A warm and authoritative guide to maternal mental health, offering real solutions, by popular online therapist Dr. Cassidy Freitas.

“Dr. Cassidy helps moms see what’s actually happening underneath the snap and the spiral, and learn practical ways to get steady again.” —Dr. Becky Kennedy, clinical psychologist and New York Times bestselling author of Good Inside

“This book is a lifeline for parents … I couldn’t put it down, and walked away truly feeling like a better parent, and human.” —Kristin Gallant, co-founder of Big Little Feeling

Motherhood is messy. Mom Needs a Moment is for the moms who find themselves losing their temper more than they’d like. Or shutting down when things feel too loud or too much. Or who are tired of snapping, spiraling, or second-guessing themselves ... and want to understand why this keeps happening, and how to change it. Dr. Cassidy invites mothers to see that much of what they carry didn’t start with them, and that they have the power to choose what continues and what ends.

So how do we break the cycle? By finding what Dr. Cassidy calls margins: the spaces we can create (mental, emotional, physical, and relational) that allow us to respond differently. Margins help us catch ourselves in the moment, regulate our nervous systems, and make more intentional choices. They are where we pause, breathe, notice, soften, and shift.

Weaving together stories from her own messy motherhood moments with the tools she’s gathered as a therapist, Dr. Cassidy shows how margins can help you feel less reactive, more connected, and more like yourself again.