by: Eva Aksahin Eva Aksahin
Empowerment Coach – Career Coach – Personal Development Coach – Psychologist
According to a recent WHO study, 17.6% of the adult population is affected by infertility. This means every 1 in 6 people experience infertility. This is a huge number. The population that struggles with infertility is still growing, and yet, infertility is still a taboo in the Middle East, especially male infertility, even though both men and women equally contribute to this issue.
Furthermore, studies show that struggling with infertility is as stressful as dealing with cancer. This explains why infertility is so emotionally, mentally and physically overwhelming.
Since both the prevalence and psychological impact on individuals are considerable, it is important to urge mental health professionals as well as fertility coaches to raise awareness and discuss the implications of infertility on individuals at multiple levels.
Infertility impacts individuals on a personal, relationship and societal level. What are the implications?
First of all, on a personal level individuals may face loss of control, self-confidence, impaired body-image as well as the inability to transition to a major role in life called “parenthood”. All of these on an emotional level can create anger, frustration, uncertainty, and disappointment, which eventually can become an isolating experience.
Questions may arise: Why me? Why did my body fail? Am I not worthy of having a child? Why has God taken away from me the opportunity to experience motherhood?
Second, infertility impacts relationships heavily. In the ideal scenario, the relationship is strong, and couples tend to lean on each other for support emotionally, physically, and mentally. However, if the relationship is not supportive enough, the partners may become more aloof; and may start to drift away from each other even more.
Questions may arise: Why doesn’t my husband understand how I feel? Why has my wife became so sensitive? Do we still belong together?
Then on a societal level, especially in the Middle East, family and parenthood are strong values. When this transition is hindered, couples might face extra pressure from society and extended family.
Questions may arise: Why are they intruding in our life? How should I let them know we are trying? How can we set boundaries?
A fertility coach can help you to:
• Reduce the negative impact infertility has on you and your life.
• Sort through the information overload and help you to better understand egg retrieval and other medical processes.
• Offer emotional support to process everything you are dealing with.
• Provide perspective as you navigate the ups and downs each month.
• Act as a sounding board when you need to make difficult choices.
• Lift you up and cheerleads at each milestone.
• Offer stress reduction techniques to develop resiliency.
• May refer you to a mental health professional in case deeper emotional issues surface.
Finally, remember that you are not alone! Many other people have been facing the same challenges and may even be in your immediate social circle. Sharing your experiences with a trusted circle of people may allow you to channel difficult emotions and relieve the emotional burden.
In the journey towards mental wellbeing, every step counts. As we observe Mental Health Awareness, it’s crucial to highlight the role of Holistic Coaching in this journey. Holistic coaching, while not a replacement for professional mental health services, can serve as a valuable complement to them and play a pivotal role in this journey.
Since a multidisciplinary approach is often the most effective, Holistic Coaching focuses on the individual as a whole, considering all aspects of their life, providing a supportive and non-judgmental space for individuals to explore their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual awareness, reflect on their thoughts, feelings and everyday behaviors. It helps them gain a deeper understanding of themselves, fostering self-awareness and personal growth. Moreover, Holistic Coaching can facilitate the implementation of healthy habits and lifestyle changes that can positively impact mental health.
This can range from promoting regular physical activity, to encouraging balanced nutrition, to fostering positive social connections. In the context of mental wellbeing, a Holistic Coach can complement the work of the mental health specialists by helping individuals process their self-acceptance, improve their self-esteem and sense of empowerment, so that they can develop their long-term resilience, a key factor in mental wellbeing, so that they can cultivate a positive mindset and navigate life’s challenges more effectively.
A Holistic Coach supports individuals to take back control of their lives, set and achieve meaningful goals, and live in alignment with their mental, emotional and spiritual values and beliefs. Therefore, as we continue to raise awareness about mental health, let’s also acknowledge the value of holistic coaching in supporting mental wellbeing. Together, we can make a difference!
#MentalHealthAwareness #HolisticCoaching #WellbeingJourney #CoachingImpact #MentalWellbeing #NotAlone
The author:
Tassos Kotzias was fortunate to work, for over 25 years, in Senior corporate positions as well as demanding entrepreneurial environments.
However, this meant high levels of stress and challenging personal relations, dealing with “bosses” of all kinds, including insecure managers and colleagues, who only wished to justify their presence and power over others by taking advantage of what they thought was their weakness or abusing the personal and family life situations of their peers. During this journey colleagues were coming to Tassos, discussing their challenging feelings and emotions of lack of self-confidence, low self-esteem, and fear of being judged all the time by their bosses or colleagues, fear of failing or even losing their jobs, which would endanger their financial independence and their work-life-family balance. Tassos could not explain back then, why they would come to him, apparently because he was there to listen to them, support them with advice and treat them as respectful individuals. Tassos was trying to empower them to believe in and respect themselves, as he would do for his wife and kids. Having experienced this and following his passion for Holistic Coaching, Tassos decided to make it his mission to support all professionals, who may need his help in order to surpass such challenging stressful situations at work and home.
Tassos developed his unique HEART© Coaching methodology to make his clients feel Holistic, Empowered, Accepted, Resilient, and Transformed, so that they can appreciate and integrate this holistic transformation, balance and harmony in their lives, once and for all! Tassos holds, among other distinct international Educational and Corporate qualifications, the ICF, ACC credentials of the Holistic Coach Certification Program of the Holistic Coach Training Institute in the US.
Get to know more at: https://tassoskotzias.com/