PND

[DrVonPatak]

Hello and thank you in advance for your attention. I know I posted this already on AIBU, counting on the traffic, but I got no audience. I hope it will be different here, maybe.

I apologise for the vagueness, but I would like to gather some thoughts on having counselling for PND, ie is it something you would consider, do you think there is a need for it, what would you like to get from it... Any thoughts would be appreciated, of course.

The reason I am asking this is the fact that I am at the end of counselling training and searching for a topic for a thesis. I have a strong background in medical field and I feel very drawn to this field professionally. I am not in any way fishing for clients, as this would be deeply unethical. This is strictly gathering a sample of opinions and will not be repeated anywhere, in any form.

Should mumsnet HQ find this unacceptable, I will accept this without question. I would also like to apologise to anyone to whom this may cause distress in any way. Once again, thank you very much for your time.

I think there would be great benefit in it especially if specialised.
In my limited experience there are many symptoms that are very specific in PND (like intrusive thoughts of harm coming to your baby, anxiety, OCD around cleanliness) coupled with other factors (lack of sleep, dehydration, birth recovery). On top of this is the need to understand instructions for baby related gadgets and learning how to look after a baby.

I wonder if group therapy would be good. I know my saving grace was a lovely baby group which (I kid you not) was the highlight of my week!. Good luck and good for you choosing this area. It's interesting and so very important.

I had 8 general sessions of cognitive behavioural counselling when my daughter was 2years and 5 months. Got them via work as Dr didn't treat me despite me going to ask for help, which in itself was a major knock. I had struggled up until this point, being low, angry, flatlining, low self worth and not bonding with baby ( on the inside). On the outside I probably, for the most part, seemed fine. I found that the counseling was a major turning point. They were excellent and as well as bring able to get it all out it gave me the tools I needed to cope. It has taken a while but I'm 3 months on from my last session and whilst k still have the odd wobble I would now describe myself as a happy mummy and in control! Definitely a credit to the counseling services on offer. So good luck with your research and future career. I can imagine it is a tricky one but the help counsellors offer is truly invaluable and life changing xx