Yesterday I witnessed a conversation between mothers. “I feel like a failure to my family” & “I’m always yelling at my kids”. “I’m so overwhelmed”

Over the years I have heard many mothers tell me that after they gave birth, their “mama bear” instincts kicked in. They felt concern and worry about their new baby, which led to them being protective and hyper-aware.

I would never have imagined becoming a mom. An only-child, rebellious teenager, deeply self-centered. I was more or less like that until I was 22, when I married Francesco. My conversion to the Catholic Faith…

Julia Marie Hogan, LCPC is a counselor in Chicago and owner of Vita Optimum Counseling & Consulting, LLC, a private practice that specializes in faith-based psychotherapy. She also leads workshops and writes on topics related to self-care, authentic living, relationships, and mental health. Her book, It's Ok to Start with You, is all about the power of self-care from a Catholic/Christian perspective and her second book will be published later this year. She is passionate about empowering individuals to be their most authentic selves. You can find more of her writing online at juliamariehogan.com.

JuliaMarie lives in the Western North Carolina mountains with her husband, Thomas, and their two sons. She is a convert to Catholicism and a lover of books, cooking, writing, art, and all things Tolkien. Encouraging women to live authentically and boldly is her passion, and she lives for deep, uncomfortable conversations about everything and anything. She blogs at musingsofacatholicmama.com and shares snippets of her daily life on her Instagram, @musingsofacatholicmama.

All Sarah Bradley wanted to be when she grew up was a wife, mom, and writer—now somehow she gets to do all three. (No, she can't believe it either.) Her freelance essays on health and parenting have appeared in The Washington Post, Parents, and O the Oprah Magazine, but most days you can find her happily homeschooling her three boys, buying too many houseplants, and baking something with chocolate in it. For snapshots of her messy but grace-filled Catholic family life, follow her on Instagram at @thisisourship.

Monica Ortega is married to her high-school sweetheart, Renzo. Together they have five beautiful children. They also co-founded Two Become Family, a ministry to accompany families through the challenges of life. She also works part time as an athletic director and volunteers for her parish’s youth ministry program. In her free time, she likes to watch crime shows and eat cookie dough. Instagram: @twobecomefamily Blog: www.twobecomefamily.com

Kerry Campbell is a Catholic writer, podcaster, preschool music teacher, church cantor, and mom to two amazing young adults. Her latest offering is a weekly podcast for Catholics on the margins called Raised Catholic, which is available everywhere you'd like to listen. Kerry is a regular contributing writer on catholicmom.com and was published on paper for the very first time last year in Take Heart: 100 Devotions to Seeing God When Life's Not Okay. She is a big fan of relatively slow running, really good food, the enneagram (4), and the best dog in the world, Bailey. You can find Kerry writing on Instagram @kerrycampbellwrites and on her blog at www.mylittleepiphanies.com

Tatiana O’Hanlon (@tatilaw) is a California native now living in the mountains of Colorado with her husband and 2-year-old son. While she has decided to stay-at-home full-time with her son and leave a career in Marketing and Social Media, her passion for writing and bringing awareness to PPA/PPD and the struggles of motherhood is always something she is willing to share and talk about. She has written guest content for Mothergood® (@mothergoodco) and serves as the Group Co-Coordinator for her local MOPS (@mops_international) chapter. And if you can’t find her at-home baking, writing, reading and doing indoorsy stuff, she is off-roading, hiking and exploring her new state with her outdoorsy husband and son.

Lauren Accolla is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Denver, Colorado. She works with children, adolescents, families, and couples. She works for a group practice that primarily works with people of the Christian faith. Lauren is Catholic herself, and loves being able to integrate the faith with therapy. She lives in Denver with her husband and daughter, and is blessed with many extended family members nearby. Her passion is to reduce mental health stigma, while revealing that the Christian faith is not in opposition to psychology and the human mind. She founded Your Faithful Therapist for this purpose, and loves creating content for her social media community.