Motherhood Uncut

Kate Kripke
  • 4.9 (57)
  • Parenting
  • Updated Weekly

This heartwarming and inspiring podcast brings the parts of motherhood that nobody wants to talk about to the table. With humor, authenticity, clinical knowledge, research, and personal experience in mothering, Kate and Deb discuss and facilitate conversations about everything mothering-related including the good, the bad, the messy, and the hilarious.

  1. 2d ago

    A Live Coaching Session: When Everything Changes at Once

    Welcome to Motherhood Uncut. I’m your host, Kate Kripke. Today’s episode is a live coaching call with Melissa, a mother of two young boys who is moving through a deeply tender season: caring for her kids, showing up in a demanding career, and facing the possible loss of her own mother. Together, we talk about grief, old family patterns, the fear of repeating what we lived through as children, and what it means to keep mothering while life feels uncertain and heavy. This conversation is a beautiful reminder that we do not have to hide our feelings from our kids in order to protect them. Sometimes, letting them see us feel and recover is one of the most powerful lessons we can offer. I hope this episode helps you feel a little less alone. 📱 RESOURCES Free Assessment Call: www.calmconnectionsystem.com/call Free Webinar: https://calmconnectionsystem.com/register Website: https://www.katekripke.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katekripke/ 🔔 Subscribe for weekly tools to help high-achieving moms move through postpartum anxiety and into calm, confidence, and deep connection with their kids. ABOUT KATE KRIPKE: Kate Kripke, LCSW, PMH-C is licensed clinical psychotherapist and maternal mental health and attachment specialist. She helps founders, executives, and high-impact mothers build deeply connected families using neuroscience, attachment science, and 20 years of clinical practice so they can lead their careers and create the legacy they envision, fully. PostpartumAnxiety #MaternalMentalHealth #WorkingMomGuilt #HighAchievingMom #NervousSystemHealing

    58 min

  2. 6d ago

    Your Postpartum Anxiety Is Not a Hormone Problem. Here Is What Is Actually Running It.

    📌 Book a free Assessment Call to find out what your nervous system needs: www.calmconnectionsystem.com/call You have been treating this like a hormone problem. So have your doctors. That is exactly why it is still here. The supplements, the breathing exercises, the 2 a.m. articles telling you to wait it out. None of it is touching the actual source. Your anxiety is not running on hormones. It is running on a pattern your nervous system learned long before you ever had a baby. In this episode, I'm going to show you what is actually running your postpartum anxiety, why the hormone explanation keeps so many women stuck for so long, and the one practice you can start tonight to begin changing it. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Your Postpartum Anxiety Is Not a Hormone Problem. Here Is What Is Actually Running It. 1:22 What doctors actually tell you about postpartum hormones 2:03 Why anxiety does not follow your hormone levels 2:36 The real driver behind postpartum anxiety 3:43 How your nervous system learned this pattern before the baby 4:38 Why high-achieving women struggle most with postpartum anxiety 5:31 How to know if this is your old pattern at work 7:33 What is actually running your anxiety 8:35 The concept of felt safety explained 9:25 The 4-step practice to try tonight ❓ QUESTIONS ANSWERED Q: Why hasn't fixing my hormones resolved my postpartum anxiety? A: Hormones do shift dramatically after birth, but anxiety that's driven by hormones would track with your hormone levels. It would spike at predictable times and ease as your body stabilized. If it's spiking when your toddler melts down or when an uncomfortable feeling arrives, hormones are not the driver, and treating them will not solve it. Q: What is actually running postpartum anxiety if not hormones? A: Your nervous system learned to treat emotional discomfort as a threat, likely long before you had a baby. Every time something felt uncertain, unresolved, or out of your control, your system flagged it as a problem to fix. Motherhood just made discomfort constant and unavoidable, so the system never gets to rest. Q: What is felt safety and how does it help with postpartum anxiety? A: Felt safety is the experience of being okay inside a hard feeling, without making it go away or analyzing it. When you stay with discomfort for 60 to 90 seconds instead of rushing to manage it, you send your nervous system new information. Over time, it stops treating discomfort as an emergency. 📱 RESOURCES Free Assessment Call: www.calmconnectionsystem.com/call Free Webinar: https://calmconnectionsystem.com/register Website: https://www.katekripke.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katekripke/ 🔔 Subscribe for weekly tools to help high-achieving moms move through postpartum anxiety and into calm, confidence, and deep connection with their kids. ABOUT KATE KRIPKE: I'm a licensed clinical psychotherapist and maternal mental health specialist. For over 20 years, I've helped thousands of high-achieving, career-driven moms move through postpartum anxiety without years of therapy. #PostpartumAnxiety #NervousSystemHealing #MaternalMentalHealth #MomAnxiety #AnxietyRelief

