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Your Story Matters
Begin tracing how early relationships shaped your expectations of love, safety, needs, and motherhood.
8-Week In-Person Psychotherapy Group · Westlake Village
Understand the Patterns You Inherited. Inside-Out Mothering™
Understand what shaped you. Choose what you want to pass on.
Spring 2027 · Dates Coming Soon
Westlake Village, California
Small Group for Mothers
Join the Spring 2027 Interest List
When the Past Shows Up in Parenting
Motherhood can bring your own childhood into the present.
You love your children fiercely. Yet in the hardest moments—when they are melting down, pushing back, or needing more than you feel able to give—you may hear a familiar sharpness in your voice or feel yourself shutting down.
The reaction can feel older than the moment itself. It may sound like your mother, carry the intensity you remember from childhood, or leave you responding in a way you promised yourself you never would.
“I love my children. Why do I sometimes sound like the person I never wanted to become?”
The guilt afterward can be heavy. You know these years matter, and you want your child to experience safety, connection, and the freedom to bring their whole self to you.
You may have read the parenting books and understand what you are supposed to do. But when your nervous system is activated and your child is overwhelmed, insight alone may not be enough to interrupt an automatic response.
Here is what I want you to understand:
Your childhood experiences helped shape how your body responds to stress, conflict, closeness, and strong emotions. Some of the reactions showing up in motherhood began as ways of protecting yourself much earlier in life.
Those patterns are understandable, and they are not permanent. With awareness, practice, and supportive therapeutic work, you can respond from the mother you want to be today rather than automatically reacting from what you experienced in the past.
What was shaped in relationship can also be reshaped through relationship.
The Connection You Are Building
Your child does not need a perfect mother. Your child needs a mother who can return.
The goal is not a relationship without frustration, limits, or difficult emotions. It is a relationship where your child can experience you as emotionally present, willing to repair, and safe enough to return to after a hard moment.
Inside-Out Mothering helps you understand what pulls you away from that connection and practice finding your way back.
What Inside-Out Mothering Is
A therapy group for mothers who want insight and practice.
Inside-Out Mothering™ is an eight-week, in-person psychotherapy group facilitated by Amelia Mora Mars, LMFT #102384. It is designed primarily for mothers of children ages 3–12 who want to understand how their own history may be influencing present-day parenting.
This is a place to tell the truth about what shaped you without reducing your mother to what she could not provide. We make room for grief, context, responsibility, and the possibility of a different relationship with your child.
The group combines reflection, practical emotional-regulation tools, attachment-informed education, and the experience of learning alongside other mothers who understand how complicated this work can feel.
Recognize inherited family patterns without turning insight into shame.
Notice what happens in your body before an automatic reaction takes over.
Practice staying emotionally present when feelings become intense.
Set age-appropriate boundaries while protecting connection.
Repair after difficult moments without getting trapped in guilt or perfectionism.
Build greater trust in your parenting values, instincts, and capacity to change.
The Eight-Week Journey
Understanding the past while building new ways to respond.
Each week offers a focused theme, guided reflection, practical application, and space to connect what you are learning to real moments with your child.
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What Children Need
Explore attachment, emotional safety, and what helps a developing child feel seen, supported, and secure.
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Recognizing Activation
Learn to notice body cues, triggers, and protective responses before they become automatic reactions.
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Creating the Pause
Practice slowing the moment down so you can respond from the present rather than from an older wound.
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Making Room for Emotion
Strengthen your ability to stay connected to your child without becoming overwhelmed by either of your feelings.
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Boundaries and Repair
Hold limits with steadiness and learn how reconnection after conflict can strengthen trust.
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Reclaiming Self-Trust
Separate inherited fear from present-day wisdom and become clearer about the mother you want to be.
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Creating a New Legacy
Bring the work together in a realistic plan for continued growth, connection, and repair after the group ends.
What This Work Can Support
The goal is not perfect parenting. It is safer connection.
More Emotional Steadiness
You become better able to recognize activation and create space before responding.
Less Shame After Hard Moments
You learn to take responsibility, repair, and return to connection without collapsing into self-criticism.
