Therapy for Women’s Health

Support for the emotional side of hormones, pain, pregnancy, menopause and more, with an accredited therapist by secure video.

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Accredited therapists Fully confidential Evening & weekend times

Everything is confidentialWhat you say in a session stays in the session.

Secure video, Ireland-wideFrom wherever you feel comfortable, on any device.

No GP referral neededBook online in a couple of minutes.

Evening and weekend timesSessions that fit around work and family.

Could therapy help with what I am going through?

Your physical health rarely stays in its own box. Hormones, pain, a diagnosis you did not expect, the way your body has changed, what is happening in your relationships, what is expected of you at work and at home: all of it lands somewhere emotionally. Sometimes it lands as worry that will not settle. Sometimes as flatness, or as feeling unlike yourself.

Therapy for women's health issues is simply talking therapy that takes the health side of your life seriously rather than treating it as background. People come with things like:

Anxiety, panic, low mood and depression, including health anxiety after a scare
Stress, burnout and career pressure, and the guilt that often comes with both
Low self-esteem, body image concerns and disordered eating
Grief and loss, including losses that other people do not always recognise
Relationship difficulties, conflict, separation and changes in sexuality or intimacy
The emotional weight of chronic pain, painful sex, pelvic floor or bladder symptoms, fertility difficulties and gynaecological conditions

Does therapy actually work for this? For anxiety and depression, talking therapies are recommended as a first treatment option by NICE clinical guidance, and the available research generally finds therapy delivered by video comparable to meeting in a room for most common difficulties. Trauma-focused work takes longer and moves more carefully, but it does help many people.

Whatever you bring, it is met without judgement. Your sexuality, gender identity, culture, faith, disability and family situation are part of the picture, not something to be worked around.

How can counselling support me through fertility, pregnancy or life after birth?

Fertility treatment asks a lot of you. The waiting, the appointments, the two week gaps, the strain it can put on a relationship, the friends who keep announcing things. Counselling gives you somewhere to put all of that, including the ambivalence you might not say out loud.

Pregnancy loss, at any stage, is a real bereavement. So is the loss of a pregnancy you were unsure about. And if you are still deciding whether you want to become a parent at all, that deserves space too.

During pregnancy, therapy can help with anxiety, low mood, fear of childbirth, a difficult previous birth that keeps coming back to you, and the shifts happening in your relationship. Afterwards, common reasons to reach out include:

Postnatal depression or anxiety that is not lifting
A birth that felt frightening or out of your control
Feeling less bonded with your baby than you expected
Losing your sense of who you are outside of being a parent

Counselling sits alongside your medical care rather than replacing it. Your GP, maternity team, fertility clinic or a specialist perinatal service still handles the clinical side, and NICE guidance on antenatal and postnatal mental health supports psychological therapy as part of that care.

Not sure if this is the right fit?

A first session is just a conversation.

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Can therapy help with menopause, hormonal changes or ongoing health conditions?

Mood can shift around your cycle, in the premenstrual week, through perimenopause and after menopause. That said, not everything you feel in your forties is hormonal, and it is unhelpful when everything gets filed that way. Therapy looks at both: what your body is doing, and what else is going on.

Common threads include sleep that has fallen apart, irritability that surprises you, health anxiety, a dip in confidence at work, feelings about ageing, and changes in desire or in your relationship. NICE guidance on menopause includes cognitive behavioural therapy as an option for some menopausal symptoms, on its own or alongside medical treatment.

The same applies to living with endometriosis, PCOS, chronic pelvic pain, or the long tail of cancer treatment. The pain is real; so is the exhaustion of managing it.

One thing to be clear about: a therapist does not prescribe HRT, contraception or any medical treatment, and will not advise you for or against them. What therapy can do is help you think through a decision and adjust to it, while your GP or specialist handles the medicine.

What happens when I start therapy for a women's health concern?

The first session is mostly you talking and your therapist listening. You will cover what is troubling you now, relevant health history, your relationships, anything affecting your safety, and what you would like to be different. You do not have to have it organised beforehand.

