Mommie Dearest
The Febuary 21, 2005 edition of Newsweek had a series of profound articles about working mothers. The lead article was titled, Mommy Madness. Much of the content was based on the book by Judith Warner called Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety.
Many of the working mothers I talk to are overwhelmed trying to be play the dual super-roles of career woman and mom. They’re caught in a never-ending bind trying to do it all. They feel “crazed” trying to meet their expectations and those of the people around them.
While obviously moms can’t tap the world away, they can use EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) as an effective tool for helping relieve some of the pressures and in changing their beliefs about how they “should” be.
Based on requests, last summer I did a series of national teleconference calls to help stressed out moms prepare for having their kids home for the summer months. Believe me, these moms were feeling stressed just thinking about it. Although there are a lot of activities for kids, you eventually run out of day trips and summer camps.
Two weeks in advance, we set up a Website area to teach moms the EFT Shortcut Method. It was a prerequisite. By the time they got on the conference call, each person had the basics of EFT down. We had women from all over the country dialing in. Some mothers partcipated in doing EFT over the phone. Most listened in and “borrowed benefits.”
The EFT Setup phrase or affirmation is: “Even though _______, I deeply and completely accept myself.” We used some of the following affirmations:
Even though I’m tired of having to do it all …
Even though I’m not ready for the kids being home …
Even thought I don’t have enough time …
Even though I don’t have enough time for myself …
Even though I yell at the kids too much …
Even though the kids drive me nuts …
Even thought I have to be perfect …
Even thought I’m afraid that …
Even though I worry about …
… I deeply and completely accept myself.
In other cases, we used more specific phrases. We also incorporated the Choices Method, by Dr. Patricia Carrington. For example:
Even though Evan’s behavior irritates me , I choose to feel surprisingly calm about it and use my energy positively in other ways.
Since a lot of the moms were new to EFT, they were speechless in how quickly and easily EFT could work for them. Many moms expressed their relief in laughter.
One of the best outcomes of the calls was that the women participating realized they weren’t alone. Many other working moms were facing the same challenges. These moms were open to new solutions such as EFT. Anything to help them feel better!
[By the way, one of the other strategies for doing the calls was to spread the word about EFT. Once the mothers experienced successes with EFT, they would tell their husbands. And, oh sure, the sensitive guys would notice any changes without being told about them.]
.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
