She has always “kept it all together,” with a smile, a shiny Pinterest page, tons of Facebook friends, a successful career, and a 5-year plan that has always gone accordingly.

Until lately.

She thought she would love motherhood. But the truth is, mothering has worn down her body, her mind, and her spirit.

She is exhausted from chronic sleep deprivation, unnecessary bickering with her husband, and conflicting voices about how to parent. The constant giving of herself makes her feel trapped – and sometimes she wants to hide or run away from the overwhelming responsibility of this tiny human’s life.

And so, she is tired of pretending. Her Instagram posts are full of cute “Mommy and baby” selfies, but behind the mask, she feels isolated, incompetent, and self-doubting. She is ashamed that she could be feeling anything but joy at the miracle given to her. But now, she cannot ignore the bouts of sadness, the tears, and the constant worry.

She needs help reconciling her successful, happy pre-baby self with her new, confusing “motherself.” She needs to feel safe, accepted, and ultimately guided towards a new, confident, and transformed self.

Thankfully she found hope in the process of working with a therapist. She discovered that many new mothers suffer from postpartum depression and anxiety, and for the first time in a while, she felt validated and understood.

She breathed a sigh of relief, before entering the hard work of therapy: learning self-acceptance, naming the values she wanted to live by, and deeply connecting with her husband and baby – instead of isolating into herself. She thrived, and subsequently, her family thrived.