Navigating Motherhood Without Your Mother

After much reflection, I’ve decided it’s time to close the chapter on this podcast.

When I started this show, I was deep in a season of grief, distance, and reconnection with myself. A great deal has changed since then, including a significant shift in my family dynamics and relationship with my mother. 

In today's episode, you'll learn a little more as I want to remain authentic and transparent. 

Surprisingly, life has brought things full circle in ways I never expected.

Because of that, it feels aligned to end this podcast with gratitude.
It served a beautiful purpose in my life, and I’m proud of what it became.

Thank you for every listen, every message, every moment of shared healing.
I am forever grateful!

With love, 

Alyssa Carlene

PS: I want you always to know you can go back and listen to any previous episodes for support in navigating motherhood without your mother for support. You're never alone. Your healing matters. Your story matters! 

What would happen if you finally gave yourself permission to grieve...fully, honestly, and without apology?

In today’s episode, Alyssa Carlene explores what it means to embrace grief with an open heart, especially while navigating motherhood without your own mother, in conversation with Tara Accardo, a grief and soul purpose coach. They talk about how loss shows up in the everyday moments of parenting, why motherhood can make grief feel louder, and how allowing yourself to feel it all can actually soften and support you.

You’ll hear raw, grounded conversations about identity, support systems, emotional triggers, and the surprising ways grief continues to evolve as we grow. This episode is here to remind you that your grief is valid, your longing is real, and you don’t have to hold any of it alone.

Listen to the episode to answer the following questions: 

• How can I navigate motherhood when my grief feels louder than my joy some days?
• Why does motherhood trigger old wounds and deepen the longing for my mom?
• How do I keep my heart open when I’m grieving, parenting, and trying to feel supported all at once?
• What can I do to honor my mother’s memory while still becoming the mother I want to be?
• How do I build a support system when the person I need the most is no longer here?

Do you ever feel like your value depends on how much you accomplish as a mom? In motherhood, when life becomes a constant cycle of giving, striving, and proving, it’s so easy to forget that your worth isn’t something you have to earn. 

In today’s episode, Alyssa Carlene is joined by Chelsea Boateng, whose heart-centered work focuses on helping professional women in motherhood heal their worth wounds—the tender places where we learned to measure our value by our productivity and achievements. 

Together, we explore what happens when your sense of self-worth is tied to doing the most, how the absence of a mother can deepen that wound, and what it takes to gently come home to your inherent value. 

Listen to the episode to answer the following questions:  

• How do I know if I’m struggling with a worth wound in motherhood?
• Why do I feel guilty or anxious when I’m not being productive?
• How does not having my mom’s presence impact the way I see my worth?
• What small mindset shifts can help me separate my worth from what I do?
• How can I begin to rest and receive without feeling like I’m falling behind?

The holidays are approaching, and with them, a familiar ache hits deeper than most realize for the mom navigating motherhood without her mother. 

In today's heartfelt episode, Alyssa Carlene explores the complicated mix of emotions that show up during holidays, birthdays, and family milestones when your mom isn't here to share them. Whether your loss is recent or years old... Whether your relationship was loving, complicated, or both...these meaningful days can bring grief to the surface. 

Listen to the episode to answer the following questions: 

• Why do holidays and milestones feel so much heavier for me without my mom?
• How can I permit myself to feel grief and joy at the same time?
• What boundaries can I set to protect my peace during special events?
• How can I honor my mother’s memory in small, meaningful ways?
• How do I keep moving forward and build new traditions while still missing her?

How do you find joy in the most devastating times in your life, the absolute hardest seasons when you feel like you're buried in grief and simply surviving?

Today's episode features Leona deVinne, an internationally recognized speaker, leadership coach, and author. Leona is also a mother of three and tragically lost her mother at age 22, when her first child was only three months old. 

Her passion is helping all women rise from their adversities by finding joy in the hardest seasons. Today, she wants to provide hope for mothers who have lost their mothers because she truly understands what that experience is like.

