Infertility counselling and psychotherapy
Infertility (primary or secondary) is always devastating to individuals, couples and families suffering from it. It is psychologically distressing to get one’s mind and heart set on adding a child to the family, only to learn that it will be harder than expected.
Why talking therapy
Infertility is often stressful for everyone involved, and it can cause significant strain on relationships and mental wellbeing. Although women are often associated with infertility, in some situations, it is the man who is infertile and in other cases, both partners suffer from infertility. Sometimes, these stresses can lead to symptoms of common mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. The purpose of accessing therapy for infertility is to help individuals and couples emotionally deal with their loss of fertility, identify and understand what they are feeling, work through the trauma and emotional pain, strengthen their relationship with a goal of putting them in the best possible position emotionally to take necessary steps to move forward.
Taking care of your mental health
Whether you are trying to conceive naturally, going through assisted treatments such as IVF, recovering from pregnancy loss or failed round of treatment, considering or are on path of adoption the journey isn’t easy. This could trigger irrational and unhealthy negative emotions which in response could have a detrimental impact on your mental heath and in turn on your physical health. Sense of isolation, loneliness, stress, shame, anger, overwhelm and sadness can all form part of the picture, along with fear – fear of failure, fear of the future or fear following previous loss. So if you are struggling emotionally, you’re not alone.
My journey
Like most people I have my own story, for almost 8 years my husband and I went through different paths and stages of trying to expand our family unit; from diagnosis of infertility, going though failed IVF rounds, loss of an unborn child and going through adoption process. Over the years I have become more and more aware of the impact of the emotional aspects of infertility and the challenges on individuals, couples and family and friends around them. Whilst each person’s journey is unique, I have seen for myself, how struggling to expand your family can be one of the greatest challenges anyone has to face. What makes it so much harder, is that this suffering often goes un-talked about and unacknowledged. I have researched and retrained to deepen my understanding of the impact of emotional turmoil that accompanies this stage of life not only as a psychotherapist but as someone who has first hand experience and want to help others during this chapter of their life.
Therapeutic Treatment Plan
No matter what stage you are at I can support you / and your partner to find emotional balance, clarity and strength and in turn increase your chances of expanding your family unit; whether you are trying to conceive naturally, going through IVF, recovering from a loss or planning on embarking on adoption process. I will personalise and tailor make an approach that is most suitable for you, utilising Cognitive Behavioural Therapy techniques, Acceptance and Compassion Therapy, psychodynamic Psychotherapy approaches, Mindfulness and many others in a nurturing and therapeutic space. I will support you to unravel the overwhelm, rebuild your resilience & restore your emotional wellbeing in a sustainable way with a clear end goal in mind.
