Resources
Matrescence
Becoming a mother changes more than your schedule — it changes who you are. Psychologists call this shift matrescence: a developmental passage as real and disorienting as adolescence. If you've felt like a stranger to yourself since becoming a mother, you're not alone, and you're not imagining it.
Resources
- Book
Matrescence — Lucy Jones (2023)
“We still barely acknowledge the psychological and physiological significance of becoming a mother: how it affects the brain, the endocrine system, cognition, immunity, the psyche, the microbiome, the sense of self.”
- Book
What No One Tells You — Alexandra Sacks, MD & Catherine Birndorf, MD (2019)
“Try saying it out loud: matrescence. It sounds like adolescence, a well-described developmental phase and another time when bodies morph and hormones surge.”
- Article
The Birth of a Mother — Alexandra Sacks, NYT
- Article
TED Talk: A new way to think about the transition to motherhood — Alexandra Sacks, TED
- Book
The Fourth Trimester: A Postpartum Guide to Healing Your Body, Balancing Your Emotions, and Restoring Your Vitality — Kimberly Ann Johnson (2017)
Professionals worth knowing about
Some of these are practices and organizations our clinicians know of, mostly around Boston. They are starting points, not endorsements — we have no affiliation with them, and we don’t receive anything for listing them. Please confirm credentials, availability, and insurance coverage directly, as those change.
- a free weekly new-parent group in Plainville, MA, plus a free monthly infant-sleep Q&A on Zoom — New England Doula Support
- free home visits pairing new mothers with more seasoned ones, through JF&CS — Visiting Moms
- facilitated groups for new mothers and babies, through William James College — New Moms, New Babies
Taking the First Step
Beginning Therapy
Starting therapy can feel like a big step. Many clients reach out after spending months — sometimes years — wondering whether they should seek support.
If you're considering therapy, we'd love to help you take the next step.