Psychological support to patients in infertility treatment

Psychologically speaking, infertility is a life crisis that requires couples to face new life circumstances, accept the diagnosis and mentally prepare for medical treatment. This new situation is difficult for some patients to bear, and the treatment adversely affects the partnership and the patient's psychological well-being. The consequences can be increased stress, high anxiety, fears and deep sadness, as well as clinically significant anxiety and a prolonged depressive reaction when pregnancy becomes a complete preoccupation, a measure of a person’s value and an exclusive life goal. All this is too much pressure both for medical treatment and for the patient's normal life. During the treatment of infertility, a medical team enters the couple's intimate life, which can adversely affect the sexual life of the partner, self-confidence, gender roles, as well as the relationship to one's own body and identity. Couples go through painful treatments, face possible disappointments, decisions about the choice of technique, continuation or termination of treatment. It happens that patients are not able to feel other joys of life and feel helpless and as if life has no meaning anymore.

In this process, the psychologist's role is to support an individual or a couple, help them face emotions and thoughts, and thus develop mechanisms that will help them go through treatment as easily as possible with preserved psychological well-being.

Psychological consequences of infertility

Psychologically speaking, infertility is a life crisis that requires the patient to face new life circumstances, accept the diagnosis and mentally prepare for medical treatment. This information is difficult for some patients to bear, and the treatment process adversely affects the partnership and the patient's psychological well-being. The consequences can be numerous and of different intensity. From increased stress, high anxiety, intense fears and deep sadness to clinically significant anxiety and prolonged depressive reactions when pregnancy becomes a complete preoccupation, a measure of a person's worth and an exclusive life goal. This represents too much pressure both for medical treatment and for the patient's normal life.

During the treatment of infertility, the medical team enters the intimate life of the patients, which can adversely affect the partner's sexual intercourses, self-esteem, gender roles, as well as the relationship to one's own body and identity. Patients go through unpleasant or painful treatments, face potential disappointments, decisions about choosing a technique, continuing or stopping treatment. Sometimes patients are not able to feel other joys of life and feel helpless and as if life has no meaning anymore.

In this process, the psychologist's role is to support the individual or the couple, help them face their emotions and thoughts and help them develop mechanisms that will help them go through the procedures while maintaining their psychological well-being.

Psychological support after successful treatment

For some couples, psychological support is also welcome during pregnancy, when more intense psychological reactions and unpleasant conditions may occur, such as strong fears, prejudices and burdening thoughts, unexpected waves of dissatisfaction, etc. Support during pregnancy, channeling emotions and psychological preparation for the arrival of the new baby and parenthood can be a good answer to these challenges.

Psychological support services

• Counseling in the field of reproductive health - conversations with a psychologist in pairs or individually that are focused on certain experiences with the aim of finding the best mechanisms for overcoming stress, channeling emotions and getting out of the crisis. The interview lasts 50 minutes and is scheduled as needed.
• Psychotherapy - continuous psychotherapeutic work during treatment aimed at psychological support, processing of emotions, transformation of a crisis into a chance, recognition of one's own patterns of thinking and emotional response to stressful situations in life. The therapy lasts 50 minutes and is scheduled on a weekly basis during the period that the patient and the therapist assess as necessary.
• Support groups - group discussions of up to 5 couples or 7 individual patients moderated by a psychologist and a nurse. These semi-structured conversations are aimed at sharing experiences, talking about different aspects of infertility and mutual support in an environment of people who are going through the same process. Conversations are organized once a week for 1.5 hours.
• On-line counseling - within the Clinic, we also offer conversations with a psychologist via Skype with couples or individuals who are unable or unwilling to come to the Clinic for treatment. In this way, one focused conversation, periodic crisis counseling or continuous psychotherapy of a couple or an individual can take place.

Expert advice: frequently asked questions

Irena Grimm, MSc, psychologist