Counselling at CRGH
Fertility treatment can be an emotionally challenging journey, often with both “ups” and “downs”. In order to provide our patients with the very best emotional support throughout their treatment, CRGH has created a dedicated patient wellbeing team of specialised fertility counsellors and co-ordinators.
What is Fertility Counselling?
As a CRGH patient you become eligible for dedicated emotional support throughout your treatment journey. Fertility Counselling is an optional but strongly recommended service and is free of charge for all CRGH patients. In addition to Fertility Counselling, some patients (such as those undergoing treatment using donated eggs or sperm) require “implications counselling” which is a mandatory step.
You can learn about our wellbeing team below and read more about each counsellor’s qualifications, interests and areas of expertise. If you’re a CRGH patient currently in treatment please get in touch with our Wellbeing coordinators on [email protected] who will be able to help arrange an appointment with the counsellors below.
Our Wellbeing Team / Counsellor
Carmel Dennehy
Accredited member of the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
With over 25 years of experience as a psychotherapist within Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Carmel has developed a deep understanding of the challenges patients face throughout their reproductive journeys. Since 2012, Carmel has worked with CRGH, and in 2024, she transitioned into the role of Counselling Manager.
Although Carmel’s current position is managerial and she no longer directly sees patients, she is proud to lead a team of highly experienced, qualified, and dedicated counsellors, each with over 20 years of expertise. Together, the counselling team is committed to providing empathetic, supportive, and trauma-sensitive care to patients, while also raising awareness of these issues among fertility staff.
In addition to her role at CRGH, Carmel serves as an honorary guest lecturer at University College London (UCL), where she contributes to two MSc programmes. She has also spoken at numerous conferences and, in 2022, contributed a chapter on fertility preservation to Problem Solving in Cancer and Fertility.
