Counselling

Genea’s Fertility Counsellors help patients look after their emotional wellbeing. Counselling sessions may focus on preparing for treatment, making decisions, managing uncertainty and disappointment, and exploring coping strategies. There’s no charge for counselling during your treatment at Genea.

At various times throughout the year our counsellors also run the Mind Your Own Body program online. This is a support group for women trying for their first child at Genea, and assists in the management of stress and loneliness often associated with fertility treatment.

In addition, our counsellors provide mandatory implications counselling for all third-party treatments which include, donor eggs or sperm and surrogacy. More on Genea Fertility Counsellors.

For current patients, more information is available from the Counsellors by calling 1300 361 795 or completing the form below.

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Our Counsellors

Evelyn’s personal experience with infertility was the inspiration for her decision to work in the field of infertility counselling.

Born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, Evelyn completed honours degrees in social work (1978) and in psychology (1983) and worked in child protection services. However, it was her own infertility journey, which began in 1984, that motivated a switch in career direction – a journey which would, over time, encompass many of the challenges facing her current patients such as miscarriage, Clomid, IUI, GIFT, IVF, OHSS and pre-eclampsia.

Her personal experience stirred her so much that, when she and her partner decided to emigrate to Australia, she chose to work exclusively in the field of infertility counselling.

Evelyn feels privileged to be able to accompany her patients on their journey through fertility treatment and beyond, providing support and compassion all along the complex path. She says that her greatest reward is the feeling that she has in some way eased the pain of this road less travelled.

Counselling Services Manager at Genea since 2002, Evelyn’s other great passion is surrogacy. At around the time of Evelyn’s appointment at Genea, the surrogacy program was being relaunched and Evelyn became the primary coordinator for all surrogacy cases. She enjoys assisting couples through this complex and challenging process.

Evelyn was also part of the team that developed and introduced the very popular Mind Your Own Body program at Genea. To this day, she is amazed at the speed at which strangers connect and become invaluable support to one another throughout this valuable program. Her long-term aspiration is to create more similar and fruitful opportunities for her clients.

Evelyn is a member of the Australia New Zealand Infertility Counsellors Association and the Australian Association of Social Workers.

Evelyn is located at Genea Sydney CBD.

With more than 10 years’ experience supporting Genea couples, Lynne Perl sees great value in ensuring male partners are engaged and involved in counselling sessions. Over the years, Lynne has observed that it is often the men who take on the primary support role for their partners during the infertility journey, sometimes at the expense of their own emotional needs. That’s why she works hard to encourage involve male partners to come for counselling.

After graduating with a degree in Social Work from Cape Town University in South Africa, Lynne went on to travel and study further in the United Kingdom, at both the Tavistock Clinic and Manchester University.

Upon emigrating to Australia, Lynne undertook further and extensive training in Narrative Therapy at both Macquarie University in Sydney and the Dulwich Centre in Adelaide. In 2005, she completed a Master of Arts (Family and Couple Therapy) at the University of NSW.

Lynne’s experience in post-adoption counselling first sparked her interest in donor conception and infertility treatment. When she had an opportunity to join Genea as a counsellor, she was excited about channelling the knowledge and insights she had gained into a new direction.

She feels incredibly privileged to work with and assist individuals and couples who are trying to conceive and finds the challenge both moving and inspiring. Another of Lynne’s particular interests is facilitating the Mind Your Own Body groups, where she enjoys seeing women connect with one another. In fact, she relishes the fact that many longstanding friendships have been formed through these groups where women can share similar experiences and can talk freely and honestly about their fertility journey.

Lynne knows that IVF is a huge challenge and can be one of the main crisis points in any person’s life, requiring resilience and resourcefulness to manage the ups and downs of treatment. She believes that having a non-medical space to talk about all aspects of a patient’s life, not just about IVF, is an integral part of the treatment process.

Lynne is located at Genea Sydney CBD.

Órlaith’s experience working in couple/family therapy, post-adoption, and grief/loss over the past 16 years, greatly informs the counselling support she offers at Genea. After emigrating from Ireland to Australia, Órlaith completed her post-graduate studies in Sydney, gaining a Masters of Couple and Family Therapy (UNSW), and specialising in Bereavement Counselling and Intervention.

