Therapy for Women

Supporting women through all seasons of life and caring for moms as they navigate the beauty and challenges of motherhood.

Have the Demands of Being a Woman - With All the Roles You Hold - Become Overwhelming?

As a woman trying to juggle your career, family responsibilities, and relationships, do you feel overwhelmed, burnt out, or taken for granted? Do you constantly vacillate between comparison and perfectionism to the point where nothing you do ever seems good enough? Since becoming a mother, is it increasingly difficult to prioritize your needs and desires?

As a career woman, working mother, or stay-at-home mom, the weight of so many competing responsibilities and priorities can be crushing. Perhaps work-life balance sounds like a nice idea, but so far, remains unattainable. The demands placed on you to show up as a dedicated mother, spouse, friend, and employee seem unending. With so much expected of you by so many, you may become anxious, irritable, depressed, or simply exhausted.

Becoming a Mom Can Cause Old Emotional Wounds to Resurface.

Perhaps you are still coming to terms with the emotional impact of fertility challenges, a difficult pregnancy—or pregnancy loss—traumatic birth experience, or a difficult postpartum period. Although loved ones assume you have moved on, you may still carry the trauma of these experiences with you.

The transition to motherhood may have caused an identity crisis you were not prepared for. Becoming a new person overnight is a lot to reckon with, yet no one talks about it. What’s more, motherhood may have reopened emotional wounds that had been lying dormant. You may be coming to terms with your childhood, hoping to interrupt harmful generational patterns of parenting within your family.

Regardless of how long you’ve been a mother, you may get the sense you are the one expected to perform most of the emotional labor for your family, affecting your relationship with your partner. Therapy for women offers you supportive counseling to address the unique issues you face. Whether you are a new mom dealing with postpartum depression, a single mom, or an empty nester, therapy can help you prioritize your needs.

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Balancing Career, Motherhood, and Relationships Is a Tall Order, but One that We Often Feel Pressured or Obligated to Do Perfectly and Without Complaint.

No matter what season of life we’re in, being a woman is continually challenging. From the time we’re very young, being a "good girl" who will eventually become a "good mom" is written into the fabric of our being. An accepted definition of motherhood within our society is to be utterly selfless and sacrifice our emotional needs for the sake of our families.

While being polite and accommodating brings us praise, being assertive or outspoken gets us labeled as aggressive. And whenever we step out of the roles ascribed to women, we often get pushback from our family, friends, and co-workers. These insidious yet pervasive cultural sentiments make finding balance in our lives elusive. Although we are expected to “have it all,” when it comes to balancing a fulfilling career, stable relationships, and family, no one has explained how that’s possible or sustainable.

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As women, we are often flying blind. We move through significant milestones - such as the transition to motherhood or menopause - without the knowledge, preparation, and support that is needed to honor and grieve and champion and celebrate the identity shifts and paradigm changes that accompany these critical stages of womanhood.

For example, perinatal mental health is seldom discussed despite motherhood representing a massive shift in a woman’s identity - not to mention the neurocognitive changes that take place in the transition to motherhood (google 'matrescence'). Few of us are prepared for the emotional rollercoaster related to infertility, pregnancy loss, birth trauma, and postpartum adjustments. Unfortunately, our challenges continue well beyond this period, with the onset of menopause and aging. Although studies have indicated that the endocrine system and hormonal imbalance can affect mental health throughout our lives, the science remains unclear whether it’s our physical state that affects our emotional state or vice versa.

If you’re struggling to achieve balance as a woman, you’re not alone. Having a place to talk about your challenges where you will feel seen and heard is the first step in shifting your mindset and finding solutions. Therapy for women’s issues provides you with the support and validation you need to find your footing.

Therapy for women offers an opportunity for introspection and reflection.

The idea of putting your needs first by making time for therapy may be new to you. However, seeking counseling for women’s issues allows you to put things in perspective.

