title: Lose That Mommy Guilt: Tales and Tips From an Imperfect Mom
author: Cara Maksimow LCSW
description: Cara Maksimow is a Clinical Therapist, Coach, Speaker, Wife and Mom living in Northern NJ. She has her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Rutgers University, her MSW from Columbia University Graduate School of Social Work and a Certificate in Professional Coaching. Since 2014 she has owned Maximize Wellness Counseling and Coaching LLC where she provides supportive counseling for people navigating through times of transition, stress, anxiety and depression. She works collaboratively with her clients to identify strengths, problem solve, reach goals and increase resiliency. Prior to starting her practice, she spent 13 years working for a Pharmaceutical Company as a Trainer and Sales Manager. She and her husband both grew up in the same town in northern NJ. They began dating at their ten year high school reunion, married shortly after and have two amazing children who are now transitioning into adolescents. Cara loves to spend her free time reading psychology books, binge-watching Netflix and hanging out with her family and friends. She believes her greatest achievement is raising her children to be kind and happy despite all of her mistakes along the way.
zlib_text: The Probability of Violet and Luke
  Jessica Sorensen
  
  Prologue
  Luke
  Who knew a fucking phone call could be so complicated. It should have been a piece of cake for me. All these years
  spent hating my mother—this is what I’ve been waiting for. Finally, I’d get some form of revenge for all the years of
  torment, drug injections, the fucking mind games she loved to play with me, and all the other shittiness that made up my
  childhood. To this day, I still haven’t even begun to fully accept or admit all the stuff she did to me. This should be the
  moment when I let it all go. Move on. Start over. Except I feel guilty, like I’m a child doing something wrong.
  I feel sick to my stomach.
  All twisted inside.
  And I know it’s because of her. Everything she engrained into my head is surfacing, all the stuff she said to me when I
  was a child that kept my lips shut. The shame. The embarrassment, not just because she’s my mother, but for myself—
  because of what she turned me into.
  “You always need to list