I am not a therapist, no.

Out of an abundance of caution (because when we don't know what we don't know we can create problems, inadvertently) I took a course made for therapists that specifically addresses shame. I do cite experts in a couple of places. But this course is not structured to be therapeutic and has no saviour complex ambitions to replace therapy. 

To support your emotional well-being, I've taken these measures:

1. I've placed trigger warnings at the front of course material I anticipate to be more emotionally strenuous, and I prompt emotional regulation exercises. 

2. I've curated resources I find helpful for self-soothing and made them easy to find.

3. I've created a visible Disclaimers course section that includes four "lessons" titled: 

• How this course is meant to be used

• Why I encourage formally accredited therapy, even as a self-healer

• How to find a shame-informed therapist

• What if you can't afford conventional therapy? 

My understanding of shame is this: Any shame we feel from beliefs we've adopted later in life can attach themselves to childhood shame. We're more likely feel shame about a new thing if we have old shame "installed" on our "hardware." 

This course is not equipped to help people with childhood shame. I explain further in the aforementioned lessons that a person taking this course may need to and want to see a trauma-informed therapist to address childhood shame. The degree of childhood shame we have could very well limit our ability to shake mom shame, specifically. 

All that said, not every therapist is well-educated in social systems, structural inequality, or formal logic. They may not have a complete picture in their head for why moms feel as they do. You know that saying, "When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail?" You know that other saying, "Before you diagnose yourself with depression, make sure you're not surrounded by assholes?" (Or something to that effect....) 

Sometimes we are all guilty of only viewing situations through the focused lenses we've been trained to use. It can be easy to see a mom's insecurity or shame as being evidence of a mental health problem when she's actually surrounded by sexism, classism, and more. 

This course focuses on applying logic and systems thinking to the problems we experience as moms, to understand them holistically and systemically. It helps moms to incisively locate the reasons why they experience shame and problems within motherhood and to create a strategic plan for what to try to fix, when, and what tools to use.

I'm confident you can't get this kind of help anywhere else and I think working in conjunction with a therapist would increase your success. 

I emphasize that if you are in a state of acute stress or grief (recent divorce or separation, loss of a child, [you'll know if there's something]) then now is not a good time for you to delve into this course because it could provoke feelings that will feel too big to hold—feeling that could spur you to take action you'll later wish you hadn't. 

The serious nature of the topic could be triggering. Lessons I suspect might be especially triggering have a warning. Some lessons contain pause signals for stopping to breathe, move your body, laugh, sing, or do whatever works for you to feel grounded and offload tension. 

The Disclaimers module has "lessons" on how to find a trauma-informed or shame-informed therapist, what to do if you can't afford therapy, what to do if you have a bad relationship with your own mom, and more. 

Most lessons end with a cute or amusing GIF to offload some tension. The lesson quizzes are also written to be funny in places. 

One of the course modules is a set of resources for emotional needs: 

• a place to go when you need to laugh

• a place to go when you need self-soothing

• a place to go when you need to feel optimistic