The Art of Losing: Molly Millwood on the Unexpected Losses of Motherhood

What is the cost of framing motherhood only in terms of its potential gains, without acknowledging its inevitable losses?

 

That’s one of the questions that Molly Milllwood addresses in her brilliant book, To Have and To Hold: Motherhood, Marriage, and the Modern Dilemma. A mix of research, client stories, and Molly’s personal experience, the book tells the truth about the realities of motherhood in an effort to normalize and validate the experience for women everywhere.

 

In this conversation, Molly discusses the current state of parenthood, its impact on mothers and their marriages, the role that social media and shame play in its difficulties, and its capacity to expand our emotional experience.

 

Molly Millwood is a licensed psychologist, author, speaker, singer-songwriter, mother, wife, and devoted advocate for women’s mental health and wellbeing.  She holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Montana and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University Medical Center.  After juggling an academic career with a part-time psychotherapy practice for over 15 years, Molly now practices therapy full time.  She works with adult individuals and couples, helping women rediscover themselves within the metamorphosis of motherhood and helping couples of all sorts improve their relational health.  Her 2019 book, To Have and To Hold:  Motherhood, Marriage, and the Modern Dilemma explores the emotional landscape of early motherhood and the inextricable link during this phase of life between women’s wellbeing and the wellbeing of their marriage or intimate partnership.  Her work has been highlighted by The Washington Post, Mother Untitled, WNYC Radio, and numerous other media outlets, along with dozens of podcasts.  She lives with her husband and two sons in the mountains of Vermont, where in her free time she can be found with a guitar in her hands, her nose in a book, or her feet on a steep dirt road. 

 

To learn more about Molly, visit www.mollymillwood.com

 

To purchase her book, visit https://bit.ly/mollymillwood

Follow Julianne on Instagram at @juliannerollefson

 

And to learn more about Julianne or to get in touch, visit www.juliannemanskerollefson.com