Deborah Morgan - Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy
A nurses determination to help new mothers
I owe much of my success on the course to the help and support of my tutor Dr Margaret Smith to whom I am greatly indebted."
Deborah is a recent graduate and a registered nurse who has her own charity. She plans to use her knowledge gained from this course to help new mothers as part of her charity.
Her charity
Deborah set up the charity Perinatal Illness UK nine years ago, after realising that many parents who experience mental health problems from 28 weeks into pregnancy until six weeks after the birth were not getting the psychological support they needed, sometimes with tragic results.
The charity has supported and advised around 250,000 women since it was launched in 2003 with Fern Britton as Patron.
"I set up the charity and the website www.pni-uk.com to give these women and their families appropriate advice and support for their perinatal illness. This could be through counselling, psychotherapy and group support work. We also use an online forum where people can post their problems."
How the Maters degree helped
Deborah decided to study the Masters degree to obtain the skills and training to help women and their families affected by perinatal mental ill-health, and to qualify as a Specialist Perinatal Counsellor and Psychotherapist.
Deborah said "We looked at the stories of 5,000 women that the charity had helped. Many had been diagnosed with postnatal depression but it became clear through my research that a lot of them actually had psychological trauma symptoms and so needed different support altogether."
The future
"I want to push for the inclusion of integrative counselling and psychotherapy using person-centred therapy, attachment therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy methods to facilitate recovery."
"The wrong support and treatment can have a big impact on a woman's recovery and their baby's development, so it's vital that we get their care right. Knowing this, my aim is to re-build the charity, re-establish the support groups and continue with the campaign for increased therapeutic services."
