Talking therapies during pregnancy

[twiceshy]

Hi everyone

I am pg with #2 due end of June. I was prescribed anti d's immediately prior to finding out about this pg which I stopped taking - I had PNI with my first who is now nearly two.

I was concerned about depression in pg so discussed with my HV my concerns. She suggested counselling as an alternative to drugs which I am happy to look into but I have gotten it into my head that it may be emotionally hard to deal with during a pregnancy when obviously emotions and hormones are all over the place anyway.

I know the counsellor will be aware of my pregnancy, so I was wondering if anyone else has undergone 'talking' therapies' whilst pg and how they found them?

Thanks.

[Veritee]

Hi Again

I have responded to this under your other threat in part and I feel that counseling when pregnant is a good idea.

However I take your point about dealing with the emotional repercussions of counseling when pregnant when your hormones tend to make you emotional anyway.

I think that this is an issue but can be solved by both you and the counselor being very clear about what the purpose of the counseling is and to have it within a very strict remit.

When you are pregnant it is not the time to delve deep into you emotional issues however to avoid PNI after the birth it counseling can be used to help you identify what your needs are after a birth and help you to be able to ask for what you need from your partner, family and friends and to look at triggers and thought patterns that are not helpful to you when you have had a baby and rather than go deep into the reasons or emotions behind why you have these thought patterns or feelings - look at different ways of reacting to them and dealing with them.

There are many different types of counseling and obviously while most counselors use a combination - most are trained in or prefer certain disciplines

And for what you may need while pregnant , in my opinion, it would be better that your counselor was not a 'psychotherapy' based counselor but used cognitive therapy counseling ( which helps you to find different ways of dealing with things, changing thought patters that have not proved helpful and learn strategies to cope and feel good about yourself - but does not 'delve too deep')

Or 'person centered counseling' ( this is what I trained in) that is very supportive in nature and provides a non-judge mental environment whereby you can work out solutions for yourself and feel supported and informed while doing so ( this is the approach this forum is based upon)

So my conclusion is that 'talk based therapy'' can be helpful when pregnant to prepare you for after the birth and thus try to minimize the risk of PNI....

However it can be unhelpful if it is not the 'right' kind of counseling and it is not kept specifically focused on -track i.e on helpful strategies for after the birth dealing with unhelpful thoughts and preparing the gound for getting your needs met after the birth, learning what you want and need and how to ask and who to ask ( including very practical needs and support) without going too deeply into the issued behind your thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

Well this is my opinion and on here we can only give our opinions and experiences of what works and what did not for us - and we are all different so what helps will be different for us all.

All the best

Veritee