Last month I focused on the unseen weight that mom’s carry and it felt suiting to follow that up with a look at what a fathers experience can be like. When we think about mental health, we often think about the challenges mothers face, or even the struggles of children. However, one of the most under-discussed areas of mental health is that of fathers. There tends to be an unspoken burden on dads to be strong; to be providers and protectors. But what happens when dad isn’t okay?

Fathers, like anyone else, experience mental health struggles.Yet, the emotional toll fatherhood can take is often left unrecognized and undiscussed. I would like to explore the reality of mental health challenges faced by fathers, the societal pressures they endure, and the importance of creating space for dads to seek help and care for themselves.

Being a mom...one of the most rewarding roles AND a role that comes with many layers of responsibility, much of that responsibility going unseen to the outside world. From the moment a child is born, a mother begins a journey of giving, guiding and ensuring everything is running smoothly for the family. Whether she works outside the home or solely manages the household, a mom is often trying to balance a diverse mix of duties and demands. But what does it really mean to carry all this responsibility? And why is it so important to recognize the depth of what moms do, even when they don't ask for recognition?

When considering how to approach relational challenges, one area of exploration that may be helpful is identifying and processing past trauma, often stemming from early attachment experiences. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is commonly used for healing individual trauma, which in turn can heal attachment wounds that come from it.

Complex and challenging relationships with parents are one of the many struggles adults today face and seek guidance and healing around in our therapy offices. These struggles are often born from experiences and dynamics of childhood that continue to influence the parent-child relationship in adulthood. Sometimes, these dynamics are very evident, and other times they may be more subtle and hard to correlate with current experience. Being able to identify and understand how childhood experiences have affected us and our relationships is often crucial to improve maladaptive patterns and cycles we may find ourselves in.