Counseling for Working Moms in Iowa
Online Counseling across Iowa with Dr. Emily Fornwalt, PhD
Feeling Split Between Work and Home as a Working Mom
It’s 4:40, and the meeting is still going when you pack up your laptop. Pickup is at 5:15, and nobody else can get there in time. You say “sorry, I have to run,” and on the drive you wonder what the team decided after you left.
At home, you get your kid through dinner, bath, and two chapters of the bedtime book. Then you open your laptop on the couch to answer the messages you missed. When your kid calls you back for one more drink of water, you feel annoyed that they interrupted you, and then you feel guilty that you were annoyed.
At the school concert, you stand in the back so you can step into the hallway when your phone buzzes. You hear your kid’s class sing while you read an email you can’t answer until morning anyway.
By the end of most days, you feel like you owe both your team and your kids an apology. You can’t remember the last day you gave either one your full attention.
Why Switching Between Work and Parenting Is So Exhausting
Every time you switch from work to parenting and back again, you bring part of the last job with you. You think about the meeting while you pack lunches, and you think about the lunches while you’re in the meeting. You switch dozens of times a day, so you rarely get to finish one job before you have to start the other.
You also keep a running list of everyone you think you’ve let down. You remember the meeting you left early, the bedtime you rushed, the friend you haven’t called back, and the email you sent with an error. You go over that list in the car, in the shower, and in bed, so your mind never gets a break from either job.
You built that habit because you care about doing both jobs well, and it’s helped you keep a career and a family going at the same time. The cost is that you rarely feel like you’re doing either one well, even on the days when you are.
→ You can read more about how I work with professional moms on my counseling for professional moms page.
How Counseling Helps Working Moms in Iowa
When you’re this worn down, it can seem like your only choices are to scale back your career, quit, or wait until the kids are older. Our work gives you another option. You keep the career and the family you have, and you stop feeling like you’re failing at both.
For months, you’ve looked at part-time jobs at 11pm and done the math on whether your family could live on less. In our sessions, you sort out which parts of your job wear you down and which parts you’d miss. You learn to tell your exhaustion apart from what you want. Maybe you stay and ask for a new schedule, or maybe you move to a new role. Either way, you choose what fits your life, and you keep the career you worked hard to build.
Evenings used to be a race to bedtime so you could finally sit down and relax. Now, when your daughter asks for one more chapter, you notice the urge to hurry her along. You read the chapter anyway, because you want to hear how it ends too. Those twenty minutes on the edge of her bed become the part of the day you look forward to. You stop worrying that you’ll look back on these years and remember only rushing through them.
You used to think time for yourself had to wait until everyone else was taken care of. Now you believe your time counts, too. So you call a friend on the drive home, and you talk about the trip you want to take and the book you can’t put down. For twenty minutes, you’re just you, and you hang up with more energy than you had when you got in the car.
You still pack up at 4:40 while the meeting is going, and you still feel a pang of guilt when you close your laptop. This time, you know the guilt doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. You let it go, and you spend the drive thinking about dinner instead of the meeting you left.
Counseling With Me May Be a Good Fit If…
You’re a working mom in Iowa who feels like you’re failing at work and at home, even though you’re working as hard as you can at both
You’re the parent who leaves early when school or daycare calls, takes the sick days, and logs back on after bedtime to catch up
You keep running through emails, appointments, and dinner plans in your head, even on weekends and vacations
You rush your kids through the evening so you can finally sit down, and then you feel sad that you rushed them
You’ve looked at part-time jobs or done the math on quitting, but you don’t want to give up the career you built
You can’t remember the last time someone asked how you were doing and you gave them a real answer
About dr. emily fornwalt
Therapist for Working Moms in Iowa
I’m Dr. Emily Fornwalt, a licensed therapist with a PhD in Counseling from UNC Charlotte.
I work with professional moms who are working hard at their careers and their families and still feel like they’re falling short at both.
I provide secure online counseling for adults in Iowa, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
How to get started in Counseling
Prices and logistics:
Sessions are 45 minutes, usually once a week, and cost $225 each. Your first session is a 90-minute intake, and it costs $450.
My practice is private pay. I don’t bill insurance, and I don’t provide superbills, which are the receipts some clients send to their insurance company for out-of-network reimbursement. Because I don’t bill insurance, no information about our sessions goes to an insurance company.
I see moms online in Iowa, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, and you’ll need to be in one of those states during each session. My practice is based in Eastern Time, which is one hour ahead of Iowa.
Self-Schedule here:
Choose an appointment time through my HIPAA-compliant calendar using the button below.
I’ll review your request and confirm it, usually within one business day. Then you’ll get your new client forms by email and a text from IvyPay asking you to add a card.
Log on for your first session at the time you scheduled, using the secure video link in your confirmation.
Have a practical question before Scheduling? Send me a message below.
If you have a question before you schedule, send it here and I’ll reply personally within two business days. This form is private and secure, so you’re welcome to share as much or as little as you’d like about what’s bringing you to therapy.
This form is only checked during regular business hours, so if you’re in crisis or need help right away, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.
Thank you for your message.
I’ll reply personally within two business days.
Areas Served in Iowa
I’m licensed in Iowa as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC #140678), and I work with moms across the state through secure, HIPAA-compliant Google Meet.
This includes:
Greater Des Moines, including Des Moines, West Des Moines, Ankeny, Urbandale, Johnston, Waukee, and Clive
The Cedar Rapids and Iowa City area, including Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Marion, Hiawatha, Coralville, and North Liberty
Central Iowa, including Ames, Marshalltown, and Newton
Eastern Iowa, including Davenport, Bettendorf, Dubuque, and Clinton
Northeast and North Central Iowa, including Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Mason City, and Decorah
Western Iowa, including Sioux City and Council Bluffs, along with smaller towns and rural communities across the state