Approach	What it tends to involve	Often used for
Person-centred counselling	Open, unstructured talking at your own pace	Grief, identity, feeling stuck
Cognitive behavioural therapy	Noticing thought patterns, small things to try between sessions	Anxiety, panic, low mood
Compassion-focused work	Softening harsh self-criticism and shame	Body image, self-blame
Trauma-informed therapy	Slow, paced work with choice at every step	Birth trauma, abuse, medical trauma

Look for a therapist who is accredited with a recognised body such as the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy or the Psychological Society of Ireland, and who has genuine experience in the area you are bringing. It is fine to ask directly.

Progress varies, and it is not a straight line. Therapy is collaborative, and no honest practitioner will promise you a particular outcome by a particular date.

How do I know whether I need therapy, medical care or both?

Therapy is emotional support. It is not a medical assessment, and it does not replace diagnosis, medication, gynaecological procedures, pelvic health physiotherapy or routine screening.

What you are noticing	Where to start
New, persistent or worsening physical symptoms: pain, abnormal bleeding, breast changes, bladder problems	Your GP or relevant specialist first
Symptoms are being managed, but your mood, sleep or relationships are suffering	Therapy, often alongside medical care
You are due a cervical or breast screening appointment	Ireland's national programmes, outlined by Citizens Information

Plenty of people do both at once, and the two support each other.

What confidential help is available if I have experienced abuse, trauma or severe distress?

Therapy can help with domestic abuse, coercive control, sexual violence, reproductive trauma and childhood abuse. The work goes at your pace and you choose what to talk about. Nobody will push you into describing more than you are ready to describe.

Sessions are confidential. The limit, which your therapist will explain at the start, is when there is an immediate risk of serious harm to you or to someone else, or a child protection concern. That is a narrow exception, not a loophole.

If you are in immediate danger, call 112 or 999. Therapy is not the right route for an emergency.

Support	How to reach it
Women's Aid 24 hour national freephone helpline	1800 341 900
Dublin Rape Crisis Centre national 24 hour helpline	1800 77 8888
Samaritans, any time, day or night	Freephone 116 123
HSE mental health supports	Urgent help via your GP or nearest emergency department

Suicidal thoughts, not feeling able to keep yourself safe, or severe postnatal symptoms need urgent help now, not a routine appointment in a few weeks.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a GP referral to see a therapist in Ireland?

No. You can book private counselling or psychotherapy yourself, with no letter and no waiting list. Involving your GP is still worth it if medication or a physical symptom is part of the picture.

How much does women's health therapy cost in Ireland, and is it covered by insurance?

Fees vary between practitioners, so ask before you book. Some health insurance plans contribute towards a limited number of sessions a year with an approved therapist, and some tax relief may apply to certain psychological services, so it is worth checking with your insurer and reading the current guidance on Citizens Information.

Can I access women's health therapy online as well as in person?

Online Therapy Works is online only, by secure video, so you can attend from anywhere in Ireland. No commute, no waiting room, no county you have to live near. Some people use headphones at home; others take the session from a parked car on a lunch break.

How long might therapy take, and how often will I need appointments?

Weekly or fortnightly 50 minute sessions are typical. Focused CBT work often runs across several months; longer-standing trauma usually takes longer. You and your therapist review it as you go.

How can I take the next step towards support?

If any of this sounds like where you are, an initial confidential session is a reasonable place to start. You can book online in a couple of minutes, evenings and weekends included, or get in touch first if you want to ask about a particular therapist's experience and availability.

Worth checking before you book anything, here or anywhere:

How sessions are delivered and what you need on your end
Fees, and the cancellation policy
The therapist's accreditation and their experience in your area of concern
How often you would meet, and how you review progress together

Choose someone you feel safe with. You should be able to be yourself in the room, or on the screen, without editing.

And if your symptoms are severe, new or getting worse, go to your GP, a crisis service or emergency care first. Therapy will still be here after.