Holistic Well-Being Service

Mother's Day is a time that can raise some difficult emotions for women, says Holistic Counsellor Tanya Peterson.

Some women long for marriage and children. Some women are dealing with infertility or have lost new lives to miscarriage, stillbirth, abortion or adoption. Some women may have difficult relationships with, or even be estranged from their own mother, and some have mothers who have passed away, or seriously ill.

Some women might find that they struggle with how marital problems challenge their parenting, or question their own mothering.

Special days and celebrations are frequently hard for people dealing with loss, especially those days that celebrate the very someone or something they are grieving. Sometimes the hype of Mother's Day is just so hyped, that it can be like salt to the wound of childlessness, bereavement, or estrangement.

It can be helpful to consider that many of the images we see in advertising are idealised versions of motherhood, which are not complete. In reality, women in the world are in diverse life circumstances, sometimes thriving, sometimes coping, and sometimes not coping.

The fairy tale of marriage and motherhood is just that, a fairy tale, our culture is one of motherhood deferred due to later childbearing, motherhood disrupted by divorce, motherhood lost by infant/child death and miscarriage, and motherhood not yet achieved or unachieved due to infertility.

Of course, our culture also includes wonderful families with strong relationships and happy children. The point is that there is not a one-size-fits-all journey of womanhood.

So we need to be gentle with each other and with ourselves on Mother's Day.

Counselling can help heal the feelings of despair and confusion, bringing peace.  As we have evolved, many of us experience reactions and have lost the ability to sense/know our true feelings, or have difficulty managing, perhaps feeling torn and fragmented, suffering in both mind and body. Holistic Counselling brings you back to being you, vital and whole.

Tanya Peterson is a Holistic Counsellor (Adv Dip Holistic Counselling), Emotional Literacy Trainer and Reiki Master, is a member of the Australian Counselling Association.

You can learn more about Tanya on her website: www.tcpeterson-wellbeing-services.com or for appointments phone: 0417 988 962