Childfree and Childless Counselling
A growing number of people are choosing not to have children. Other people would like kids but don't feel ready to support one, either for environmental, or relational reasons (i.e., they want to work through their own trauma first). Yet others have tried to get pregnant but are having infertility issues. If you don't have children and want to work through any of these issues, I'm here to help.
If you're childfree, I offer a service without a pro-child bias. Many childfree people are pressured to have children by family or partners, and I can offer a space where that won't happen and you can explore what you want from life without that pressure.
I'm childfree, and have never wanted children (read my history of being childfree here). Having me as your therapist can be helpful if you're childless and want to work with a counsellor who you can be confident won't bring their own grief into your therapeutic process. Similarly, if you wish to explore whether you want to have children or not, I won't offer a bias towards having children.
If you'd like to arrange a 15 minute chat with me to establish whether you think I'm the right fit for you, you can book one with me here.
The Cactus Childfree Discussion Group
In addition to working individually with these issues, I run a group for childfree, childless, and fence-sitters of all genders.
This is a professionally led support group, specifically designed to offer you space to talk with other people who are childfree, childless, or on the fence, to connect with the childfree community in a safe space. I currently run it on Zoom, to help keep the group well-boundaried, but will offer regular in-person groups in the future.
Sessions are 1 hour long, at 7pm on the first Wednesday of the month (London time). At the current time the group is free. The upcoming dates are:
- Wednesday 7th January @ 7pm: Discussion session
- Tuesday 20th January @ 7pm: Discussion session
- Tuesday 3rd February @ 7pm: Discussion session
- Wednesday 4th February @ 7pm: Discussion session
Want to join? Contact me or email me and ask to be added to the group's distribution list. I'll send the Zoom invitation for the group on the morning of the session.
If you'd prefer an in-person group similar to this, Bristol Womens Voice does the occasional one (women only, trans-inclusive), with me hosting.
Grandchildfreedom and Grandchildlessness
Grandchildfreedom is an emerging area that has some aspects in common with childfreedom. If you're:
- a parent of at least one adult child, and
- that child is childfree, and
- you would prefer not to have grandchildren
then please get in touch! This could be a very niche group, but if there are enough of you out there then I'd love to start a group for people who are happily grandchildfree.
Conversely, if you're grandchildless (ie., you don't have grandchildren but wish you had them), a support group exists for you and is maintained by Dr. Mary Ellen Miller. Her group primarily supports those who are grieving being non-grandparents. She's based in the States, and you can find more information about her group, The Kindred Hearts Circle, here.