Órlaith has a particular interest in non-death losses, and the challenge of integrating losses when life changes, transitions, hurts and disappoints. Órlaith experiences it as a privileged place to provide support through treatment and is continually inspired by the strength and hope of the people she supports. She believes that by creating a safe space of counselling, this can allow people to feel connected in what can be an isolating experience, and she has an empathic and strengths based approach.

Órlaith’s own infertility journey at Genea allows her to have a sense of the patient journey, whilst recognising that everyone’s experience is unique to them.

Órlaith is a Clinical Member (Level 4) of the Australian Counselling Association and the Australian & New Zealand Infertility Counsellors Association.

Órlaith is located at Genea Sydney CBD but appointments can also be made at Genea Liverpool.

Counsellors are available at all clinic locations for Genea patients. Please contact your Genea clinic for details.

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FAQs

How do I register for the Mind Your Own Body Program?

Genea’s Mind Your Own Body program, offered by our counsellors, helps women learn strategies to better manage the anxiety, depression and stress that can result from infertility and its treatment. The program is only open to Genea patients who have not yet had a child and have been through at least one IVF cycle and are planning further treatment. During the program you will:

learn relaxation techniques and ways of challenging the negative thinking that can accompany infertility;
have a chance to talk about your infertility in a supportive environment; and
develop relationships with other women who know how you feel.

The content of the course is based on the work of Alice Domar, director of the The Domar Center for Mind/Body Health in Boston.

There is no charge for this program. The group is now available online in a 3 week program.

How will I know if I need to see a counsellor?

Many patients tell us that when they first began treatment at Genea they didn’t believe they needed or wanted to speak with our counsellors. Some of them say they thought they’d be perceived negatively if they sought help, or that had to be very depressed before talking to a counsellor.

In fact, the reality is that you don’t need to be in an emotional crisis before you seek help and sometimes just being able to talk about your anxieties and feelings can help to normalise them. Many couples choose not to tell family and friends about their treatment which means you can feel quite isolated and alone.

You may discover that you were unprepared for the emotional upheaval infertility brings, and that dealing with disappointment and uncertainty leaves you feeling moody and fragile. While infertility is a medical condition, it can affect every part of your life, challenging the way you feel about yourself, your relationships with others and your self-esteem. You may feel anxious, irritable, angry, sad, isolated and guilty. You can feel a sense of loss of control over your life and your future. Your motivation and sense of purpose in life can be severely challenged, work can seem irrelevant, and slowly you may find yourself feeling consumed by the infertility treatment.
Our counsellors can help you sort through these feelings and identify coping strategies - either in individual or couples counselling sessions. They are also able to talk you through the specifics of your infertility treatment choices and the relevant social and emotional considerations.

We know that men and women cope very differently with their infertility.

For many couples, making the decision to start fertility treatment is not an easy one. It is not unusual for women to feel let down and angry with their bodies and/or for the partner who has been diagnosed with the infertility problem to feel ashamed and guilty.

Men seek understanding of their partner’s distress and ways of helping them. One of the more difficult challenges for men in dealing with infertility is the feeling of helplessness, the inability to fix the problem or make their partner feel better. Some women feel that whatever their partner does, it is not enough because he is not going through the physical side of treatment. Sometimes, talking about your expectations of each other can lead to more understanding and tolerance of your partner’s position.

Talking to someone who is skilled in these areas and knowledgeable about infertility treatment is a positive coping strategy.

What happens in counselling?

Your Genea Counsellor will ask you about your background, your history of infertility, the effects of infertility on you and how you have managed the stresses of infertility to date. The kinds of issues, which often come up for couples include:

dealing with the emotional rollercoaster ride;
coping with other peoples’ pregnancies and children;
how/if to tell family/friends/colleagues;
managing stress;
relationship difficulties with partner, family and/or friends; and
moving towards consideration of other options e.g. egg donation, adoption.

Infertility is often difficult to manage, and is exacerbated when it is prolonged, when there isn’t family or social support at hand, when there are other major stresses in your life, or when you have had other losses. The counsellor’s role is to provide a framework for you to explore your thoughts and feelings, to enhance your coping strategies, and to anticipate and assist in managing IVF treatment stresses.

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