“Having a private place to go where I could talk freely with someone I could trust is what made it bearable for me”

If you have a problem you normally want to solve it but you don’t need to feel you have to do it alone. Counsellors are trained to help others cope with emotional and social issues which can affect people of all ages. You may be suffering from anxiety or depression, have relationship problems, low self-esteem, have been bereaved or be dealing with other difficult events. Counselling provides you with a chance to talk about your feelings and experiences in a safe place with someone who will listen to and support you. Your counsellor will seek to understand, not judge and will work with you to make sense of your situation and make changes that improve your life.

Counselling for Fertility Issues

“I was devastated. My counsellor was always there for me and helped me through it”

Infertility is known to be one of the most distressing experiences for anyone who expected to plan a family. It is often a shock, threatening hopes and dreams of how they imagined the future. If this is happening to you, you may be surprised at hard it is to cope with your emotions and with being surrounded by other people’s babies and families. Relatives, friends and colleagues may not be very understanding or realise how much grief you are feeling. Not everyone will appreciate that a miscarriage is a bereavement or that undergoing fertility treatments is stressful, offering hope and anxiety in equal measure.

You may have discovered that you need to think of alternative ways to create your family – through donation of sperm, eggs or embryos. Surrogacy or adoption may have been suggested. The loss of having a child that is genetically related to you or your partner or not being able to give birth to your child can be an enormous loss. In recognition of how complex these situations can be for people emotionally and socially, most clinics will encourage you to see their counsellor in order to explore the meaning of this option for you and to understand the implications for the future.

All assisted conception clinics in the UK are legally required to offer their patients counselling and the counsellors are expected to be accredited by BICA. You can check this on our website Register of Counsellors or ask your clinic for confirmation.