As therapists, we often hear clients tell us they are experiencing loneliness in their motherhood journey. Whether you are raising an infant and feel isolated all day, don’t have mom friends to vent to about your work load or can’t get threw to your fiesty teenager and it’s making you anxious, motherhood can be so lonely.
Here are 3 ways to combat loneliness:
- Find your tribe. Spend some time and effort truly launching a search for other moms who are your cup of tea. Those moms who will cheer for you, support you, lift you up and help you move forward. Yes, this does exist and it’s a game changer once you’ve found it. Many times we find these connections in our children’s friends moms, neighborhood moms, moms we meet at work, our college friends, or even on Facebook mom groups. Find them, invest in them and deeply support each other. Stick to those who you can be your authentic self with about yourself and your children. This may require you to step out of your comfort zone to find your people, but stepping into bravery to be uncomfortable at something new could be exactly what is needed.
- Focus on something that makes you happy. Do you have a hobby that excites you? Get back into it. Or perhaps you’ve always wanted to learn a new skill. Now is a great time. Take some time to do things that make you feel like you again. It can be as simple as taking a 20 minute hike in nature or roaming the aisles of Target. If it’s what you need, do it. Ideally, these hobbies or skills shouldn’t involve your child. This is just purely you time. Put the guilt aside and know that we’re all better when we have balance and calm.
- Know that you can ask for help. Do you feel weighed down and constantly stressed about your on going to do list or household responsibilities? Look into outsourcing some of that. A local high school student, a mothers helper, a grocery delivery service and a cleaning service every now and then, can all help. Sign up for those services that increase the quality of your life. Asking for help can also be in the form of tapping into your spiritual self. Praying more, reading spiritual books to uplift you, attending that restorative yoga class to reconnect, can energize you. Finally, perhaps it’s more than loneliness that you are experiencing and need someone to talk to, reach out to a therapist. One who specializes in motherhood. One who will help you walk your journey of motherhood.
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About The Author
Noreen Iqbal, LCSW is the Director and Therapist at the Olive Branch Therapy Group. Noreen works with young adults, adults, and couples. Noreen’s specialties include depression, anxiety, couples, and women’s issues. If you are interested in working with Noreen, contact us via email, phone or chat on our website.