27: Lost in Motherhood with Kirsten Goffena, LPC, RPT

My guest on the podcast this week features Kirsten Goffena, LPC, RPT.  Kirsten is passionate about helping clients reach their full potential in life. She weaves playfulness into her work with clients of all ages and her therapy dog Luna’s calm presence helps clients feel safe and relaxed. She helps individuals, children, and families reconnect to themselves and each other. Her counseling experience includes individual and group work with adults, children, and families in a mental health agency, elementary and middle school counseling, in-home family therapy for families with children at risk for out-of-home placement, and private practice. What you’ll hear in this episode:
  • Women getting lost in motherhood and how it’s a more common experience than people realize
  • What inspired Kirsten to create her community and move in that direction
  • Helping mothers find themselves
  • Making the connection between lost motherhood and challenges facing the children
  • Parents trying to prevent their children experiencing failure
  • The expectations of mothers having to do everything and dealing with shaming
  • How a woman’s sense of self gets lost through motherhood
  • How the issue can be  hard to perceive until there is a big event like a panic attack
  • Confusing self-care with being a bad mom, the need to be a good mother to yourself
  • How a mother can accidentally step into the life of her child
  • Dealing with the loss of a role as a mother when the child grows up
  • Misconceptions about motherhood that can contribute to getting lost
  • Dealing with the perfect vision of motherhood and the anxiety it can lead to
  • What micro self-care can look like and its positive effects
Resources http://pathfinderscounselingllc.com http://www.lostinmotherhood.com