Today we wrap up Perinatal Mental Health week here in Australia, and the recognition of the critical care that new mothers and families need during pregnancy and early motherhood. I would argue that this care needs to be stretched from before conception to late/teenage motherhood (the one I find myself in right now). However, let’s… Continue reading Perinatal mental health week – what I wish I knew back then…
Category: lived experiences
Boys to men, and the mending of souls
My husband teaching our son how to 🧵 sew! I always thought I would naturally be the one who teaches these “softer” skills while men in my son’s life would be the ones to pass on the hard ones. Wrong! This is how we change outdated traditionalist beliefs that boys should not bother with skills… Continue reading Boys to men, and the mending of souls
This belongs…this belongs
My partner took this image of me when we snuck in a coffee together before work and right after doing the school drop off. It felt big for many reasons. Both personal and collective. I have been in and out of the Covid vortex and the exhaustion felt too real. In my bones. The fear,… Continue reading This belongs…this belongs
On the need and the power of Rituals
The importance and need for ritual has been pushed away from dominant cultural norms. If primitive men and women engaged in rituals on a regular basis and acknowledged and celebrated each milestone with a proper rite of passage, modern humans deliberately and mindlessly bypass such parts of life, deeming them outdated, wishy-washy, and just unnecessary.… Continue reading On the need and the power of Rituals
Dream Work
I started working with my Dreams in my early 20s - 2000-2001, when I began my Psychoanalytic training as part of my Psychology degree in Bulgaria. I remember the trepidation, self-awareness, and tingle with which we started each session. Those were group discussions on Classical Freudian Psychoanalytic Dream analysis. We gathered weekly for 2 years… Continue reading Dream Work
Parenting during a Pandemic
As part of my research work at Peach Tree Perinatal Wellness 🍑🧡 I have been investigating the impact of COVID-19 on mothers. I got to speak with some Super Women whose stories of incredible resourcefulness while on the brink of mental collapse were just hm..how do I put it - otherworldly! Pregnancy, birthing and early… Continue reading Parenting during a Pandemic
The reproduction of the Black Mother stereotype.
When I became a new mum I lived in America. At the time a friend of mine had also just had her second baby. She was Black. I don’t remember ever considering that fact. Until one afternoon. We used to go to a local playground together-buzzing with bubbas and mummas from all races, ages and… Continue reading The reproduction of the Black Mother stereotype.
Parenting well when you haven’t been well parented?
Parenting well when you haven’t been well parented? • Manage your own “baggage” ensuring it doesn’t spill over and pollute your children’s lives. This is usually an unconscious process so waking up to our baggage is a much needed step in our toolbox of care. • Reduce the amount of chronic unpredictable toxic stress in… Continue reading Parenting well when you haven’t been well parented?
On hearing the call towards transformation and healing
🌿On hearing the call to change🌿 Take some time to reflect on what it means to transform, heal, change, grow... Where does it even begin? The whispers from within that tell you: “Hmm, I wonder what would it feel like if I wasn’t in a constant state of vigilance, anxiety, fear?” “I wonder what is… Continue reading On hearing the call towards transformation and healing
Motherhood: my hardest quest and my best guide on self-awareness
It’s about 12 years ago, during my pregnancy, when I remember engaging with my parenting model for the first time, from a much different perspective. I was full of questions about my own way of parening. Who would I be in a few months? I remember filling journal pages with the Mother I saw my… Continue reading Motherhood: my hardest quest and my best guide on self-awareness
Aleksandra Staneva, PhD - Internal Family Systems & Jung 