An experienced and accredited Person-Centred Counsellor for Individuals, Couples and Fertility Counselling, based in the north of the Lake District.
Hello, my name is Adrienne. I'm a warm, empathic and non-judgemental Person-Centred Counsellor based near Penrith, offering individual, couples and fertility counselling. Every person is unique, with their own reasons for coming to counselling, but some of the issues I work with include abuse, adoption, anxiety, bereavement, depression, fertility, grief, loss, low self-esteem, relationship issues, stress, trauma and a general sense of hopelessness or feeling lost.
In Couples Counselling my role is to help each partner find the best way forward for themselves and their relationship. Couples therapy is an opportunity for each of you to say what it is you really want, or what it is you're troubled by, in a safe space.
BICA (the British Infertility Counselling Association) describe Fertility Counselling as follows:
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.
Research has shown that the most significant factor in any type of counselling is the relationship between client and counsellor and my goal is to provide a safe and confidential space for my clients where they feel able to talk about, and explore, whatever it is that has brought them to counselling. I know how difficult it can be to take that first step into counselling, to open yourself up to someone, and I will do my utmost to help you feel respected, safe and heard.
I work with individuals and couples on an open-ended basis or for an agreed time period, with the aim of enabling clients to enhance their life and to live it more fully.
