top of page
Mother and Baby

Trauma Therapy for Moms 

Virtual trauma therapy for mothers across Ontario. Specializing in mom burnout, postpartum struggles, anger, resentment, and the exhaustion that doesn't go away no matter how much you rest.

Trauma Therapy in Toronto | Therapy for Moms in Toronto | EMDR therapy for burnout | Mom Burn Out 

What Is Mom Burnout — And Is What You're Feeling Normal?

Mom burnout is what happens when you've been running on empty for so long that the tank isn't just low — it's gone. It's the result of chronic depletion: giving endlessly to your children, your partner, your job, your home, everyone around you — while your own needs get quietly moved to the bottom of a list that never gets shorter.

It can feel like:

  • Exhaustion that sleep doesn't fix — you wake up tired, you go to bed tired, and the tiredness has seeped into your bones

  • Emotional detachment — going through the motions of motherhood without actually feeling present in it

  • Rage that frightens you — snapping, yelling, losing it over small things, and then collapsing into shame afterward

  • Resentment — toward your partner, your kids, your life — and the guilt that follows

  • A lost sense of self — you can't remember who you were before you became someone's mother

  • Performing okay — looking fine on the outside while quietly falling apart on the inside

If any of that lands — you're not a bad mom. You're a depleted one. And there's a difference.

Your not failing, Your nervous system is overwhelmed.

Why Work with Marlo Drago 

Marlo Drago Therapy, Trauma and EMDR Therapy

Marlo Drago
Founder and Therapist

A lot of therapy for mothers stays on the surface. Coping strategies. Sleep hygiene. Self-care checklists. And while those things have their place, they don't touch what's actually underneath the burnout for most of the mothers I work with.

Because here's what I've learned — in my clinical work and as a mother of two: burnout rarely travels alone.

I know this not just professionally, but personally. After having my children, I experienced postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, and health anxiety that took me completely by surprise. And something else happened that I wasn't expecting: my own childhood traumas came rushing to the surface. Wounds I thought I'd dealt with — or at least learned to live around — suddenly became impossible to ignore. Parenting has a way of doing that. It reaches back into your own childhood and holds it up to the light, whether you're ready or not.

What I found on the other side of that — through my own healing work and through years of sitting with mothers in my practice — is that the postpartum struggle and the burnout and the anger and the resentment almost always have deeper roots. And those roots almost always lead back to early experiences: what we learned about our own worth, whether our needs mattered, how safe it felt to ask for help, how much we had to hold together just to feel okay.

Underneath the exhaustion there's often a history. A childhood where you learned that your needs weren't as important as other people's. A nervous system that was never given the chance to fully settle. Patterns of people-pleasing, perfectionism, and over-giving that started long before you had kids — and that motherhood just turned up to full volume.

Treating the burnout without addressing what's underneath it is like putting a bandage over something that needs surgery. You might feel better for a while. But the pattern keeps coming back.

This is why I take a trauma-informed, nervous-system-focused approach to working with mothers — not just addressing the symptoms, but going to the root. I've done this work myself. I know what it costs not to. And I know what becomes possible when you do.

What Moms I Work With Are Often Carrying

  • Maternal burnout & chronic exhaustion

  • Mom guilt & relentless self-criticism

  • Anxiety & emotional overwhelm

  • Losing yourself in motherhood

  • Resentment in relationships & invisible load

  • Difficulty setting boundaries or asking for help

  • Childhood trauma showing up in your parenting

  • Intergenerational patterns you don't want to pass on

  • Postpartum anxiety & birth trauma

  • Identity loss & rediscovering who you are outside of "mom"

  • Nervous system dysregulation — always on edge, always on call

What Makes This Approach Different

I'm not going to hand you a self-care checklist. I'm not going to tell you to take more bubble baths or go for walks. You already know what you're supposed to do — the problem is that knowing isn't enough when your nervous system is stuck in survival mode.

Here's what I will do:

Work with your nervous system, not just your thoughts.
Using Polyvagal-informed therapy and somatic approaches, we'll help your body actually feel safe enough to rest — not just intellectually know that it should.

Use EMDR to process what's underneath.
A lot of mom burnout has roots in unresolved childhood experiences — emotional neglect, having to be the caretaker, learning early that your worth was tied to what you produced or how well you held things together. EMDR helps process those early experiences so they stop running your present.

Address the anger without shame.
The rage that comes with burnout is real and valid — and it usually has a story. We'll get curious about the anger instead of just trying to manage it. Because anger is often grief in disguise, or fear, or years of unmet needs finally making themselves known.

Rebuild your sense of self.
Motherhood can swallow you whole if you let it. Part of our work together is helping you remember — and reclaim — who you are outside of being someone's mother.

What You Might Notice Over Time

Healing from mom burnout isn't about becoming a different person. It's about coming back to yourself.

With time and support, you might notice:

 

​​

  • More patience 

  • The ability to actually rest without guilt

  • Clearer boundaries that feel grounded, not aggressive

  • Less guilt, more self-compassion

  • A nervous system that isn't constantly in overdrive

  • Reconnection with who you are outside of caregiving

  • Feeling present with your kids instead of just physically there

  • Less anger and resentment

  • Reduction of activation of previous traumas to present moments

 

 

​
Mother and Child

Ready to Feel Like Yourself Again?

I know the first step is usually the hardest and you are probably buzzing with questions. Head over to FAQ, if the answer is not there send me an e-mail and I would be happy to help! Ready to book an initial call or intake session? Fill out the form below. 

​​

bottom of page