6-Week Course Tackles Career Issues Facing Stay-at-Home Moms

“When women leave the workforce, they are largely unaware that they are leaving aspects of their best selves behind,” states Dr. Hilary S. Berger, Ed.D. in a release.

To address this sense of loss that some women may feel upon leaving their careers, along with an often unspoken-of phenomenon of feeling shut down professionally, Berger has designed a program for stay-at-home moms who are seeking a way to regain the satisfaction they may be missing.  

The 6-week series, being held at the Wilton Family Y, is entitled “Career Issues for Stay-at-home Moms…More Than Meets the Eye: A Fast Track to Reinvention,” and will be facilitated by Berger, the Director and Founder of Work Like A Mother.  

Classes will meet for six consecutive Wednesdays, from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm beginning January 29th and concluding on March 5th.  

Each week, topics will pertain to the career and life issues that plague women who seek to be devoted caregivers, but also may wish to engage in activities that provide them with professional fulfillment, intellectual growth and a sense of purpose outside the needs of the family.   

Preregistration is required.

Berger has stated that “to date, motherhood has been excluded from all conversations pertaining to professional growth.”  By encouraging the class participants to engage in the examination and repackaging of their skills, accomplishments and interests they had acquired from educational and professional experiences (pre-children) and combining those with volunteer activities and other accomplishments made during the time they have been at home with children, women gain a new sense of their professional relevance. 

“Career development for mothers is a fluid, adaptable, ever-changing path through the entire life-cycle,” and, according to Berger, stay-at-home parents should be encouraged to “plant the seed of your future in small, on-going ways, while your children are young,” so that as their dependency changes you can invest more time in doing things for your life outside of your kids’ lives.

Berger, is the founder of Work Like a Mother, a Career Counselor and Board Certified Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, and obtained her Doctoral Degree from Columbia University's Teachers College.  Berger has pioneered a solution-oriented career counseling system, and has counseled women in transition, in university settings and in private practice for over twenty years. 

Berger taught psychology and career development courses for twenty years, is an author and conducts seminars for large and small audiences.  She is a mother herself, and elected to leave her full-time career to stay at home with her four children, ages 12-19, thus has first-hand knowledge of her clients’ experiences.

The fee for the 6-week series, “A Fast Track to Reinvention, Overcoming Your Silent Struggle for Reinvention” is $225.00 for Y members and $325.00 for non-members.  

Seating for classes is limited and reservations with payment in advance are required.  Contact Kim Murphy at kmurphy@wiltonymca.org or (203) 762-8384 ext. 214 to register or for more information.  For additional information about Berger and her organization, Work Like a Mother, please visit www.worklikeamother.com.