ourselves from, and eventually box these emotions up and shove them deep down, like caged predators, in an effort to prevent the frightening consequences we envision if they were ever to escape. But, as a wise woman once said, “Just because your feelings...
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