When we become doctors, lawyers, or teachers, there are exams, certifications, and years of preparation. But when we become parents, we’re handed a newborn and sent home.

Dr. Debbie Raphael—a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist—became a mother at the same time she began her child psychiatry fellowship. That unusual overlap gave her a rare opportunity: she was learning the science of child development at the exact moment she was living it. Over time, she began journaling about that experience, eventually turning those reflections into her forthcoming book, Carry My Strength, which explores the emotional and psychological layers of parenting.

In this episode, Dr. Whitney and Dr. Raphael talk about the emotional realities of parenting—from the identity shifts that happen when we become parents to the ways our own childhood experiences shape how we raise our kids.

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