Couples in which one member has tested positive for a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation may benefit from working with a BRCA couples counseling therapist who is knowledgeable about how these mutations may impact couples and family relationships, health, and decision-making. Testing positive for a BRCAmutation has significant implications for a couples relationship, including intimacy/sexuality, family formation, risk-management decision-making, and communication.
Couples may find it challenging to reconcile changing body image with their ideas about how their physical relationship can and should function at various stages. Women who choose to undergo risk-reducing mastectomy or oophorectomy will encounter changes to their bodies that can complicate sex and sexuality. A skilled BRCA couples counseling therapist can help couples communicate effectively about these issues and find compromise and satisfaction.
Family formation goals and ideas are often affected by a positive BRCA mutation test. When a woman has not yet commenced or completed childbearing at the time of genetic testing, she and her partner must consider the implications of pregnancy on her own health, as well as the risk to their future children. Understanding all of the factors and options can be confusing and complicated. But a skilled BRCA couples counseling therapist who is knowledgeable about these issues can serve as a guide in understanding each other and making decisions that work for your family.
The options available for risk-management for BRCA-positive individuals are complicated and frequently changing. In addition, any decision has serious implications for a couples relationships – either presently or in the future. Lindsey Hoskins has worked extensively with both couples and individuals to help them make confident decisions about how to manage their risk in the context of their relationships.
Communicating effectively with one’s partner is an important step toward coping and healing together. Emotions can run high when working through the complicated process of genetic testing and decision-making, and having a safe place to explore your feelings together with the guidance of an expert in both BRCA couples counseling and genetics can set you on the path toward hope and healing.
Contact Lindsey Hoskins & Associates, A BRCA Couples Counseling Therapist
For better or for worse, you and your partner have committed to undergoing life’s challenges. Despite this, the last thing that you probably envisioned was that you and your partner would have to manage a medical diagnosis. Medicine today gives women the ability to undergo testing that allows for them to determine whether they have the BRCA gene mutation. For women with the BRCA gene, they are at a higher risk for developing breast cancer, even at a young age. Many couples will be facing a number of unknowns, unexpected emotions and heavy decisions can send people in a whirlwind. A BRCA couples counseling therapist at Lindsey Hoskins & Associates may assist couples to manage the impact that a BRCA diagnosis may have on them.
The Impact a BRCA Diagnosis Can Have on a Couple
When a woman has been diagnosed with BRCA, they may have a variety of decisions to make. Many of these, may require invasive procedures that alter a woman’s physical appearance. As a result, not only may a woman’s own image of themselves be altered, their partner may be impacted as well. Because of this, the impact that BRCA may have on a couple can be great. Working with a BRCA couples counseling therapist may be essential in making sure that you and your partner are making time to hear each other’s perspectives during what may be an emotionally charged and painful period.
Facing a Medical Diagnosis as a Couple
A BRCA medical diagnosis means that a woman’s physical appearance may be altered, additionally, a couple’s ability to have children together naturally may no longer be an option. Both people in the relationship will naturally endure some sense of grief over their inability to have children in the way they may have imagined. This is only one example of the way that BRCA can affect a couple. In the wake of a diagnosis, accessing couples counseling for BRCA may prove to be a positive experience for couples. While it’s easy for a couple to get wrapped up in the day to day, it’s important that in the face of a medical diagnosis that couples take the time to process the way that BRCA has impacted their relationship with the help of a BRCA couples counseling therapist.
Have you recently discovered that you have the BRCA gene mutation? While you and your partner may be ready to face what may lie ahead, it may be helpful to obtain the support and experience that a BRCA couples counseling therapist can provide you with. Linsdey Hoskins & Associates are licensed, skilled therapist that can support you and your partner with the tribulations that you may undergo together. You and your partner do not have to be at odds to endure counseling, the support that we can provide may help you both to keep the lines of communication open amidst the decisions and emotions that you may be experiencing. Contact Lindsey Hoskins & Associates today to schedule an appointment with our BRCA couples counseling therapist today.
How Can a BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 Diagnosis Affect Parenting and Family Planning Decisions?
Learning that you or your significant other has tested positive for a BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 gene mutation is an undeniably stressful reality. This diagnosis can impact virtually every area of life, especially as you and your significant other go through an initial phase of processing this news and making medical decisions accordingly. In addition, this diagnosis can be particularly pressing when couples are attempting to make family planning and/or parenting decisions in its wake. Please know that you do not have to navigate these unique challenges alone. The process of BRCA couples counseling is designed to provide necessary support and guidance at this trying time.
BRCA and Parenting – The Basics
If an individual diagnosed with a BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 mutation may not yet be done having biological children, this diagnosis can weigh heavily in the family planning process. Similarly, when an individual with a significant gene mutation like this needs to weigh treatment options and approaches, that reality can significantly impact his or her existing children. There is no one “right” way to process the news of this diagnosis as it pertains to family planning and/or parenting. However, even the most devoted and “in sync” couples can find themselves struggling with disparate approaches and conflicted feelings in regards to these issues. Proactively working through the ways in which this diagnosis impacts your relationship as it regards family planning and/or parenting is important. If you do not know where to begin or are feeling “stuck,” an experienced couples counselor can help.
BRCA Couples Counseling Is Available
If a BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 mutation diagnosis is affecting your approach to parenting decisions and/or family planning, know that BRCA couples counseling may be beneficial for you and your romantic partner. It is important to work with a counselor who understands the unique realities you are facing. Not every couples therapist specializes in gene mutation diagnoses and the ways in which they affect relationships. However, the team at Lindsey Hoskins & Associates is dedicated to working with BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 patients and their families. We understand the benefits of BRCA couples counseling and which unique approaches tend to benefit individuals and families affected by this diagnosis specifically. Please, don’t wait. Schedule a risk-free consultation with our office today so that we can begin advising you of your options. Speaking with us does not commit you to beginning BRCA couples counseling. However, if you decide that this is the best way forward for you and your significant other, we will be happy to support and guide you through that process. We look forward to taking your call.
Contact Lindsey Hoskins & Associates for Couples Counseling BRCA couples can trust.
Schedule an appointment online for medical family therapy with one of our clinicians or call 240-752-7650.
Read More: Medical Family Therapy | Couples Therapy Genetics