    13 min

  3. Jun 9

    How to Show Up Fully With Christine Hassler

    This week, world renowned coach Christine Hassler gets real about what it actually looks like to be a career-driven mother, what wasn't working, what shifted, and where she is today. She shares practical ways to get grounded and clear: having a "grown-up day," loving without worry, and how the stories from our childhood show up in our parenting — and how to work with them. Raw, honest, and genuinely inspiring. 📱 RESOURCES Free Assessment Call: www.calmconnectionsystem.com/call Free Webinar: https://calmconnectionsystem.com/register Website: https://www.katekripke.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katekripke/ 🔔 Subscribe for weekly tools to help high-achieving moms move through postpartum anxiety and into calm, confidence, and deep connection with their kids. ABOUT KATE KRIPKE: I'm a licensed clinical psychotherapist and maternal mental health specialist. For over 20 years, I've helped thousands of high-achieving, career-driven moms move through postpartum anxiety without years of therapy. PostpartumAnxiety #MaternalMentalHealth #WorkingMomGuilt #HighAchievingMom #NervousSystemHealing

    54 min

  4. Jun 4

    Your Child Is Not Counting Your Hours. Here's What They're Actually Measuring.

    📌 Book a free Assessment Call to find out what your nervous system needs: www.calmconnectionsystem.com/call You have been running the math for years. Calculating whether your child is getting enough of you. Comparing yourself to the mom who stayed home. And no matter how you run the numbers, you always come up short. What if the math was never the problem? In this episode, I'm going to show you what your child's nervous system is actually measuring when you walk through the door, why more time is not the answer, and the 60-second practice you can use tonight that gives your child more of what they need than an extra hour of guilt-driven togetherness ever could. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Your Child Is Not Counting Your Hours. Here's What They're Actually Measuring 1:17 What your child's nervous system is actually measuring (not hours) 3:19 Why a mother with two hours of genuine presence outconnects one with twelve 4:22 Why treating motherhood like a problem to solve is what's exhausting you 5:33 The cycle high-achieving women fall into with systems and routines 8:09 Your ambition is not the problem. Your mode is. 9:23 What your child is already teaching you about presence 11:37 The four-step 60-second transition practice (use it tonight) 19:24 What happens in your child's nervous system over weeks one, two, and three ❓ QUESTIONS ANSWERED Does working full time damage my child's attachment to me? No. Your child is not wired to count your hours. They measure the quality of your presence in the moments you have. A mother who is physically present but mentally absent does not generate the neurochemistry of connection. Consistent genuine presence, even brief, builds stronger attachment than extended distracted togetherness. Why do high-achieving moms feel more guilt about this than anyone else? High-achieving women apply the same problem-solving brain to motherhood that makes them exceptional at work. When motherhood does not respond to optimization, they interpret the failure as personal. The guilt is not about the career. It is the result of applying the wrong mental mode to something that was never a problem to be solved. What is the 60-second transition practice? Before you walk through the door each day, pause at the threshold and take one slow breath, mentally set down everything you are carrying from the workday, shift your intention from fixing to arriving, then for the first 60 seconds inside do nothing productive. Just be present. Over two to three weeks, your child's nervous system will visibly respond. 📱 RESOURCES Free Assessment Call: www.calmconnectionsystem.com/call Free Webinar: https://calmconnectionsystem.com/register Website: https://www.katekripke.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katekripke/ 🔔 Subscribe for weekly tools to help high-achieving moms move through postpartum anxiety and into calm, confidence, and deep connection with their kids. ABOUT KATE KRIPKE: I'm a licensed clinical psychotherapist and maternal mental health specialist. For over 20 years, I've helped thousands of high-achieving, career-driven moms move through postpartum anxiety without years of therapy. PostpartumAnxiety #MaternalMentalHealth #WorkingMomGuilt #HighAchievingMom #NervousSystemHealing

