As a mom of an almost two-year-old, and a small business owner, things can get super stressful, overwhelming, and just busy sometimes!
In my professional life as a therapist, parenting consultant, and founder of Thrive Therapy Studio, I find that I am not alone with my feelings of overwhelm. When I reflect on our parenting climate and culture, combined with what parents are telling me (personally and professionally), it’s not really that surprising.
We are in a groundbreaking time when parents are more committed to parenting and their children than almost ever before, but also have more demands on their time, energy, and attention. If you google search parenting, so many articles come up that are critiquing the way we are doing things. I think as a parent, it is hard not to read these and all the other self-care articles and suggestions as just one more thing on our lists of things to do.
I know when I was deep in the thick of things, building my business while pregnant and then coming back to work from my pretty short maternity leave, I did not have time for any more “things”. People would ask me, how are you doing? My answer would be running, hustling, tired, or another variation of the same.
I remember when it really clicked for me. When I was feeling I should buy a TON of parenting books so I can parent in the exact best way, I realized, “Hey wait! This is what I do at work all day. Why do I need to read a thousand more books?” It hit me! If I feel this way given the time in my career spent on parenting and child development, how must everyone else feel?
Unfortunately, as parents we are in a system that is destined for stress and overwhelm unless we can consciously choose to make different choices. Here are a few examples for me personally:
- Not doing Pinterest-worthy parties and accepting guilt-free that I am a much happier and more engaged mom when I work full time and have some time just for me or for me and my husband.
- I choose not to shame other moms for their choices and don’t spend time with moms who seem to be judging or shaming me.
- I fundamentally believe that we are all in this together and there is not one right way to parent!
Professionally, my goal is to help the parents that I work with develop a similar tactic. What things (activities, expectations, or judgments) can we let go of to live better and more content lives? We spend our sessions exploring from a non-judgmental place how to make changes for ourselves and our families. While before I was a mom myself, I was passionate about helping parents, this passion has only increased since experiencing this beautiful and anxiety provoking thing called motherhood myself!
About Thrive Therapy Studio
In 2017, Erica Wollerman, PsyD founded Thrive Therapy Studio, a private psychological practice designed to support the whole family. They work with children, teens, adults, families, and most of all, they love supporting parents. What sets them apart from other therapists is that they have therapists in their office who work with people experiencing many different things such as ADHD, Autism, Anxiety, Depression, Behavioral Challenges, Grief, Parenting Challenges, Perfectionism, etc. Even more than that, it is the mentality that they take with their clients. They are very aware people are imperfect so they service from a place of non-judgment. Their #1 goal is to help you live the best life possible and are excited to walk that journey alongside you!
If you would like more information about our services or want to stay in touch with Erica through the Thrive blog, please check out their website for more information!
