Infertility

The stress and uncertainty of trying to conceive and undergoing fertility treatments is profoundly triggering. Our emotions can take us on a ride: we feel things such as fear, sadness, regret, anger, jealousy, and frustration cycling through us. Social events, public places, and even our workplaces can become full of triggers, as other people’s pregnancies and babies seem omnipresent.

Sometimes we are able to have some distance from these feelings, and experience more balance and perspective, and other times these emotions are powerful and persistent, and we feel knocked sideways. Trying to conceive also can produce thoughts that are loaded with anxiety and hopelessness.  What if…?” and “I’ll never…” are frequent visitors. If left unchecked, these thoughts can hook our attention and without realising it, we accept them as truth. This can lead to further feelings of discouragement, stress and negativity.

Having experienced infertility in our own paths to becoming parents, our counsellors are intimately familiar with both the medical interventions as well as the emotional turmoil that couples experience. The stress that accompanies infertility is overwhelming and unrelenting, yet people trying to conceive are repeatedly told to “just relax” (nooooo!!). When we work with clients experiencing infertility, we emphasize effective coping strategies, emotional management, and help clients navigate the myriad of treatment decisions and medical decisions that are sometimes involved. We work with all types of prospective parents, including single parents-to-be, same-sex couples, adoptive parents and people  who are experiencing secondary infertility (difficulty conceiving the second child).

Read Elana’s article on infertility: How Can This Be Happening to Me?  published in the Winter 2019 issue of Insights magazine

Listen to Jane‘s podcast interview about her journey to have a child:

Ready to improve your mental and emotional state?