Becoming a parent can often be a tumultuous time of significant change, reflection, challenge and great joy, all crashing alongside at the same time. It’s often a time when people reach out for support, driven by a loving desire to be the best parent they can be. It can also be a time of acknowledging challenges or disappointments from your own childhoods.
Having a protected therapeutic space to explore these deeply personal, complex and nuanced experiences can make a profound difference.
Being a parent
- Anxiety, low mood or overwhelm around pregnancy, birth or the early months (perinatal difficulties)
- Feeling unsure of yourself, or guilty, as a parent
- Adjusting to changes in your identity, relationship and daily life
- Managing stress, tiredness and the pressure to get it ‘right’
The journey to parenthood
- Difficulties conceiving, and the uncertainty of waiting and hoping
- The emotional strain of fertility investigations and treatment, including IVF
- Pregnancy loss, miscarriage or the loss of a baby
- Grief, shame or isolation when others around you are starting families
- The impact of fertility challenges on your relationship
- Decisions about treatment, donor conception or adoption
- Accepting a different version of family to the one you may have imagined
Relationships with your own parents
- Difficult, distant or painful relationships with a parent or caregiver
- The lasting effects of how you were brought up
- Patterns from childhood that show up in your adult relationships
- Grief, anger or mixed feelings towards a parent
- Finding your own way of doing things, and setting boundaries
How therapy can help
I work collaboratively to help you make sense of family experiences and how they shape the way you think, feel and relate today, and to build more of the relationships, and the kind of parent, that you want to be. Compassion Focused Therapy and CBT help with self-criticism and difficult emotions, while Narrative and Systemic approaches look at the wider family and relationship context.
I offer perinatal and parenthood support in person in the Cotswolds in Stroud, Gloucestershire, and online across the UK.
What clients say
“Thank you Caroline - I found the CBT therapy really helpful and very much appreciated your sympathetic and considered approach.”
“The way it all made sense and gave me practical tools that I could apply in the future, whenever needed.”
“Empathy was genuine and you put me at ease.”
“A safe space to share, talking brings out wider thoughts and understanding of the situation, recognising my feelings and aiding self-reflection. To be given tools to support outside of the session and to help going forwards.”
“It was a very interesting experience and most definitely beneficial.”
Related areas of support
Take the first step
Contact me here to find out more information or to arrange a free consultation.