At Kingston iCope, we run a group specifically for mothers who are experiencing symptoms of postnatal anxiety and/ or depression using cognitive behavioural therapy. This is generally a small group of up to 10 mothers, who have all given birth within the last two years and this course is run online using the Zoom platform for 7 sessions. Babies are welcome to attend the sessions with their mothers, we take a relax approached to the group as we understand that our babies may need to be fed/ soothed or changed during this time and encourage you to see to your babies needs as necessary. Each session runs for two hours, between 10 o clock and 12 o clock on a Tuesday morning. Throughout the group, we aim to provide you with a toolkit of resources that can be implemented to help ease the difficulties that we often face during our transition into motherhood. We welcome you to share your experiences of motherhood at points (if you feel comfortable to) as this helps to normalise the difficulties faced when we become mothers, however if you do not wish to share, there is no pressure to. We provide you with a weekly handout to summarise each session, which is yours to take away. Feedback from previous group participants have reflected on how useful they have found the sessions, particularly in hearing of other mothers experiences, challenging some of the taboos around mental health difficulties during the perinatal period and learning techniques which they can then continue to use after the sessions.
You can expect between 10-20 people to be there. Everyone will be asked to follow the group rules and maintain confidentiality. One of the benefits of being in a group is you realize that you are not alone with your difficulties and you can share experiences, if you want to.
No, not if you don’t want to. Some people feel more comfortable talking in the group and others less so. You will never be put on the spot to contribute and you do not have to share personal information. Most people start to feel comfortable enough to join in after a few sessions.
To get the most out of the course, we would recommend that you attend all the sessions. The sessions are designed to follow-on from each other and to build on skills learnt in previous sessions.
Please let us know if you are unable to finish the group, or if you are not finding it helpful. We can discuss other options for support.