    22 min

  5. May 28

    I Lost It on My Kid. Here's What to Do Next (A Therapist Explains)

    📌 Book a free Assessment Call to find out what your nervous system needs: www.calmconnectionsystem.com/call You yelled. Or you snapped. Or you went completely silent when your child needed you to stay. And now the guilt is louder than anything that actually happened.  Here is what most parenting content gets completely wrong: the rupture is not what damages your child. The silence, the shame spiral, and the emotional withdrawal that follow it are. In this episode, I'm going to walk you through what actually happens in your child's nervous system when you lose it, why the guilt you're carrying right now is doing far more harm than the original moment, and the four-step repair process you can use tonight. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 The moment every high-achieving mom has had and cannot stop replaying 1:15 The rupture is not the problem. The silence after it is. 3:31 What happens when your child's question "are we okay?" never gets answered 5:11 Why the shame spiral does more damage than the yelling itself 8:23 Why shame hits harder for high-achieving women than for anyone else 11:18 What your child actually needs from you after a rupture 12:48 What to stop doing after you lose it 13:34 Why repair has no expiration date 14:56 The four-step repair process you can use tonight ❓ QUESTIONS ANSWERED Q: Does yelling at my child damage their attachment to me? A: Occasional ruptures on their own do not create insecure attachment. What creates lasting impact is what happens next. Children whose mothers repair consistently show stronger, more resilient attachment than children whose mothers are simply conflict-avoidant. Q: Why can't I stop replaying the moment even days later? A: For high-achieving women, losing control does not just feel like a bad parenting moment. It registers as an identity threat. Your nervous system reads "I lost control" as something is wrong with me, which is why the guilt is wildly disproportionate to what actually happened. Q: What should I say to my child after I lose my temper? A: Keep it under 60 seconds. Say something like: "When I yelled about the shoes, that wasn't okay. That was about me, not about you. I love you and I'm right here." Then stay close until you feel the shift in the room. That is repair, and it is enough. 📱 RESOURCES Free Assessment Call: www.calmconnectionsystem.com/call Free Webinar: https://calmconnectionsystem.com/register 🔔 Subscribe for weekly tools to help high-achieving moms move through postpartum anxiety and into calm, confidence, and deep connection with their kids. ABOUT KATE KRIPKE: I'm a licensed clinical psychotherapist and maternal mental health specialist. For over 20 years, I've helped thousands of high-achieving, career-driven moms move through postpartum anxiety without years of therapy. #PostpartumAnxiety #MaternalMentalHealth #SecureAttachment #MomGuilt #NervousSystemHealing

    22 min

  6. May 21

    Your Career Is Not Hurting Your Child. Here's What Actually Is.

