A high proportion of couples in western industrialized countries are unable to have children, and in many cases these couples need psychosocial support. This book describes a range of counseling and therapy approaches that can be used in a variety of circumstances. The approaches described here provide concrete assistance and advice on psychosocial interventions for all professionals who are active in reproductive medicine, fertility treatment, and counseling or therapy for couples. The book introduces the most recent knowledge about psychosomatic treatment of fertility disorders, and describes assessment methods that can be used in everyday practice by those providing both medical treatment and counseling for fertility disorders. On the basis of numerous case examples, various different approaches to counseling and therapy are described, including, for example, specific approaches that can be taken by primary care or family physicians, or how to approach the problems in couples with different cultural backgrounds. A manual for gynecologists in the final chapter provides concrete advice and guidelines for a holistic, psychosomatic course of treatment for childless couples.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Claus Buddeberg
Preface
I. Introduction to the Subject
Psychological and Psychosomatic Aspects of Involuntary Childlessness: State of the Research at the End of the 1990’s
Kathrin Henning and Bernhard Strauss
Psychological Diagnosis, Counseling and Psychotherapy in Fertility Medicine – An Overview
Karla Ningel and Bernhard Strauss
Primary Medical Care of Infertile Couples – Limitations and Opportunities
Edith Ittner, Wolfgang Himmel, and Michael M. Kochen
The Unfulfilled Desire for a Child of Oriental Couples – Infertility Counseling and Treatment for Turkish Immigrants in Germany
Lucia Gacinski, Emine Yüksel, and Heribert Kentenich
II. Specific Counseling and Therapy Approaches
Psychological Therapy in Idiopathic Infertility: A Stress Reduction Approach
Irmela Florin, Brunna Tuschen-Caffier, Walter Krause, and Martin Pook
Focal Counseling for Women and Couples with an Unfulfilled Desire for a Child: A Three-Step Model
Bernhard Strauss, Ulrike Hepp, Gabriele Städing, and Liselotte Mettler
Solution-Focused Counseling for Involuntarily Childless Couples
Christina Hölzle, Ulrike Brandt, Rainer Lütkenhaus, and Markus Wirtz
Couple Counseling and Therapy for the Unfulfilled Desire for a Child: The Two-Step Approach of the “Heidelberg Infertility Consultation”
Tewes Wischmann, Heike Stammer, Ingrid Gerhard, and Rolf Verres
The Relationship of Research and Practice in Fertility Medicine
Bernhard Strauss
Bibliography
List of Authors
III. Appendices
Practical therapy in infertility – a manual for gynecologists from a psychosomatic point of view
Heribert Kentenich, Kathrin Henning, Wolfgang Himmel, Edith Ittner, Michael M. Kochen, Walter Krause, Karla Ningel, Heike Stammer, Bernhard Strauss and Tewes Wischmann
List of Contact Addresses for Organizations