One of the best tools I've ever learned, personally and professionally, is what I call the "Earthquake Model of Women's Mental Health." It's actually a tool that can be used for male and female mental and emotional health, but it's been especially helpful in my...
For the past several months I've been visiting with groups of incredible women and mothers all over the country, discussing "Mastery of Motherhood." I start each workshop with a question: "Is mastery of motherhood possible? Why or why not?" The responses I've received have varied widely, from...
It's time for a reality check. It seems with every transition (end of school, summer break, back to school, holidays), we moms have to reconfigure life and reevaluate where we are and where we hope to be. At least, that's what I do, and I've found...
“Who am I, now that you are here?” It’s the title of a song I wrote about my experience with postpartum depression, after my first son was born. For me, PPD was about so much more than feeling sad or anxious or depressed. It was...
It’s 3:30 a.m. I was simply rolling over to fall back asleep, when my brain switched on like a 100-watt light bulb, and now I’m flooded with stress, worries, and thoughts of what I "need to get done" or about "my overwhelming life," when I thought...
Childbearing Years Mental Health & Exercise The years of childbearing and parenting young children can be some of the most challenging. For one, the hormonal shifts that accompany pregnancy and childbirth can throw many women into a struggle with a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder, like...
Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, a day for families to remember the loss of their baby. Whether through miscarriage, stillbirth, or neonatal death, the loss of a baby is one of the most difficult experiences a mother, father, and family can go through, and...
Depression affects one in five women throughout their lifetime and is especially prevalent during the childbearing years. Pregnancy, postpartum, hormone shifts, sleep depravation, and the pressure of parenting and raising children while also dealing with life changes and stress, all combine to make depression in...