Olethea Pimenta • September 22, 2026
You may have returned to work after your mom died and discovered that you can no longer concentrate in the way you used to.
You read the same email repeatedly. You forget what someone said in a meeting. Decisions that once felt easy now take enormous effort. You may be physically present at work while feeling as though the capable, ambitious part of you has disappeared.
For many of the women I work with who lost their moms young, work is one of the first places they realize how profoundly their lives have changed.
Your mind may still be trying to absorb something that does not fit into the pace of a normal workday.
Part of you is responding to messages, meeting deadlines and listening to colleagues. Another part is remembering the hospital, worrying about your family or reaching for your phone before remembering that you cannot call your mom.
This can affect concentration, memory, motivation and your ability to make decisions. It does not mean that you have lost your intelligence or professional ability. It may mean that much of your capacity is being used to hold an experience that has not yet had enough space. Before you take that 6 month leave without pay -let’s talk. Let’s explore how working together can help you feel online again.
You probably did not really take a bereavement leave. Yeah routines can help get you back on track, except you have started to feel so foggy.
Colleagues may have been kind at first, but work quickly returns to its usual pace. Deadlines continue. People stop asking how you are. Working in consulting is grueling. There can be an expectation that because you are back, you are able to perform as you did before.
If you have always been competent, you may reinforce this expectation. You may work harder, stay later or hide how difficult ordinary tasks have become.
But looking functional and feeling steady are not the same thing.
After losing your mom, work can suddenly feel trivial. The promotion, presentation or difficult colleague that once occupied your mind may no longer seem important.
You might wonder whether you chose the wrong career or need to change your entire life. Look you are competent, this is not a technical issue – this is emotional. Before making your next move, you may need room to understand what has changed in you.
I work with women who lost their moms young and are trying to function in demanding careers while carrying a loss their workplace cannot see.
Working together can help you understand what is consuming your capacity, make room for what you have been suppressing and find a more sustainable way to work. We can explore whether your ambitions have genuinely changed or whether you are trying to make permanent decisions from a place of exhaustion.
The goal is not to force you back into your old level of productivity. It is to help you feel present, capable and connected to the life you are building again.
Olethea Pimenta is a Registered Psychotherapist who works with women who lost their moms young.
She brings both lived experience and clinical expertise to help you untangle the patterns that have been holding you back—and guide you back to your own power.
