THERAPY FOR MOMS
Imagine how different parenting would feel if...
…You knew how to calmly respond to your child’s behaviors – like meltdowns, ignoring instructions, or regularly forgetting their socks in the morning – without reacting out of frustration, raising your voice, and later feeling guilty.
…Your mother-in-law’s criticism or your next-door-neighbor’s judgment no longer held you hostage when it came to how to discipline, what to give your child for lunch, or screen time limits.
…You could stop comparing yourself to the curated mothers on Instagram who seem to have it all together, perfect studio-level makeup included, and instead, get back to what really matters to you: enjoying quality time with your child.
Motherhood is the most important and fulfilling journey you’ve embarked on.
It’s also one of the most emotional.
As the years have gone on, you’ve noticed that parenting your strong-willed child – with all their intelligence, ambition, creativity, and sense of humor – has brought up some of your own “stuff”: While your parents were good parents, you don’t want to repeat old patterns of how they reacted to you when you were young.
And yet, you notice that you do – more often than you’d like to admit.
You’re not proud of the reactions you’ve had when your child doesn’t do what you say: You knee-jerk react out of frustration.
You tend to second-guess yourself and your parenting choices.
You're a mom looking for a therapist because you notice that you...
Compare yourself to the other mothers around you, who have seven children and somehow manage to fold the laundry and curl their hair, yet you can’t remember when you last took a shower or completely finished a meal without interruption
Criticize and judge yourself for not being or doing enough as a parent, and worry how your shortcomings will affect your child and their future wellbeing
Have difficulty prioritizing and planning: “How much time should I spend tackling the household tasks vs. playing with my child and spending time with my spouse?” “Where do my household responsibilities end and my spouse’s begin?” “What about time for myself?” These thoughts often lead you to be even harder on yourself.
In response, you try to take on everything – without enough support from your spouse and loved ones.
You’re the manager of the house and all the schedules: dentist appointments, class parties, family birthdays, and neighborhood playdates.
Not to mention laundry, grocery shopping, and cooking meals.
You’re also the one everyone goes to when they need something: “Mommy, I need a drink of water!”, “Babe, have you seen my wallet?!”
You’re the one keeping tabs, and you’re tired. It’s left you feeling borderline resentful.
You know what you’re doing isn’t working and isn’t sustainable long-term.
You want to model healthy behavior and self-care to your children, so you’ve tried things like:
Self-help style mommy blogs and podcasts that talk about self-care
Venting to your close friends
Hiring a babysitter or asking your husband to watch the children while you go to the grocery store so you can have an hour alone
Going to a meet-up and talking to other moms while your children play on the playground so that you can feel like an adult once a week
Books, blogs, and podcasts offer great information. But applying it to your own personal situation is really difficult to do, especially when the content applies to different stages of motherhood (expecting mothers and pregnancy, postpartum anxiety, postpartum depression, etc). You can’t always find your stage of motherhood reflected back at you.
On top of that, it’s challenging to be objective about your own experience.
Vent sessions don’t actually solve the problem of how anxious you feel, or how you react to your family when you’re feeling stretched too thin.
Your friends try their best to validate you, but they don’t really seem to fully get your feelings.
And quite frankly you don’t fully relate to the frilly mommy bloggers. You don’t have enough time or energy to make homemade laundry detergent or bake gluten-free cupcakes.
You wonder why you don’t have it all “together.” You sometimes catch yourself feeling jealous of other women who are cool, calm, and collected.
Hiring a babysitter, having your husband watch the kids, or going to playdates don’t solve the root cause, either.
These breaks away from the house, while important, don’t ultimately solve your feelings of annoyance after you come home.
You know you need to prioritize yourself more. You know you need to address your mental health. You don’t want to keep reacting out of frustration, annoyance, or guilt.
You and your friends have talked about “mom guilt.” You know it’s common, you hear about it in mommy circles, but you don’t want that to be your day-to-day experience.
You’re just not sure how.
That’s where I come in.
You and I will partner together to develop practical skills and tools for how to:
Respond when the demands of parenting plus the lack of necessary support leave you unsure how to voice your needs and get them met.
Soothe and calm yourself during tense moments so that you respond to your child in a way you feel proud of later.
Address your child’s behaviors so that you can either breathe a sigh of relief that your child is on the right track for being successful at their next stage (whether that’s elementary school or middle school) OR so that you can intervene appropriately when necessary.
Discuss your emotional reactions in a way that is productive and provides “lightbulb moments” and insight into your current behavior and struggles – instead of the conversation turning into a vent session. This will help you understand your emotions better so that you can put a plan in place to help prevent raising your voice and feeling overwhelmed.
Prioritize yourself so that your day-to-day stops feeling like a hamster wheel. You wake up feeling optimistic about your day ahead, and you feel excited to spend it with your child.
Who is therapy for moms the best fit for?
Individual therapy with me IS for moms who…
Are organized, type A, structured thinkers.
Have a lot to say and aren’t apprehensive about talking to a therapist.
Are SO ready to stop knee-jerk-reacting to their family out of anxiety, frustration, or overwhelm and then feeling guilty later.
Want to prioritize themselves and their mental health, and understand the value in doing so, but aren’t sure what that looks like in practice.
