How Counseling Increases Your Fertility Readiness (Mind-Body Connection)

Brain Changes

‍Advances in brain scan technology confirm that talk therapy actually alters the neuron connectors in our brains. As we progress in therapy and learn new ways of thinking, communicating and dealing with emotion, we experience positive changes in how our bodies function, how we heal and deal with stress.

‍Nervous System Reacts

‍Your nervous system reacts to stress by diverting blood flow to the large muscles and away from the internal organs. When a person develops effective ways to cope with stress, health blood circulation is diverted back away from the brain, eyes, and muscles and returns to the internal organs, testes, ovaries and uterus. This relaxation response can help improve sperm production in men and ovulation and menstrual function in women, thus improving overall fertility.

‍Mind-Body-Spirit Harmony

‍Talk therapy helps men and women deal with the concerns, fears and disappointments that can block your body from naturally accomplishing what it was designed to do. While infertility issues can be complex and should always be diagnosed by a medical professional, therapy plays a vital role in allowing your mind, emotions and body to come together.

‍Counseling is a real Investment in your physical and mental states

‍Talk therapy rewires the brain. Because the systems in our body constantly respond to brain impulses, our state of mind has a profound and lasting impact on the conditions of our bodies. Managing stress, anxiety and depression will improve the body’s relaxation response and thus promotes better harmony between organ systems, blood circulation and helps create a solid foundation for fertility readiness and overall health. (1)

‍Considering Other Options (Adoption)

‍I have been studying adoption-oriented issues personally and academically for quite some time and feel uniquely qualified to offer specialized psychotherapy services in this area.

As an academic, I conducted a qualitative study interviewing adults about their “being adopted” stories. I discussed how these narratives were important ingredients to an individual’s sense of self-identity. I then explored ways in which these very personal stories were imbued with larger, cultural narratives of adoption derived from media, popular culture, social work and psychological literature.

In my own life, I am adopted and have a sister who is adopted and a brother who is not. I have developed many perspectives on my own experience throughout my lifetime. Adoption meant something very different to me as I evolved through different life transitions, e.g. teenager, becoming a mother, reunion with birth mother, both mothers dying, among others. I enjoy helping people navigate their own adoption concerns and stories.

‍Adoptive Parents

  • re-solving fertility grief and envisioning oneself as an adoptive parent
  • dealing with on-going parenting dilemmas influenced by adoption

Birth-mother Issues

  • preparing for and resolving feelings about relinquishment
  • dealing with on-going relationship with adoptive parents
  • coping with feelings associated with reuniting

Adoptive Person

  • exploring one’s own developmental experiences with adoption
  • examining one’s own family of origin relationships
  • deciding to search or not search for birthparents
  • preparing for one’s own parenthood
  • understanding marital issues involving trust, conflict, intimacy

1 Resources:
Resolve: National Infertility Association
Vaughn, S. (2001) The Talking Cure
(2007) Texas Center for Reproductive Acupuncture, Well Woman Fertility Program
Kabat-Zinn, J. and Borysenko, J. (2001) Full Catastrophe Living
Indichova, J. (2001) Inconceivable, A Woman’s Triumph over Despair and Statistics
Pert, C. (1997) Molecules of Emotion, Simon & Schuster
Neparstek, B. (1994) Staying Well with Guided Imagery, Time Warner Books
Pert, C. (2000) Your Body is your Subconscious Mind, Simon & Schuster

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