Fertility counselling

Fertility Counselling is offered to couples and individuals who are undergoing or thinking of undergoing any of the various forms of fertility treatments. It is there to help you at any stage whether it is before you decide to undergo treatment, during or after treatment.

Counselling is with one of our independent counsellors, and it is available to all our patients. Three sessions are provided free of charge, and these may be taken before, during or after the treatment cycle.

 

Support Counselling

We fully understand that you may want to talk with an independent counsellor during your cycle of treatment. Support counselling will give you the flexibility to discuss your fertility treatment throughout your journey, discussing any concerns you may have freely and confidentially.

Implications Counselling

We want all our patients who are either donating or receiving a gamete (egg or sperm) to explore the implications of the treatment in a safe and secure environment. These counselling sessions give you the opportunity to discuss in full the implications your treatment may have for you and your partner, and even for your family and friends.

Therapeutic Counselling

Regrettably, not all fertility treatments are successful. We can arrange counselling sessions to help you come to terms with the treatment outcome and the implications for your future fertility.

We work with several independent counsellors, including:

Ophra Gilead 

Ophra has worked in counselling and psychotherapy for many years, within the NHS, charity and private settings.  She works with individuals and couples.

You may wish to contact her if you experience difficulties such as with relationships, depression and anxiety, bereavement and loss, and infertility issues such as IVF, gamete donation and surrogacy.

She is a senior accredited member of the British Association for  Counselling and Psychotherapy and the British Infertility Counselling Association.

For more information you can visit: http://www.ophragileadtherapy.co.uk

Mollie Graneek

Mollie is a BACP Senior Accredited Counsellor/Psychotherapist and a UK-registered independent counsellor.

As a psychodynamic counsellor and Gestalt psychotherapist, she integrates her clinical experience with the emotional support needed in the field of reproductive health issues. She works as a specialist fertility counsellor in several clinics in and around London, with a particular interest in assisted reproduction and donor conception. She counsels people undergoing fertility treatment with donor gametes and the implications that this may have on their (and the resulting child’s) future. She has worked closely with the Donor Conception Network and other organisations that implement change in social policy to keep children safe. Mollie is also an accomplished writer and lecturer in this field.

Other aspects of her work include relationship, bereavement and trauma counselling. She is a member of an International Rapid Response Counselling team and is highly skilled and trained to deal with the aftermath of major incidents.

As a Registered Nurse and State Certified Midwife Mollie has worked in the field of women’s health for the last 35 years.  She spent 5 years in breast cancer research and was a chemotherapy coordinator.

Sandra Hewett

Sandra is an accredited, Humanistic counsellor and an experienced fertility counsellor. She is an accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and of the British Infertility Counselling Association (BICA). She has experience of fertility counselling in both NHS and private clinics including Herts & Essex Fertility Centre.

Counselling allows you to talk through your experience, feelings and thoughts with someone who has empathy and is non-judgmental. Becoming aware of and untangling emotions helps you to cope better with them and to recognise the loss you experience through this journey. She can also offer you coping tools through the anxious times. Couples can listen to and understand each other’s experience and talk through decisions together.

Sandra is a member of the Donor Conception Network and has been a facilitator for its Talking and Telling workshops for several years.

For more information, you can visit: https://cloudtalk.me.uk/

Joanna Miller 

Joanna is an accredited member of BICA and has an MA in Psychotherapy. She has been working as a psychotherapist and counsellor in the field of fertility for over 30 years in both the NHS and private sectors.  She sees individuals and couples and has experience working with all aspects of infertility, including surrogacy.  There is no specific time during the treatment process that is the “right” time to have counselling; rather, it is the time that is “right” for the individual or couple.  The whole process, from diagnosis to the end of treatment, whether successful or not, can be stressful, both for the individual and/or the couple.  Sometimes, people just need a safe, confidential and non-judgmental place to offload, without the fear of upsetting family or friends.  Counselling can also be an opportunity to discuss coping strategies, the next step or other options.  It can also be used for issues that come up in the relationship during the process of fertility treatment.  Counselling can hopefully give more support to the individual and/or couple and alleviate some of the stress associated with what can be a difficult process, both physically and emotionally.

She is available to see individuals and/or couples online or face-to-face.

Vicky Parkin

Vicky is a specialist infertility counsellor. She has training as a general counsellor, is a member of the BACP and holds an enhanced DBS check. After completing her training she undertook additional learning to specialise in infertility and is an accredited member of BICA (British Infertility Counselling Association). She is also on the BICA executive committee.  Infertility counselling can often be a great stress reliever, which, of course, can only help during a treatment cycle. It can be quite practical, we can look at strategies that can be put in place to cope with a treatment cycle, things that will make it more manageable, including making a plan for the infamous two-week wait. Counselling can be a way of acknowledging you have different needs and getting the support that is right for you.

For more information you can visit: Vicky Parkin | Specialist Fertility Counsellor