Reproductive mental health counselling is a specialized form of therapy that supports individuals and couples through the emotional and psychological experiences tied to reproductive life stages. This represents a huge variety of circumstances, all of which come back to significant impact of the reproductive journey on a woman’s mental health (think: decisions, barriers, hormones, pressure).

High level, this is what we do at Illuminate Counselling! We are a private pay clinic (often covered by extended benefits), specializing in women’s mental health, with a focus on providing support during:

• Fertility challenges
• Fertility treatments
• Pregnancy
• Pregnancy loss
• Postpartum depression & anxiety
• Perimenopause & menopause

This includes the multitude of relationship struggles along the way, as these times can be a huge strain on you and your partner, and impact family and friend relationships too.

Why Reproductive Mental Health Counselling Matters

Reproductive events are more than just medical or physical—they are deeply emotional, relational, and identity-shaping. Whether you’re trying to decide whether you want children or not, navigating the uncertainty of trying to conceive, grieving a miscarriage, or adjusting to the demands of early parenthood, the impact on mental health is huge! Reproductive mental health counselling offers a safe, validating space to process these life experiences and put your emotional wellbeing as a priority.

Fertility Challenges

Struggling to conceive can be an isolating and emotionally exhausting experience. Fertility challenges often come with waves of grief, anxiety, frustration, and feeling complete loss of control. Counselling provides support for:

• The emotional rollercoaster of trying to conceive
• Navigating fertility treatments like IVF or IUI
• Coping with the uncertainty and the dreaded “Two-Week Wait”
• Dealing with relationship strain and resentment
• Making difficult decisions about next steps

For many women, this is a journey filled with silent or “disenfranchised” grief — the kind that society doesn’t really hold space for. Counselling helps bring these important experiences into the light and move through it with compassion.

Pregnancy

Pregnancy can be a time of excitement and hope—but also anxiety, fear, and unexpected emotional changes. Whether it’s a first pregnancy or one following loss (PAL) or fertility treatments, counselling can support individuals who are:

• Experiencing prenatal anxiety or depression
• Feeling disconnected or overwhelmed
• Navigating complicated pregnancies
• Managing past trauma or loss resurfacing during pregnancy

Therapy during pregnancy can help you foster a deeper connection with yourself, as well as put resources in place should you need them during the postpartum period.

Pregnancy Loss

Miscarriage, stillbirth, and other forms of pregnancy loss are devastating—and often not openly talked about. This silence can add to the grief. Reproductive mental health counselling offers a space to:

• Grieve in your own way and at your own pace
• Explore the emotional, physical, and relational impact of loss
• Cope with unexpected feelings
• Honour the significance of the loss
• Make decisions about whether you’d like to TTC again

Whether the loss was recent or many years ago, you deserve space and support to heal.

Postpartum

Also known as the “4th Trimester”, the postpartum period can bring so much joy – but many mothers feel on some level a “postpartum dissonance” – that this is not what they were expecting. Most new parents experience a complex collection of disappointment, guilt, sadness, worry, or anxiety… as they attempt to learn on the job and wonder if they’re “doing it right.” Counselling can help support you during the complications of early parenthood:

• Dealing with the intense impacts of sleep deprivation
• Changing identity
• Mood shifts including depression & anxiety
• Adjusting to ‘redistribution’ of brain activity (i.e. “mom fog”)
• Feeling incompetent while also pressure to do things perfectly
• Intrusive thoughts about harm coming to your baby
• In-law or family issues
• Arguing or increased conflict with your partner
• Loneliness, isolation
• Feelings of rage, anger, irritability etc.

You don’t have to suffer in silence or tough it out. Your postpartum mental health is essential to the whole family, and with the right kind support, you can feel like yourself again. For some common FAQs about postpartum mental health, read more here.

Perimenopause

Perimenopause is a natural life stage, but the emotional and psychological aspects are often misunderstood or dismissed. Hormonal changes, shifting identity, and life transitions can bring:

• Mood fluctuations as a result of decreased progesterone & estrogen
• Reduced stress tolerance
• Grief around fertility, aging, or life direction
• Sleep issues and emotional dysregulation
• Questions around meaning, relationships, and self-worth
• Sometimes accompanying life changes like empty-nesting, separation, relationship challenges

Connect with a Reproductive Mental Health Counsellor

If you are in your reproductive years, and dealing with issues related to family planning, trying to conceive, maintaining a pregnancy, adjusting to pregnancy or postpartum, or navigating changes that come during perimenopause, then you’ve come to the right place! We can help you work through these transitions with intentionality, insight, and self-compassion.

We welcome you to reach to our supportive and experienced team. If you’re not sure what kind of support you need, we’ll be happy to match you with a counsellor who can help.

If you live in British Columbia and have a diagnosed mental health condition during pregnancy or 1-year postpartum, you may also talk to your doctor about a referral to the Reproductive Mental Health program at BC Women’s Hospital.