Infertility: Interventions for Shame, Mourning, & Inferiority - 10 CE hrs

Answers:
A. the "mourning ritual" technique, understanding mourning and attachment and changing support systems
B. crisis and trauma of infertility, the impact on the couple’s relationship, the therapist’s role helpful questions and attitudes about parenting
C. Genetic loss, egg donation as an "affair," sperm donation as "rape" and feeling like an impostor
D. the roller coaster of hope and despair, loss of innocence, miscarriages and secrecy and protection
E. ending medical treatment, sabbaticals and
refocusing
F. Maleness and femaleness and children and
parenting
G. four therapeutic approaches that can be used with couples in late immersion are thinking about the donor option, couple communication about donorship, alienation versus attachment and ongoing "check-in" questions about infertility
H. Beliefs about infertility and locating the origins of these beliefs
I. Externalizing the infertility, eliciting the story, evoking the future and curtailing the shame
J. separate sessions, using metaphors, tracking losses and the "mourning a miscarriage" technique
K. shock and disbelief, losses, communication gaps and problem solving versus expression of emotion
L. restructuring the couple’s relationship, facing denial of loss and choosing a life without children
M. latent feelings about infertility, a history of infertility, different legacies, revisiting belief systems and belated mourning
N. lingering loss, patterns of protection, a changed sexual relationship and infertility as an identity

Answers
A.  Stress and infertility seem to compound each other.
B.  Many clients fear becoming obsessed with the desire to have a child.
C. The two traits necessary for growth are Empathy and Mutuality.
D. Three factors are the social construction of infertility, emotional responses to medical diagnosis and treatment, and gender differences in emotional responses to infertility.
E. Between 15 and 20% of men and women attending clinics were deemed needing psychiatric help.
F. Infertility can impact the biological, emotional, physical, relational, social, financial and psychological aspects of a client. 
G.  Sue’s counseling was able to get her to focus on her health, and set other goals for her to focus on than her childlessness.
H. The therapist may be a full member of staff with obligations to their employer and bound by the policies of that clinic. This can throw up ethical dilemmas. They may have practicing privileges for their independent practice at
the premises of the clinic but be bound by the additional requirements of the Health Care Commission for such privileges. This too can impinge on the therapist on such matters as note keeping and child protection, and threaten autonomy or confidentiality. The therapist can be a person in a private practice with links to the clinic that can range from loose to close depending on the nature of the contract
for service.
I.  The Relational Model proposes that women grow in, through, and toward the relationship.
J.  Females often express feelings of failure, and males often express inadequacy.
K.  Infertile men and women may feel that their self is "captured" by the body, rather than exerting control over it.
L.  The authors recommend keeping the groups small, limited to 5 couples for group infertility counseling.