Ep. 27 | Working with Childless and Childfree Clients

11/01/24 • 64 min

I am delighted to be joined by Jody Day and Robin Hadley to discuss the topic of working with childless and child-free clients. Jody is the founder of Gateway Women, the global support and advocacy network for childless women. She is a psychotherapist, has Ted Talks on the topic and has written a book called ‘Living the Life Unexpected: How to Find Hope, Meaning and a Fulfilling Future Without Children’. Robin Hadley is an associate lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University and a founder member of the campaign group Ageing Without Children. He has conducted a range of research about childless men and has written a book called ‘How to be a Man? Male Childlessness – A Life Course Interrupted’.

In this episode, we discuss what pronatalism is and the impact of these pro-birth and reproduction attitudes and policies on those who can’t or don’t want to have children. We explore the many ways people in these situations might need the support of therapy e.g. to work through disenfranchised grief, as well as dealing with feelings of isolation and stigma. We also explore how therapists themselves need to be aware of internalised pronatalism and how this might impact their work. Please see the following links for more information on this topic:

https://gateway-women.com/

https://www.robinhadley.co.uk/

The Are Kids For Me Podcast link - https://open.spotify.com/show/0pisu2SafDohhsqxnh6MhZ?si=cfa1fe3e146c4dcf

https://gateway-women.com/

https://www.robinhadley.co.uk/

The Are Kids For Me Podcast link - https://open.spotify.com/show/0pisu2SafDohhsqxnh6MhZ?si=cfa1fe3e146c4dcf

Previous Episode

Ep. 26 | Ageism and Therapy

Welcome to a new season of episodes of Therapists Talk Therapy. We start off with a discussion about ageism with my guest, Dr. Teresa Graham. Teresa works in private practice as a Counselling psychologist. She is a certified mediator and works as a Humanist celebrant. She is an associate lecturer with PCI College. We discuss what ageism is and how it can impact older people’s mental health and engagement with therapy. Teresa highlights the different narratives around this topic e.g. the wellness and beauty industry, the medical model and the housing crisis. These narratives influence overt behaviour and covert attitudes. They can also be internalised by older people leading them to feel incompetent and vulnerable. Teresa encourages us to reflect on and challenge these narratives. I hope you enjoy this episode.

Next Episode

Ep. 28 | The Use of Technology within Therapy

In this episode, we are exploring the range of ways in which therapists can use technology including the provision of sessions as well as organisation and payment systems, administration functions for notes and homework tasks and communication with clients. We talk about the issues which need to be considered when making the decision to use any type of technology, both for the therapist and client. These include practical, legal, ethical and financial aspects. The importance of conscious decision-making around the why or why not is highlighted, as well as the need for ongoing reflection.

I was delighted to be joined by a panel of PCI Associate lecturers for this fascinating discussion. Sharon Manifold is an integrated therapist and clinical supervisor. She currently works online in private practice and has several years experience of working with people of all ages and life stages in a variety of group and individual settings. Sean Lonergan is a CBT therapist with over 14 years experience of working with adults in the UK and Ireland, in person and online. He is also a CBT clinical supervisor. Craig Barry is a psychotherapist and supervisor working in private practice. He also facilitates the Aware bipolar programme and works with various EAP programmes. Linda is a psychotherapist, supervisor and trainer, working with individuals, couples and groups in therapeutic and corporate settings.