Group Therapy for Mothers: A Space to Come Back to Yourself
There is a particular kind of silence that many mothers carry.
It is the silence of having spent years — sometimes decades — managing your relationship with food and your body largely alone. Of knowing, on some level, that something feels hard or complicated or not quite right, but never quite finding the moment, or the words, or the permission to say so out loud. Of pouring so much into caring for others that your own inner life has become something you visit less and less.
This group was created for you.
About the Group
This is a process-focused, relational group therapy for mothers who are navigating their own relationship with food, eating, and body image. It is not a psychoeducation class or a skills workshop. It is something rarer and, I believe, more powerful: a small, consistent community of women who gather to tell the truth about their experience and to be genuinely witnessed by one another.
The group is grounded in Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT), which understands that healing does not happen in isolation — it happens in connection. When we feel truly seen and less alone in our struggle, something shifts. The shame loses some of its grip. New possibilities open up. That is what this group is designed to create.
Who This Group Is For
This group is for mothers who are grappling — in whatever way, at whatever stage — with their own relationship with food and their body. You may be:
A mother who has a history of an eating disorder and finds that certain seasons of parenting — feeding your children, navigating your child's body changes, managing your own stress — stir things up in unexpected ways
A mother who has never had a formal diagnosis but has spent a long time at war with food, or in a quiet, exhausting negotiation with your body
A mother whose child is in eating disorder recovery and who has found herself confronting her own relationship with these issues along the way
A mother who simply feels disconnected from her body and wants to find her way back — not through another program or protocol, but through honest conversation and genuine connection
A mother who is tired of doing this alone
You do not need to be in crisis to join. You do not need to have "a story" that feels dramatic enough. If this resonates, that is enough.
What Makes This Space Different
Most spaces where mothers talk about food and bodies are organized around fixing — around eating the right things, weighing the right amount, following the right plan. This group is deliberately not that.
In this group, the focus is on relationship — your relationship with yourself, with food and your body, and with the other women in the room. Drawing on the principles of RCT, we center mutual empathy and mutual growth: the understanding that in a genuine relational space, everyone is changed by the encounter. You will not only be witnessed here — you will witness others, and that witnessing is itself part of the healing.
Sessions are unscripted and responsive to what is alive in the room. There is no curriculum to complete. What emerges from the group — the themes, the questions, the moments of recognition — is the work.
Format and Logistics
The group meets in a hybrid format: members may attend in person at my office in Pittsford, NY or join via Zoom, making it accessible to mothers who live further away or whose schedules require flexibility.
Session length: 90 minutes
Group size: Small and intentionally limited to maintain the intimacy and safety of the space
Frequency: Weekly
Who is eligible: Mothers 30+ in New York State (telehealth participants must reside in a state where I am licensed)
Current availability: Please reach out to inquire about the next group cycle
This is a closed group, meaning members commit to the group together for the duration of the cycle. This structure is intentional — the depth of connection that becomes possible over time, within a consistent container, is what makes this kind of group work transformative rather than transactional.
A Note on Sacred Space
I use the word sacred deliberately when I talk about this group — not in a religious sense, but in the sense that what happens here is treated with reverence. What is shared in this group stays in this group. The relationships that form here are real. The courage it takes to show up and tell the truth about your inner life, week after week, in the presence of other women doing the same thing — that is not a small thing.
I have deep respect for the risk involved in joining a group like this. I do not take lightly the trust that members place in this space, or in me.
Getting Started
Joining a therapy group begins with an individual consultation so we can talk about whether this group is the right fit for where you are right now. I want every member of this group to feel prepared and genuinely welcomed before the first session.
To inquire about the current group or the next cycle, reach out at connect@daytonwalsh.com or 585-210-2028.
Dayton R. Walsh, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist in Pittsford, NY offering group therapy for mothers navigating body image and relationships with food. The group meets in a hybrid format — in person in Pittsford, NY and via Zoom for members across New York State.