Support for Women Through Life’s Changes
From periods of transition and change to times when you simply don’t feel quite like yourself, therapy can provide space to slow down and listen to what you need. Together, we can explore the experiences, emotions and challenges that are shaping this stage of your life, with compassion and without judgement.
Women's Wellbeing & Life Changes
There are experiences throughout a woman's life that can affect far more than physical health. Fertility, pregnancy, loss, becoming a parent and hormonal changes can influence how you feel emotionally, how you experience your body, your relationships, your sense of identity and the future you had imagined.
You may be trying to conceive, going through fertility treatment or living with the uncertainty of not knowing whether the future you hoped for will happen. Life can begin to feel organised around appointments, waiting, dates and cycles of hope and disappointment. Other people's pregnancy announcements or questions about having children may become unexpectedly difficult, while friends and family may not fully understand how much you're carrying.
Pregnancy can bring its own uncertainty. You may find yourself worrying about your health or your baby's health, struggling to trust that things are okay or feeling frightened about what might happen. These feelings can be particularly intense during pregnancy after loss, when hope and excitement may exist alongside fear.
Taking the first step
You may have spent a long time concentrating on what your body is doing, what might happen next, caring for somebody else or simply getting through a difficult period. Therapy can offer some space for you and your experience. You don't need to know exactly what you want to work on or have the words to explain everything that's happened. I offer a free 15–20 minute introductory call where we can briefly talk about what you're looking for, answer any questions you may have and see whether working together feels like a good fit.
Navigating Life's Changes
Miscarriage, late-term loss, stillbirth and baby loss can bring profound grief. You may be grieving your baby alongside the future you had already begun to imagine. There may also be anger, guilt, unanswered questions or a sense that the world has continued moving while yours has changed completely.
Becoming a parent can bring another significant shift. Alongside love and connection there may be anxiety, exhaustion, changes within your relationships or a feeling that somewhere amongst caring for somebody else, you've become less certain of who you are. You may miss parts of your previous life or yourself and then feel guilty for having those feelings.
At another stage of life, perimenopause and menopause can bring changes that affect much more than physical health. You may notice changes in anxiety, mood, sleep, concentration, confidence or how you experience your body. For some women, one of the hardest things to describe is simply, “I don't feel like myself anymore.”
Understanding Your Changing Body & Mind
You may find yourself reacting differently to things you once managed easily, feeling less emotionally steady, struggling to concentrate or questioning abilities you previously trusted. Changes in your body, relationships, intimacy or how you see yourself can add another layer.
There can also be a deeper sense of identity shifting. You may wonder where the person you recognise has gone, feel disconnected from yourself, or find that roles and ways of coping that have defined you for years no longer seem to fit in quite the same way.
This stage of life can also arrive when you're already carrying a great deal — work, relationships, caring for children or ageing parents, bereavement, changing family roles or children becoming more independent. It can be difficult to know what belongs to menopause, what belongs to everything else happening in your life and where you fit amongst it all.
Whatever stage you're navigating, therapy can begin with what this period of your life has been like for you.
How Can Therapy Help?
Therapy can offer somewhere for your experience to have space, particularly when so much attention may be focused on appointments, treatment, physical health, pregnancy, a baby, family or the needs of other people.
Together, we can explore the emotional impact of what you're going through, including feelings that may be difficult to express elsewhere.
There may be uncertainty and anxiety, grief for what has happened or what you hoped would happen, anger at your body or circumstances, guilt about how you're feeling, changes in confidence or a sense that you've lost some connection with yourself.
We can also look at what happens when you're trying to manage uncertainty or change. You may find yourself constantly looking for reassurance, comparing yourself with other people, anticipating what could go wrong, placing pressure on yourself to cope or pushing through when you're already exhausted.
Frequently Asked Questions About Women's Health Therapy
Fertility difficulties can bring repeated periods of waiting, uncertainty, hope and disappointment. Treatment can mean that life begins to revolve around appointments, tests, procedures and dates, while something deeply personal can begin to feel increasingly medicalised. Therapy can provide space for the emotional impact of this — including anxiety, grief, frustration, relationship pressures, comparison with others and feelings about your body or the future you had imagined.
Yes. Pregnancy can bring uncertainty and worry even when everything appears to be progressing as expected. You may find yourself monitoring physical sensations, worrying about appointments or scans, searching for reassurance or finding it difficult to allow yourself to think too far ahead. Therapy can provide space to explore these fears and understand what happens when anxiety appears, while finding ways of managing uncertainty without expecting you simply to stop worrying.
Pregnancy after loss can bring complicated and sometimes conflicting emotions. You may desperately want to feel hopeful while also feeling frightened about allowing yourself to believe that things will be different this time. Appointments, scans, particular stages of pregnancy or changes in your body may bring memories and fears closer again. There is room for both hope and fear. Therapy can offer somewhere to talk openly about what this pregnancy is like for you without expecting your previous loss to sit neatly in the past.
Yes. The loss of a baby can affect many parts of your life — your sense of yourself, your body, your relationships and the future you had begun to imagine. You may experience sadness, anger, guilt, numbness, longing or feelings that are difficult to put into words. There may also be reminders that other people don't recognise, including significant dates, pregnancy announcements or milestones you imagined reaching with your baby. There is no particular way you need to grieve and no timetable for when you are expected to feel differently. Therapy can provide space for your baby, your loss and everything that experience has meant to you.
Pregnancy announcements, baby showers or seeing other families can bring feelings you didn't expect or wish you didn't have. You may feel sadness, envy, anger or a sense of unfairness alongside being genuinely pleased for someone else. Afterwards, guilt can sometimes appear because you believe you shouldn't feel that way. Different emotions can exist at the same time. Feeling the pain of what you have lost or longed for doesn't take away from the care you have for somebody else. Therapy can provide somewhere to talk honestly about these feelings without needing to judge or hide them.
Perimenopause and menopause can coincide with changes in mood, anxiety, sleep, concentration, energy and emotional wellbeing. You may find yourself feeling more anxious, irritable, overwhelmed or emotionally sensitive than you did previously, or notice that your confidence has changed. There can also be a psychological impact from the changes themselves — how you feel about your body, relationships, work, ageing or where you are in your life. Therapy can provide space to explore the whole experience rather than assuming that everything you're feeling has one cause.
This can be one of the hardest changes to put into words. You may recognise that something feels different without being able to clearly explain what it is. Changes in mood, anxiety, sleep, concentration, energy and your body can all influence how you experience yourself. At the same time, you may be navigating changes in relationships, family roles, work, caring responsibilities or how you think about this stage of your life. Therapy can give you space to explore that sense of disconnection without reducing everything you're experiencing to hormones. Together, we can look at what has changed, what feels important to you now and what reconnecting with yourself might begin to look like.
If you've spent much of your life being capable, managing responsibilities or being the person other people rely on, finding things more difficult can be particularly unsettling. You may respond by pushing yourself harder or becoming critical of yourself for not managing in the way you once did. Therapy can help us explore the demands you're carrying, the expectations you place on yourself and whether the ways you've learned to cope still support you at this stage of your life.
Becoming a parent can change your routines, relationships, priorities, body and the amount of time and space you have for yourself. You can love your child deeply while also missing parts of your previous life or wondering where you fit amongst the demands of caring for somebody else. Those experiences don't cancel one another out. Therapy can provide space to explore who you are alongside being a parent, what you may have lost touch with and what you would like to make more room for in your life.