Want to respond differently to their child than how their parents at times responded to them. You had good examples growing up but you want to learn to parent even better.
Value the guidance and feedback of a trained, professional therapist and are ready to implement new ideas and skills from the therapy sessions
This is NOT for moms who are…
Only looking for information or only looking to be taught. You’ve already read the blog posts and done your own research. You want an expert in parenting to be a partner and a collaborator on your parenting journey.
Unwilling or unable to execute or practice any new behaviors or skills.
Unwilling to sometimes cry in sessions. People may feel embarrassed to cry in front of their therapist, but sometimes sessions can get intense (I’m nice, I promise!). All this means is that you’re putting in the work.
What makes me different? I’m trained and certified in child-parent psychotherapy (CPP), hypnosis, EMDR, psychodynamic therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and other modalities. I’m also a Circle of Security-Parenting (COS-P) facilitator and accredited therapist with The Center of Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.). I have many years of experience serving parents, families, and children, including those in the foster care system.
My style is kind, down-to-earth, and proactive. You’ll get useful resources to enhance your parenting skills versus silent nodding or abstract advice without applicable input.
And you’ll do this from the comfort of your home, office, or any private space of your choice. That’s the beauty of online therapy for moms. Reach out to schedule a free consultation today.
About Gayle Weill, LCSW
Contact me using the button below to get started.
Therapy for Moms: New York Locations
Therapy for Moms: Connecticut Locations
FAQS
Have questions about what it’s like to work together? Check out these frequently asked questions. If you don’t see your question here, click here to get in touch.
-
My fee for a therapy session is $285 for 45-55 minutes.
-
Navigating insurance is complicated, so please read carefully to avoid any misunderstandings.
Like most private mental health practitioners, I am considered an “out-of-network” provider. This means that some of my clients pay fully out of pocket, while others pay my fee up front and then receive partial reimbursement from their insurance provider.
In order to use your insurance then, you must have out-of-network benefits and reach your yearly deductible before reimbursement begins. After you’ve met your deductible, you’ll only be responsible for your copay/coinsurance, which is determined by your plan.
In my experience, reimbursement is common and many of my clients are reimbursed for 50% to 80% for the cost of their sessions if they have out-of-network mental health coverage.
-
I am partnered with “Mentaya,” a platform that makes it easy to check if you have out-of-network benefits, and then claim them.
When you reach out, we will discuss your unique challenges for therapy, and I will also check for your out of network benefits (so you don’t need to spend time on the phone with the insurance company). Most insurance companies will list your OON benefits immediately, so we can know how much you’ll have covered.
When it comes to claiming them, the process is even easier. With “Mentaya,” you do not need to mail any claims to your insurance company, “Mentaya” does this step automatically for you. You would simply pay for therapy as normal, and then once you’ve met your deductible, “Mentaya” will begin reimbursing you according to your OON benefits.
-
At this time, sessions are only offered online through Zoom.
-
I meet with the majority of my clients on a weekly basis. I ask that all new clients commit to meeting weekly, for at-least the first 6 weeks. This will allow us to start off on a strong foot, so you can start seeing progress right away. I may recommend that we increase or decrease the frequency of sessions to best meet your needs.
-
Yes. Many therapists specialize in helping mothers with parenting challenges, stress management, and personal growth.
-
Consider therapy if you’re experiencing persistent conflicts, communication breakdowns, behavioral issues, or emotional distress that affect daily functioning.
-
This approach focuses on helping mothers understand that perfection isn’t necessary. It emphasizes meeting a child’s basic needs while allowing for minor failures.
-
A state of physical and emotional exhaustion in mothers, often characterized by fatigue, irritability, and feeling overwhelmed by parental responsibilities.
-
A mother who excessively relies on her child for emotional support, self-esteem, or identity, often neglecting her own needs and hindering the child’s independence.
-
You may be if you struggle to maintain boundaries with your child, over-involve yourself in their life, or base your identity primarily on being a mother.
-
A mother with unpredictable moods, behaviors, or reactions, often stemming from mental health issues or substance abuse, creating an inconsistent environment for the child.
-
A pattern where a mother, often due to unresolved anger or past trauma, acts in ways that harm or alienate her child, particularly in divorce situations.
-
A condition where a mother is emotionally distant, unresponsive, or uninvolved in her child’s life, often due to depression, trauma, or her own upbringing.
-
A state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by the chronic stress of parenting, often accompanied by feelings of inadequacy and detachment.
-
A condition characterized by frequent irritability, anger, and frustration in mothers, often due to stress, hormonal changes, or lack of support.
-
A pattern of manipulative, controlling, or abusive behavior by a mother that negatively impacts her child’s emotional well-being and development.
-
A relationship marked by excessive control, criticism, emotional manipulation, role reversal, or lack of boundaries, hindering the daughter’s emotional growth.
-
A mother who consistently engages in behaviors that negatively impact her child’s emotional, physical, or psychological well-being, often due to her own unresolved issues.
-
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), Positive Parenting Program (Triple P), and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) are effective for addressing parenting challenges.
-
Authoritative parenting, which balances warmth and structure, is generally considered the most effective for child development and well-being.
-
Trauma-focused therapies like EMDR, Cognitive Processing Therapy, or Trauma-Focused CBT can be effective for addressing childhood trauma from parents.