    📌 Book a free Assessment Call to find out what your nervous system needs: www.calmconnectionsystem.com/call Your career did not damage your bond. Daycare drop-off did not hurt your attachment. But there is something affecting your child's wellbeing right now, and most working moms miss it entirely because it has nothing to do with how many hours they work and everything to do with what happens inside them during the time they do. In this episode, I'm going to share five truths every working mom needs to hear, backed by 20 years of clinical practice and attachment research, so you can stop carrying guilt that was never yours to carry. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Why your career is not the thing hurting your child 2:15 Truth 1: Your child does not need you there all the time 3:07 What secure attachment actually requires 4:31 The one thing that actually transfers from you to your child 5:17 Why your nervous system matters more than your schedule 6:08 The guilt overcorrection trap and what your child is actually feeling 8:03 The "good mom stays home" belief that is making you sick 10:47 What your child genuinely benefits from you being fully alive 12:10 What to stop and start doing right now 14:56 The 4-step practice to recalibrate the fear tonight ❓ QUESTIONS ANSWERED Q: Does working full-time hurt my child's attachment to me? A: No. Secure attachment is built on emotional safety and repair, not on hours in the same room. Your child needs to know you come back, that you can handle hard things together, and that disconnection always leads to reconnection. That pattern works on any schedule. Q: What actually affects my child when I go to work? A: Your internal state, not your schedule. Children do not track their parent's calendar. They track your nervous system. A mom who walks through the door genuinely glad to be there creates safety. A mom saturated in guilt broadcasts that something is wrong, and children feel that before a single word is spoken. Q: What is the "good mom stays home" belief and why is it harmful? A: It is a cultural narrative handed down through generations, telling mothers that good moms sacrifice themselves and are always available. When moms operate from that belief, they give up what made them feel alive, perform selflessness while resentment builds underneath, and end up with less capacity for genuine presence, not more. 📱 RESOURCES Free Assessment Call: www.calmconnectionsystem.com/call Free Webinar: https://calmconnectionsystem.com/register 🔔 Subscribe for weekly tools to help high-achieving moms move through postpartum anxiety and into calm, confidence, and deep connection with their kids. ABOUT KATE KRIPKE:  I'm a licensed clinical psychotherapist and maternal mental health specialist. For over 20 years, I've helped thousands of high-achieving, career-driven moms move through postpartum anxiety without years of therapy. #PostpartumAnxiety #MaternalMentalHealth #WorkingMomGuilt #MomAnxiety #NervousSystemHealing

    19 min

  7. May 14

    Why Nothing You Do Calms Your Child Down (A Therapist Explains)

    📌 Book a free Assessment Call to find out what your nervous system needs: www.calmconnectionsystem.com/call You've tried everything. The calm voice, the validated feelings, the gentle parenting script. Nothing worked because you were solving the wrong problem. Your child was never giving you a hard time. They were having a hard time. And what they needed had nothing to do with your technique. In this episode, I'm going to show you why nothing you've tried has worked the way you expected, what your child is actually asking for during a meltdown, and one shift you can practice tonight that changes the dynamic between you faster than any script ever will. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Why everything you've tried hasn't worked the way you expected 0:54 Why the issue was never your child 2:16 The neurological reason toddlers can't calm down on their own 4:23 What co-regulation actually is (it's not a technique) 4:48 Your child reads your body, not your words 6:59 Why the fix-it brain instinct makes meltdowns worse 9:51 The shift: from fixing to being with 11:03 What to stop and start during hard moments 13:37 The 4-step co-regulation practice to try tonight 15:42 What changes week by week as you practice this ❓ QUESTIONS ANSWERED Q: Why do toddler meltdowns keep happening no matter what I try? A: Young children don't have the neurological capacity to regulate their own emotions yet. The prefrontal cortex isn't fully developed until the mid-20s, so when your child melts down, they cannot self-soothe. They need to borrow your nervous system to come back to calm, and that is what co-regulation actually is. Q: What is co-regulation and how does it actually work? A: Co-regulation is not a technique you apply to your child. It's a transfer that happens automatically based on what your body is broadcasting. Your child reads your muscle tension, breathing rate, and facial expression before they process your words. When your body signals urgency, they escalate. When your body offers safety, they settle. Q: Why does the fix-it brain instinct make meltdowns worse? A: High-achieving moms are wired to solve problems, but a toddler's distress is not a problem to fix. When you go into problem-solving mode, your nervous system speeds up and broadcasts urgency. Your child reads that signal as danger, which escalates them further instead of helping them settle. 📱 RESOURCES Free assessment call: www.calmconnectionsystem.com/call Group program: https://calmconnectionsystem.com/register 🔔 Subscribe for weekly tools to help high-achieving moms move through postpartum anxiety and into calm, confidence, and deep connection with their kids. ABOUT KATE KRIPKE:  I'm a licensed clinical psychotherapist and maternal mental health specialist. For over 20 years, I've helped thousands of high-achieving, career-driven moms move through postpartum anxiety without years of therapy. #PostpartumAnxiety #MaternalMentalHealth #NervousSystemHealing #MomAnxiety #NervousSystemRegulation

