Let's Be Real - Mama Journeys - Episode 111 W/Vanessa Perry

Vanessa lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina as a single mom of a 9 year old. She was a therapist who decided to add spiritualism into that realm. Her website is thepsychgym.com. She is a believer of spiritual grounding in therapy and transformed her practice into intuitive counseling.  She experienced unexplained fertility issues and had to learn how to NOT expect a typical mama journey. She unexpectedly got pregnant, which was an ectopic pregnancy which caused more grief but then one month later, she got pregnant again!!  That's when you know you are MEANT to be a mom! She was under the impression that she needed to make this a family and although she tried her hardest, it wasn't meant to be. Single parenting for the past 5 years has been its own journey and the struggle created a deep connection and love for her daughter, knowing she is doing the best she can for her and her daughter. She has had many different supports through her mama journey and she says they all helped (and continue to help) raise her as a mom. Validation from others really made a difference in her mama journey because she needed the feeling that she wasn't alone and she felt held. Fixing things as moms isn't always the best path. Letting our kids struggle a bit won't hurt. Empowerment comes from doing things so we have to let them do it and feel brave. She wishes she would have known that she truly needed her community around her who are in the same places in her life. She kept all the old friends (hockey players) and she wishes she would have had someone to help her create the communities of people she needed as a mom and not a hockey player.  She can be found on Instagram sea.stars.psych and Facebook under Vanessa Perry - Intuitive Counselor.  Check out her podcast at https://yanamom.com/lets-be-real-podcast/