For modern women, the shift and the transition to motherhood perhaps feels greater than ever before. Women’s roles have evolved so that the gap between ‘pre-mum-me’ and ‘mum-me’ can feel harder to bridge and this can have a huge impact on our sense of identity and our feelings of well-being. Research supports the notion that as our children progress through different life stages, as parents we are catapulted into new phases of transition too. As our children adapt, we also need to adapt and this can at times feel very hard, triggering difficult feelings. Other factors contribute to this such as the way in which modern mums, for a variety of reasons often have less family and social support around them to help with the process of adjustment. Our parental expectations of ourselves are much higher; sometimes transported from the workplace and from wider cultural messages received through powerful multimedia messages. Women are often faced with an impossible gap between idealized expectations and the reality of their experience and this can lead them to feelings of inadequacy and frustration. Mum-me is a programme of psychotherapy and counselling tailored to supporting mums as individuals – allowing some much needed time and space to focus on yourself, your thoughts and feelings. This can be a source of support for you and also assist in strengthening your resources as you support your children.
