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Moms! Interested in keeping a “mom diary” for a day, which might be featured in an upcoming article in the Washington Post On Parenting? I’m writing a piece on maternal emotions and want to include actual emotion monitoring from real moms. If you’d like to participate, please keep a feelings diary for one day, noting down all of your emotional…
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Happy 2020, everyone! I’m especially excited for the new year, as my first book, Mom Brain: Proven Strategies to Fight the Anxiety, Guilt, and Overwhelming Emotions of Motherhood—And Relax into Your New Self, will be published this summer by Guilford Press. Mom Brain draws on my own experiences as well as those of the many new moms I’ve worked with.…
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I constantly challenge moms to stop “shoulding” all over themselves. Which is why I feel compelled to confess that I’ve been stuck in a “should storm” of my own, as it’s been weeks since I posted on this blog. This is due to a perfect storm of end-of-summer beach vacation, back-to-school insanity, and looming book deadline. Every week, I’ve thought…
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I don’t often recommend fiction in my professional life, but whenever I encounter amazing writing about motherhood, I feel compelled to speak up. In Fleishman is in Trouble, Taffy Brodesser-Akner captures the complex emotions of motherhood so succinctly and perfectly. It’s an incredibly nuanced and thoughtful take on the motherhood experience, which can by turns be joyful, overwhelming, boring, anxiety-producing,…
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In this week’s New York Times Parenting newsletter, writer Jessica Grose explains her decision not to have another child. She employs the term “emotional bandwith,” noting that she didn’t have the emotional bandwith (what I’d define as capacity to effectively cope emotionally; she defines it as “patience” and “humanity”) for a third kid. I talk to my mom patients about…
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I loved talking about the stress that comes with “mom brain” with my friend Dr. Yael Chatav Shonbrun for the Psychologists off the Clock podcast. In this interview, we discuss how CBT strategies are a great fit for overwhelmed and anxious moms. We touch on topics such as learning to accept the range of maternal emotions, prioritizing self-care, seeking out…
My New Book

Proven Strategies to Fight the Anxiety, Guilt, and Overwhelming Emotions of Motherhood—and Relax into Your New Self
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About Me

I’m Ilyse Dobrow DiMarco, Ph.D., aka DrCBTMom. DrCBTMom.com combines the expert advice of a self-help book with the warmth and readability of a mommy blog.
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Tweets by @DrCBTMomLatest Posts
- Worried about re-entry into the post-COVID world? Try exposure!
- Moms! Keep a “mom diary” for a day, and you might be featured in The Washington Post!
- Parent guilt in the time of COVID (and after!)
- Mom BrainStorm: Stop trying to figure out your feelings!
- Mom BrainStorm: Feeling like the “World’s Worst Mom?” Keep a diary of “Mom wins”