About me
Hi, I’m Áine. I’m so glad you’re here
Welcome to Shared Motherhood – a space where women can feel supported, cared for and truly heard. So much of pregnancy and motherhood centres on looking after the baby. Here, our focus is looking after the mother.
My background
I am a qualified counsellor and psychotherapist. I hold a Bachelor of Science in Counselling & Psychotherapy, along with minor awards in Childcare, Therapeutic Play Skills, Child Psychology, and Postnatal Maternity Care.
But most importantly, I am a mother of two beautiful little boys.
My journey to Shared Motherhood
Becoming a mother was something I had always looked forward to, but the experience turned out to be a lot different than I ever imagined. My first son suffered from colic and silent reflux. He cried for hours every day and very rarely slept. I became extremely overwhelmed, sleep-deprived, and found it hard to connect with him during that time. I felt like nobody could understand what I was going through and I couldn’t be honest with anyone about the difficulties I was having.
At that time, I always wished there had been a support group that I could attend, to get some help and insights from other mothers going through what I was, or mothers who had already come through it.
Although the experience with my second son was completely different, it too came with challenges. Going from one to two boys is not for the faint-hearted!
Why I created Shared Motherhood
It is because of my experience as a mother, my knowledge of a child’s social & emotional development and my passion for helping people through counselling, that I created Shared Motherhood, where women can feel safe to explore the harder and less-spoken about parts of motherhood.
Each support group is therapist-led with a strong focus on mental health and well-being. My hope is that you will leave with a little more understanding of yourself, a sense of connection with other women, some practical tools and — perhaps most importantly — the feeling that you don’t have to navigate this transition alone.