Therapy tailored for women can help you make connections amongst the complex factors—both current and past—that contribute to anxiety, overwhelm, resentment, and perfectionism. We want you to feel better quickly and also know that a sustained sense of well-being, identity, and purpose comes from healing core issues.

Therapy for women is not a cure to all of your problems. Yet, it is a space where you will be cared for, supported, heard, and nurtured. It is a space to update patterns of thinking, feeling, and doing—to grieve your losses and imagine new versions of life. Often, our hearts long for deep compassion and understanding from another to take a deep breath, gain clarity, and figure out the next steps to living a life that feels just right as a mom, executive, or partner.

What Can You Expect in Therapy for Women?

Depending upon your specific needs, women’s therapy may include:

Exploring your family of origin.
Identifying traumatic experiences—meaning any event that felt like too much, too soon, too fast—and understanding its impact on nervous system function.
Processing grief, trauma, and loss.
Learning emotional regulation and coping skills so you can get out of survival mode.
Examining your relationship patterns, helping you establish healthier boundaries and learn from past mistakes.
Addressing sexual concerns.
Discussing the implicit and explicit cultural messages about womanhood and motherhood.

In women’s counseling, you will work closely with a therapist who understands the complicated nature of being so many things to so many people. Not only will you be seen and heard, but you will also gain valuable insight that allows you to uncover your authentic self.

Therapy tailored for woman and moms can be healing...and just what you are needing.

In therapy for women, we teach mindfulness practices and self-compassion strategies that provide you with the tools you need to handle life’s stressors more resiliently. If indicated, we can use Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to help process stuck emotions of sadness and fear related to traumatic perinatal experiences.

We apply Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy to explore emotions, identify needs, and better understand who you are. IFS is a powerful approach for learning to love and care for the various parts that comprise your greater self. By integrating the exiled parts that inhabit shame and not feeling good enough, you can become a stronger, more compassionate leader not only for yourself but also for your family, and your career.

Ultimately, the goal of therapy for women is to achieve a new level of healing by attending to your maternal mental health. We are here to help you live a life aligned with your values and make space for the messy, mundane, and magical aspects of womanhood and motherhood.

But Maybe You’re Not Sure if Therapy for Women Is Right for You…

Rather than seeking counseling for women, what if what I really need is more support from my partner and/or family?

You probably do need more support. We often hear about the "village" we are supposed to have to have, but in reality, we may be on our own. As women, we often struggle to ask for help or take a break for much-needed rest. And when we finally and courageously ask for support, we might not receive it. Therapy for women can help you grieve this lack of support and its impact on your well-being and begin to build self-awareness around what is and is not within your control.

I’m worried that if I go to women’s therapy and talk about my issues it will make me feel worse.

Understandably, if you are considering therapy for women, you may worry about your ability to withstand more distress. However, research suggests that talking about your problems does not make them worse. Most often, women feel relieved after seeking therapy. Strategies learned in counseling—such as nervous system regulation—allow your brain’s problem-solving abilities to come back online so you can develop an achievable plan to create more work-life balance. Your therapist understands the concerns of women and will support you in therapy at any phase of life, including being a new or single mom.

I'm already juggling so much as it is that I doubt I could attend therapy for moms consistently.

We imagine your life is so full to overflowing, otherwise, you might not be reaching out. For mothers, it can be challenging to carve out time for therapy. However, if you are struggling with postpartum depression or anxiety, receiving treatment is so important. We strive to be flexible in our scheduling and offer in-person, virtual, and walk-and-talk therapy options. We like to meet weekly for the first 4-6 weeks to build momentum for you, and we can vary the frequency of sessions as you begin feeling better.

Taking time for yourself can improve all aspects of your life.

Allow the team at Cadence Psychology Studio to help you restore balance in your life. If you're ready to start your healing journey, we are here to support you.

To book a FREE 15-minute phone consult or to schedule your first session, call or text 317-747-0574 or visit our contact page.