Clearer Boundaries
You practice holding limits that are firm, age-appropriate, and emotionally respectful.
Greater Self-Trust
You become clearer about what belongs to your past and what your present values are asking of you.
Deeper Understanding
You begin to see your reactions with context and compassion while remaining responsible for changing them.
Stronger Repair
You gain language and practices for finding your way back to your child after disconnection.
Is This Group a Good Fit?
A thoughtful group begins with the right level of support.
A brief screening conversation helps protect the emotional safety of every participant and determine whether this group is appropriate for you right now.
This may be a fit if…
- You are a mother of a child primarily between ages 3 and 12.
- You notice inherited patterns, reactivity, shutdown, perfectionism, or guilt in parenting.
- You are emotionally stable enough to participate in group reflection and support other members.
- You are open to looking honestly at your history while practicing new responses.
- You can commit to attending an eight-week closed group consistently.
Another level of care may fit better if…
- You are experiencing an immediate mental-health crisis or need urgent support.
- You currently need more intensive or individualized treatment than a group can provide.
- You are unable to participate safely and respectfully in a confidential group setting.
- Your schedule will not allow consistent attendance.
- You are seeking parenting instruction without exploring your own emotional patterns.
Spring 2027 Interest List
The next group is currently forming.
Joining the interest list lets Amelia know you would like to receive dates, meeting-time options, and enrollment information when they become available.
Format
Eight weekly, 90-minute psychotherapy group sessions in a closed cohort.
Location
In person in Westlake Village, California. The exact office details are provided during enrollment.
Timing
Planned for Spring 2027. The schedule will be selected based on participant availability.
Group Size
A deliberately small group so each mother has space to participate and be known.
Facilitator
Amelia Mora Mars, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, LMFT #102384.
Fee
Final fee and payment information will be shared before enrollment opens. Joining the interest list is free.
Joining the interest list does not obligate you to enroll and does not guarantee placement. Before the group begins, Amelia will speak with prospective participants about clinical fit, readiness, and scheduling.
Your Group Facilitator
Meet Amelia Mora Mars, LMFT
Amelia is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Westlake Village who specializes in helping women understand attachment wounds, inherited family patterns, emotional regulation, and the lasting impact of growing up with an emotionally unavailable mother.
She also understands this work personally. Amelia was raised by an emotionally unavailable mother and is the mother of ten adult children. Her approach balances honest acknowledgment of what happened with compassion for the generations that came before us.
Inside-Out Mothering brings that clinical and lived experience into a carefully facilitated group where mothers can understand the past, practice new skills, and strengthen connection with their children.
LMFT #102384
Attachment-Focused
Trauma-Informed
IFS-Informed
Mother of Ten
Frequently Asked Questions
What to know before joining the interest list
Is Inside-Out Mothering therapy or coaching?
Inside-Out Mothering is an in-person psychotherapy group facilitated through Amelia's California therapy practice. It is separate from coaching and educational programs offered through MomConnections.
Who is the group designed for?
The group is designed primarily for mothers of children ages 3–12 who want to understand how childhood experiences, attachment patterns, triggers, and protective responses may be affecting their parenting and connection with their children.
When and where will the group meet?
The group is planned for Spring 2027 and will meet in person in Westlake Village, California. Dates and meeting times will be selected based on participant availability and shared before enrollment opens.
Do I need to be in individual therapy?
Not necessarily. Amelia will speak with each prospective participant to determine whether the group offers an appropriate level of support. Some women may benefit from individual therapy before or alongside group work.
What does it cost?
The final fee and payment information will be provided before enrollment opens. There is no charge or obligation to join the Spring 2027 interest list.
Does joining the interest list guarantee a place?
No. Joining the list means you will receive scheduling and enrollment information. Participation requires a brief screening conversation to assess clinical fit and group readiness.
Inside-Out Mothering™ · Spring 2027
You can understand what shaped you without allowing it to decide what you pass on.
Join the interest list to receive the Spring 2027 schedule and enrollment information when the next small group is ready to form.
Join the Interest ListWhen you contact Amelia, mention “Inside-Out Mothering” in your message. No commitment is required.