Listen to the episode to answer the following questions: 

• How can I find meaning in my life after the death of my mother? 
• What does it mean to really own who I am?
• How can I have more clarity, confidence, and courage in my life? 
• What are the secrets to joy in the hardest seasons? 
• How can I embrace and actually feel my grief? 

Resources from this episode: 

Help with grief: https://leonadevinne.kit.com/9ca32e66f8

Link to Leona's book: "Finding Your Joy Spot"  https://www.amazon.ca/Finding-Your-Joy-Spot-Unexpected/dp/0991707583/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title

Sign up for her newsletter here: https://leonadevinne.com/subscribe. Weekly tips and research-backed techniques to stay true to yourself

Leona's Website: www.leonadevinne.com

After a week-long complete social media/media detox, Alyssa Carlene learned three major lessons she wants to share with you. 

If you're struggling with the weight of the world and the collective heaviness many mothers and humans feel at this time, this episode provides some great examples of why unplugging is necessary for inner peace and a deeper connection to God. 

Listen to the episode to answer the following questions: 

• What triggers are causing me to overuse social media? 
• Why can social media or other media keep me from processing emotions that I need to feel? 
• Why should I take time to unplug or detox as a mom? 

Today, humans alike can feel the heaviness of tragedy and grief in the United States of America and in the world as a whole. 

If you're feeling this collective and shared weight, as a mom or human being, today's episode is all about three powerful trauma-healing practices. When we heal, it impacts our children and societies for the better. Join Alyssa Carlene as she shares personal experiences and incredible results from these specific practices, plus various reasons why they are successful. 

 Listen to today's episode to answer the following questions: 

• What can I do when I feel helpless as a mom and want to make an impact on my children/society for the better? 
• What are positive examples of trauma healing work? 
• Why is it important to heal my trauma? 

How do you find stability when you lose your mother and have subsequent mother figures come and go throughout your life? It's devastating to navigate such huge losses, espeically as a mother, but there is hope and healing along the way! 

Today on Navigating Motherhood Without Your Mother, Alyssa Carlene talks with Samantha Welch, an amazing girl mama of three with an incredible story. When Samantha was nine years old, her mother passed away in a house fire. Throughout the rest of her childhood, she experienced mother figures enter and depart, some not even leaving with a goodbye. Samantha shares how she found true healing through nourishing her relationship with God, inner child work, and forgiveness. 

Listen to the episode to answer the following questions: 

• How can I break cycles of dysfunction and find resources to do so? 
• What can I do to soften my heart so I no longer live with unforgiveness? 
• What is a healthy way to grieve, and is it okay to grieve? 
• Where can I find support in navigating motherhood without my mother? 

When's the last time you had a terrific laugh - a big, belly laugh, tears streaming down your cheeks, laugh out loud, HEALING laugh? 

Today, Alyssa Carlene makes the case for prioritizing and even scheduling laughter as a mom. She shares reasons why moms need laughter and provides statistics that prove humor to be an amazing healing tool. 

Listen to the episode to answer the following questions: 

•  Why is it important for me to laugh when motherhood feels overwhelming?
•  How can humor actually help me cope with stress, grief, or tough days?  
•  Can laughing really improve my physical and emotional health as a mom? 
• Where can I find community to help me grieve, grow, and embrace humor while I heal? 

You are not doomed to repeat the mistakes of those who raised you! Even if you grew up with emotional abuse, you get to be the change that breaks the cycle! 

Today on the podcast, Alyssa Carlene talks  with Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Reesa Morala, who shares how to break free from toxic patterns, reclaim your power as a mom, and raise your children in the love and safety you always deserved.

Listen to the episode to answer the following questions: 

• How can I thrive as a mom who's suffered from emotional abuse? 
• How do I trust myself and the decisions I make? 
• What do I say to my children about the boundaries I've set with my mother/other family members if they are toxic? 
• What are some ways I can cultivate more self-compassion and love?