Cactus Counselling

The Childfree Therapy Group

Featured in The Times and on BBC2's Jeremy Vine.

I run a couple of childfree therapy groups. Here is some basic information about them, but if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. People are often full of questions about this topic!

What Does "Childfree" Mean?

Childfreedom is a lifestyle choice where individuals or couples decide not to have children. This can be for any number of reasons. It is distinct from childlessness, which means that a person wants children but can't have them.

What is the Childfree Therapy Group and Why Does it Exist?

Many people have experienced some form of pressure to have children. This is less of a problem for people who want children (and can have them), but it's unwelcome to those who are childfree (or indeed, childless not by choice). Unfortunately, people who explicitly choose childfreedom are sometimes pressured to change their minds.

The Childfree Therapy Group provides a supportive, therapeutic space for childfree people to process that pressure, and wherever necessary, find safe and healthy ways to respond and to find other ways to keep themselves psychologically safe. It can also provide a space to identify and pursue alternatives to having children in a supportive environment.

Where and When can I Join, and Who's Running the Group?

This is an "open" group, meaning that new members can join at any time. However, I recognise that many people prefer a sense of stability in therapeutic groups so I will generally aim to only add new people occasionally. If I have several new enquiries in a short space of time, I'll invite them to form a new group.

My name is Hayley, and I will run the group. I am 42 years old, have no children, and have been consciously childfree by choice for all of my adult life.

I will run two groups to start with: one on Zoom, and one in person. The in-person group will be held at the Barton Hill Settlement, Easton, in Bristol. Both will be on a Wednesday afternoon or evening. Send me a message to ask for firmer details if you're curious about joining.

Sessions will be 2 hours long, run on a weekly basis, and cost £25 per session.

Childfreedom is gaining traction as a lifestyle choice, but many people either haven't heard of it before, or have only heard of it in passing. I will be very happy to answer your questions about it, so send me a message on my contact form and I'll get back to you as soon as possible!