I carry many roles…daughter, wife, friend, therapist. But the most rewarding and greatest role is that of mother. However, being a mom is hard! I had no idea how challenging being a mother could be, but now I experience it, I hear it from my friends, and I work with clients who struggle with the responsibility. Stepping into motherhood is a beautiful experience yet there is an enormous transition from being independent to being responsible and accountable for someone else all the time. Even if we have partner who is supportive and shares the workload, as moms there are many tasks that fall on us: meal planning, grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, mess cleaning, playmate, and perhaps working an outside job as well. We maintain schedules and work to ensure our children are engaged and socialized. We juggle a lot, which can be physically and emotionally draining.
If you find yourself yelling more, losing patience easily, irritable, and overall feeling overwhelmed, you may be experiencing mom burnout. Everyone experiences daily stressors, but moms share the unique experience of not having much of a chance to settle or de-stress. Whether you work during the day and come home to children, or spend the day at home caring for children, many times we don’t have much of a break until the children are sleeping. Even then, there may be tasks to complete like putting the dishes in the dishwasher, cleaning up toys, paying bills, finishing up work from the day, or even planning for the next day. A mother’s job is never done. In order to prevent burnout from motherhood stress, it is important to take steps to care for yourself.
Each week I will give you one helpful tip to reduce stress and help you experience the joy motherhood can offer:
Tip 6 : Make the Most of Personal Time
When you’re lucky enough to have some time to yourself, especially now, take advantage of it and do something that you really enjoy. Fit in a walk, virtual workout, read a book or watch your favorite show and just relax.
A lot of times women feel alone in their struggles, so it's helpful to hear that others are going through similar things. Women have the same thoughts, same feelings, same anxieties and same worries. Dr. Andrea Tesher facilitates a support group, Moms With Anxiety Group at the Lukin Center for Psychotherapy, in Ridgewood, NJ. This is a small, confidential, and supportive group that meets to explore and discuss skills to cope with anxiety or stress related to being a mother and balancing all that comes our way. It's a judgment-free zone.
Lukin Center Psychotherapy Offers Tele-Therapy
To help support our community, we are offering a 15% discount for new patients that are interested in getting started with tele-health to help manage feelings of anxiety and isolation during this time.
Dr. Andrea Tesher, Psy.D., is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist at Lukin Center for Psychotherapy, specializing in the treatment of adults with anxiety disorders, depression, substance abuse, difficulties regulating emotions, relationship problems and women's issues.
Konstantin Lukin, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist in Ridgewood, Hoboken, NYC, Jersey City and newly opened Englewood. He has extensive clinical and research experience spanning individuals of all ages, in both inpatient and outpatient settings. He specializes in men’s issues, couple’s counseling, and relationship problems. His therapeutic approach focuses on providing support and practical feedback to help patients effectively address personal challenges. He integrates complementary modalities and techniques to offer a personalized approach tailored to each patient. He has been trained in cognitive-behavioral, dialectical behavior, schema-focused, and emotionally focused therapy, and has also been involved with research projects throughout his career, including two National Institute of Mental Health-funded studies. He is a member of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New Jersey Psychological Association, Northeast Counties Association of Psychologists, New York State Psychological Association, The International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy, The New York Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy, the International OCD Foundation, the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACSB) and a regular contributor to Psychology Today.