#31 Counselling and Mental Health Support After Baby Loss
This week, I have a special episode with Karen Burgess, the Chief Executive and Founder of Petals, the baby loss counselling charity. We talk about grief, counselling and therapy after pregnancy or infant loss, some of the dark emotions that go alongside this and how the support Petals offer is different from more general counselling that may be available in your local area. Karen is truly passionate about bereaved parents getting the support they need after losing a baby. Whether you’ve recently lost a baby, are still struggling years down the line or want to know more about the support that’s available, I think you’ll find this podcast episode really valuable. As part of our conversation we talk about: Why Karen founded Petals and the importance of specialist support after baby loss (5:53) The difference between counselling and other forms of therapy (16:08) How the support Petals offer is different from general counselling and why it’s not as simple as “just grief” (20:50) The dark emotions that go alongside baby loss – guilt and shame (31:40) Anxieties around official records of mental health support and when the best time to seek counselling support is (42:16) How to go about finding counselling or other mental health support (49:56) How family and friends can support bereaved parents through their grief journey (55:05) You can find out more about Petals, including how to access support and how to donate and support their work on their website: https://petalscharity.org/ I wanted to particularly mention the Petals Pioneers fundraising campaign that Petals are currently running to provide free online counselling services to people across the UK. This will make their specialist bespoke support available to more people who need it. Find out more: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/help-petals-pioneer-online-baby-loss-counselling A huge thank you to my new patron this week, Hayley, and big thanks to all my patrons who help me keep the podcast running. Find out more at https://www.patreon.com/footprintsonourhearts