Hi
I also had counselling when I had PND. For many reasons I chose not to take any medication, a decision I am not sure now was the right one - so counselling was all I had. Even to this day I still do not know whether it had any effect on the illness itself. I do not know whether without it the prognosis and the outcome would have been the same.
However what I do know that either way, it was useful!. At the very least it served as a distraction from the sheer everyday tediousness of suffeing this horrible illness. It also was a support and something to look forward to as the only thing that I really felt was -
just for me - somewhere I got someones full attention, even if it was only for one hour a week.
I did not just have one counsellor either. By the end of my illness I had had 3 different face to face counselors and one telephone counsellor. I must say though that I choose them and they were all women. At the time I needed a woman to understand and work with me, but it may be different for you - we all have our own agendas
The first face to face person was a kind sympathetic older woman. about 65. who was like the supportative mother I could not have as my mother had gone blind with macular and needed my help rather than the other way round.
She retired and then I saw a very challenging woman whos area was a psychoanalitical counsellor and as she taught a diploma in counselling at the local college she seemed to feel she had to constantly challenge and actually was not sympathetic at all although she was supportive ( I hope this makes sense). My sessions with her were never easy, not something I looked forward to, but it is telling that I rarely missed one. Seeing her certainly gave me a distraction and at times I am afraid to say and outlet for my anger.
but on that note I say Use everything you can even if it means you take your anger out on a completely blameless counsellor - this is better than taking it out on your baby as I was scared I wouldMy sessioins with her came to a natural end. She had an agenda of her own which to a certain extent was about effecting change, seeing some progress, and she was under presure to do this because of her status as a lecturer in counselling. I could not 'change' 'move on' I was still very ill and needed a support, a punch bag and a friend, so gradually our sessions came to an end.
I finished off with seeing a woman counsellor from the local family center run by the local health authority. She was very good but I could not have seen her at first because some of the thoughts and feelings I had were so extrieme I was scared if I went to a public funded counsellor, they would take my baby away. (n Yes I know that this is not the reality - that taking children into care is only at the end of very long line - BUT THAT WAS MY FEAR.
I was only able to go to the family center counsellor once these awlful obsessive thoughts of harm to my baby and to myself were over. By then I could admitt I had once had them but was not in fear the counsellor would feel duty bound not to keep what I said to herself and call in social services.
This is why at first, although I could not aford it , I paid private counsellors.
A private counsellor may also at the end of the day feel he/she has to consult someone else if what you say is hard for them to handle. However I believe ( and in fact know from being a local authority paid youth worker for over 20 years) that they have more leeway and choice as to if and when they do this.
Anyway above is the potted history of my experience of counselling when I had PND . I would tell anyone with PND if they get a chance to give counselling a go.
Please check your counsellor out first but at the very worse counselling rarely will do anyone any harm. I really mean this - I do not belive even a bad counsellor will drive a PND women to do anything she would not have done or felt anyway.
Yes a session with your counsellor may make you feel temporarily more depressed in some ways but this is often ofset by the very fact of having got an hours attention and chance to air how you feel and by what you may have learnt by it.
However having said this if you have any doubts about your counsellors abilities or feel the result is really in the long term worse than not seeing them - do stop or better still find another counsellor who does meet your needs.
In my opinion a women with PND should use any resourses they can find - in any way that is helpful. As I said above I have used counsellors as a punch bag for my anger at times - but I have no regrets. In the position I was in I had to do anything I could to protect my child - and in this case this was one way of doing it
All the best
Veritee