    18 min

  8. May 7

    I'm a maternal mental health specialist. If you have postpartum anxiety, watch this.

    📌 Book a free Assessment Call to find out what your nervous system needs: www.calmconnectionsystem.com/call Postpartum anxiety is not a hormonal disorder. It is your nervous system doing exactly what it was designed to do when it believes you are unsafe.  The problem is not your mind. The problem is that no one has ever taught your nervous system that emotional discomfort can be safe. In this episode, I'm going to walk you through what postpartum anxiety actually is, why standard treatments often fall short of full resolution, and the 21-day practice that teaches your nervous system to stop treating discomfort as a threat. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 What you have been told about postpartum anxiety is only part of the story 0:53 The exhaustion of fighting your own mind when nothing has fully worked 1:37 What postpartum anxiety actually is and why it is not a disorder 2:45 The smoke detector analogy: why most treatments address the alarm, not the cause 4:00 Why therapy and medication fall short of resolving it 4:50 The distinction: your nervous system needs direct experience, not insight 5:47 The truth that changes everything: how postpartum anxiety actually resolves 7:06 The 21-day practice, step by step 9:24 What to expect during days 1 through 21 10:40 Why consistency rewires the nervous system and what that actually feels like ❓ QUESTIONS ANSWERED Q: What is postpartum anxiety actually caused by? A: Postpartum anxiety is a nervous system protection response, not a hormonal disorder. Your nervous system learned to treat emotional discomfort as a threat, and until it learns through direct experience that discomfort can be safe, the anxiety pattern keeps returning. Q: Why does postpartum anxiety keep coming back even after therapy? A: Therapy builds insight, and medication reduces intensity, but neither retrains the nervous system through direct experience. Until your body learns from repeated real-time exposure that emotional discomfort is survivable, the anxiety persists regardless of how much you understand it. Q: How long does the 21-day practice take to work? A: Days 1 through 7, you begin sitting with discomfort longer without spiraling. By week two, your recovery time shortens. By day 21, your baseline anxiety drops and you start having hours or whole days where anxiety is not running the show. 📱 RESOURCES Free Assessment Call: www.calmconnectionsystem.com/call Free Webinar: https://calmconnectionsystem.com/register Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katekripke 🔔 Subscribe for weekly tools to help high-achieving moms move through postpartum anxiety and into calm, confidence, and deep connection with their kids. ABOUT KATE KRIPKE:  I'm a licensed clinical psychotherapist and maternal mental health specialist. For over 20 years, I've helped thousands of high-achieving, career-driven moms move through postpartum anxiety without years of therapy. #PostpartumAnxiety #MaternalMentalHealth #NervousSystemHealing #MomMentalHealth #AnxietyRelief

    12 min
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4.9
out of 5
57 Ratings

About

This heartwarming and inspiring podcast brings the parts of motherhood that nobody wants to talk about to the table. With humor, authenticity, clinical knowledge, research, and personal experience in mothering, Kate and Deb discuss and facilitate conversations about everything mothering-related including the good, the bad, the messy, and the hilarious.

Information

  • Creator
    Kate Kripke
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    90
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Motherhood Uncut
  • Show Website
    Motherhood Uncut

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