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Conversations About Facing Motherhood and Finding Yourself with Leading Reproductive Psychiatrist Alexandra Sacks M.D.

Premieres Thursday, April 11 on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Wherever You Listen

Being a mom is hard. Everybody knows that. But we usually hear about sleepless nights and diaper changes, not the profound identity shift that accompanies becoming a mother. Motherhood is a psychological big bang. And yet it’s rare to find emotionally honest conversations about it. On MOTHERHOOD SESSIONS, renowned reproductive psychiatrist Dr. Alexandra Sacks sits down with mothers and lets us listen in on conversations that are hard to have outside of a therapist’s office. MOTHERHOOD SESSIONS premieres Thursday, April 11 on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever podcasts are available.

On each episode, we hear a session with a mom in which she talks to Dr. Sacks about her struggles—not just in parenting, but in her new life as a parent. New moms will share their excitement—but also their secret disappointments, worries, self-doubt, and ambivalence. With frankness and humor, Dr. Sacks will advise women about the taboo stuff that’s rarely discussed: how becoming a mother can stir up anger and insights about your own childhood, how it can be hell on your career and sex life, and how sometimes being a good mother means putting yourself first—even if only to close the door when you go to the bathroom. 

Each of these sessions allows listeners to tap into an intimate therapeutic conversation. Dr. Sacks will help each guest dig down to explore the root of their problem and illuminate something unexpected about the complexities of motherhood, as well as the emotional burdens we all carry.

Some episode topics include:

• Co-parenting after divorce: Zoe recently separated from the father of her two-year-old son, and now she feels stuck. She’s struggling to get past the anger she feels toward her ex and her shame about being a single mom. 
• Guilt and ambivalence: Anne felt so oppressed by the pressure to be “perfectly selfless” like her own single immigrant mother that she imagined having kids wasn’t for her. She got pregnant at her husband’s encouragement and is now putting the same pressure on herself —and it’s making her hate motherhood. 
• Career uncertainty: Camila was struggling in graduate school when she became pregnant. Two kids and almost a decade later, she’s still putting off finishing her dissertation. Now she needs help facing her imposter syndrome and figuring out how to mother without abandoning her other dreams.

Dr. Sacks has spent the last decade of her career helping women navigate their emotional lives as a reproductive psychiatrist. She is a regular contributor to the New York Times and the co-author of the forthcoming book by Simon & Schuster What No One Tells You: A Guide to Your Emotions From Pregnancy to Motherhood. She has been featured in TIME, NPR, Vogue, Washington Post, and The Boston Globe. 

MOTHERHOOD SESSIONS premieres Thursday, April 11 on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever podcasts are available.