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© British Association of Social Workers
Infertility Counselling: The Need for a Psychosocial Perspective
Ken Daniels is the Head of the Department of Social Work at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. He obtained his academic qualifications in New Zealand and undertook his professional studies in social work at London University and the University of Wales.
Correspondence to Ken Daniels, Head of Department of Social Work, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.
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The expectation of the vast majority of young couples is that at some stage they will ‘have’ children. Infertility means that that expectation cannot be met and this has personal, couple and social implications. Infertility counselling has focused primarily on the psychological or emotional needs of the couple. This paper argues that a psychosocial perspective is needed, with increased emphasis being given to the social end of the psychosocial continuum. A case study is presented to illustrate the range of psychosocial issues that can arise and suggestions are made regarding how these might be responded to. These include: responding to the emotional needs of the couple, responding to the couple and their networks, utilizing self-help and support groups, contributing to an effective team approach, using a multi-role approach, being clear about the different components of counselling, and contributing to the social policy and ethical issues. Social workers, with their psychosocial perspective, are seen to have a unique contribution to make to a more holistic approach to infertility counselling.
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