My name is
Dr Hayley Higson. I am a Clinical Psychologist and the founder of Stork Psychology.
I qualified as a Clinical Psychologist in 2017. Prior to that I worked as a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist in mental health services. I have over 15 years of experience working in mental health and psychology services. I have completed additional training in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) and Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT). My interest in CFT and incorporating body work into my practice also led me to complete my yoga teacher training.
My interest in supporting people on the journey to parenthood came from my own fertility struggles.
I, like many others, decided it was the right time to expand my family with a child, and with that assumed it would happen instantaneously. This was not the case and what followed was five long years of fertility struggles, loss and multiple rounds of IVF. While I have been lucky enough to bring home a baby, my pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period was not how I envisaged and each stage brought with it complex challenges and emotions, and I would often feel guilty if I felt anything other than gratitude. I have encountered difficulties in my life, yet my experience of fertility struggles was possibly one of the most testing times. It affected me on a biological, psychological and social level and I felt incredibly alone. I lost hope and lost myself in the midst of it all and I wanted support.
Unfortunately, I found that the support was not there. While I was offered two counselling sessions, I found that this did not meet my needs and I was left to figure it out alone. It was at this point I decided to create Stork Psychology to fill this gap and offer psychological support to those on the journey to, and through parenthood.