Winner of the Gold Literary Excellence Award from the Institute of Child Psychology

“If you've ever felt like you're the only one struggling with motherhood, this book is for you.” —Eve Rodsky, New York Times bestselling author of Fair Play

From a maternal mental health specialist comes an empowering guide to help reshape your internalized expectations and beliefs around motherhood.

Every mom wants to be a good parent—but if you’ve found yourself burned out and overwhelmed trying to be “the perfect mom,” you’re not alone. “We get handed a rulebook of motherhood without realizing it,” says Erica Djossa. “That rulebook comes with an invisible load—a world of mental and physical tasks that keeps us pushing toward perfection while barely being able to breathe.” With Releasing the Mother Load, this renowned parenting specialist shares a guide to help you break free from the crushing burden of unrealistic expectations and reclaim the joy of motherhood while staying true to your own values.

As a therapist and the founder of the Momwell community, Erica has learned how many mothers from all backgrounds and walks of life feel trapped by modern motherhood. Here she dispels the falsehoods our culture has built around what it means to be a mom and shares practical, proven guidance for a more empowered approach to parenting, including:

• What is the Mother Load? Where our expectations come from and why they don’t serve us or our children
• Making the Mother Load visible—the true emotional and physical cost of the many jobs, habits, and beliefs we carry
• Sharing the load—tools to establish strong boundaries, express your needs, and build a support system
• Practical techniques and scripts to help you create a healthy, balanced, and enriching approach to motherhood

“You can chart your own journey in a way that is freeing, feels right to you, and reignites passions and dreams that you thought had died when you began to put everyone else’s needs first,” says Erica Djossa. Here is a life-changing guide for developing a new vision of motherhood that lets you parent more freely and with greater fulfillment—so you can finally release the Mother Load.