Top 5 Reasons Stay at Home Moms Seek Counseling
Depression
You get to stay home with your beautiful children who you love so much, but yet you slowly start to feel sad, hopeless, unmotivated, and extremely exhausted. Depression for stay-at-home moms is a common issue that is happening to a lot of mothers. It is overwhelming and draining to stay home because you never get a break. Mothers seek counseling when the depression gets to be too much to handle and it starts effecting their health or happiness. Depression is very treatable though and there is light at the end of the tunnel. Counseling can teach mothers how to manage unwanted thoughts, find gratitude, and learn relaxation and mindfulness skills.
Anxiety
Is the baby breathing? Did she eat enough? What if something bad happens to her at daycare? What if he isn’t growing and developing properly? These are questions mothers may ask themselves if they are starting to struggle with anxiety. Anxiety is an overwhelming feeling of “what-ifs.” It can come and go or be almost constant throughout the day. You may never feel “relaxed” and are always on edge. Counseling can help mothers learn effective coping skills to manage these symptoms and feel better. In counseling you’ll learn deep breathing strategies, imagery, progressive muscle relaxation, mindfulness skills, and cognitive reframing techniques that will improve your anxiety.
Negative thoughts
Negative thoughts, or irrational thoughts, are something a lot of people deal with. These thoughts come in our minds and we often believe they are true even when there is no evidence or truth in them. Stay-at-home moms can often think, “I feel like I should be bringing in a paycheck. I don’t do enough” or “I can’t do anything right. I’m not a good mom.” These thoughts can severely hinder a mother’s mood and happiness if she continually believes these thoughts. In counseling, a mother will learn Cognitive Behavioral Therapy tools and techniques to help manage and control these negative thoughts. Your thoughts do not have to control you anymore and you can instead control your thoughts.
Low self-esteem
Sometimes mothers who stay at home with their children can start to feel insecure and may start isolating themselves. This is a common issue with stay-at-home moms and counseling can help build confidence and self-esteem by learning communication skills, role-playing with therapist, and using visualization to remain calm in anxiety-provoking situations. Seeking out mom groups in your community is also a wonderful way to build a support team, make friends, and relate to other mothers.
Low frustration tolerance/short temper
The last common reason stay-at-home moms seek counseling is to work on improving their frustration tolerance and short temper. As moms, we deal with a lot, from caring for our children, cleaning, cooking, helping with homework, scheduling and managing dr appointments, and lots more. It is easy to see why a mother might get a short temper from time to time. Counseling will help build effective distress tolerance skills and improve coping strategies for managing difficult feelings such as stress, exhaustion, and frustration.
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