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“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.

About the Author

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Erica Djossa is the CEO and founder of Momwell, and a registered psychotherapist specializing in maternal mental health with over a decade of experience. She founded Momwell to set a standard of care for providers and ensure mom-centered, specialized mental health support at any stage of motherhood. She’s been featured in Time magazine, USA Today, the Toronto Star, Cityline, Scary Mommy, PopSugar, and Romper. Her graphics have been shared by celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Ashley Graham, Hilaria Baldwin, and Christy Turlington. For more, visit momwell.com.

Praise For…

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“If you've ever felt like you're the only one struggling with motherhood, this book is for you. Erica Djossa approaches the weight that modem moms feel with compassion, understanding, and a proactive method to breaking out from under it. You're not alone. You're not failing. And you don't have to carry the weight by yourself!” —Eve Rodsky, New York Times bestselling author of Fair Play

“Releasing the Mother Load highlights the way that parenting, and specifically mothering, has changed in recent decades and, even more drastically, since the pandemic. Erica Djossa shines the light on the invisible load and how big of an impact it has on maternal mental health. She also provides practical strategies for how to release that load and protect our self-esteem and well-being.” —Becky Kennedy, PhD, clinical psychologist, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Good Inside, and CEO and founder of Good Inside

“Erica Djossa does an incredible job unveiling hard truths about mental labor in Releasing the Mother Load. Her ability to share impactful research, meaningful stories, and practical tools will leave the reader feeling validated and equipped to take off the backpack that gets handed to us when we become mothers, as she puts it. This book is for the mother who is trying to conceive, the pregnant mom, the first-time mom, veteran mom, or anyone impacted by the mental tasks fighting for space where there is no more to spare.” —Ashurina Ream, PsyD, CEO and founder of Psyched Mommy

“Motherhood can be exhausting and overwhelming—but it doesn’t have to be that way. Releasing the Mother Load is a practical tool that helps moms identify why they’re struggling and let go of the things that hold them back.” —Libby Ward, digital creator and maternal wellness advocate at @diaryofanhonestmom

“Erica Djossa offers a refreshing and much-needed take in Releasing the Mother Load, helping women and mothers understand the deep cultural origins of their burnout, how change starts inside, and what actionable steps they can take to nurture, not lose, themselves in motherhood.” —Jill Koziol, cofounder and CEO of Motherly

“So much of motherhood self-help relies on check lists of self-care items that end up just being one more thing we as mothers feel guilty for not getting to. With Releasing the Mother Load, Erica Djossa does a masterful job at making mothers from all walks of life feel seen and paints a practical path forward that is compassionate and reachable. I recommend it for any mother or mother-to-be.” —KC Davis, LPC, USA Today bestselling author of How to Keep House While Drowning

“Erica Djossa’s new book is a thoughtful and straightforward guide to helping moms everywhere find their inner GPS—because Releasing the Mother Load is as much about letting go of unrealistic external expectations as it is about learning who you are and where your values come from.” —Catherine Birndorf, MD, cofounder and CEO, The Motherhood Center of New York