PSYCHOSOCIAL CONSULTATION FOR CHILDLESS C OUPLES - RESEARCH AND INTERVENTION STRATEGIES

The application of the new reproductive technologies in the treatment of fertility problems is giving rise to a broad debate in the scientif ic community and the population as a whole. In Canada, the appointment of the Royal Commission on the New Reproductive Technologies is a goo d illustration of the interest this question has created. The medical treatment of infertility raises serious economic, ethical, legal and s ocial problems. Psychologists are therefore called upon to play an inc reasingly active role with regard to this population (Mahlstedt, 1985) . Following a brief presentation of the medical dimensions of infertil ity we summarize the principal conclusions of the most recent research on the psychosocial impact of infertility. This discussion serves as the starting point for a clinical exposition centred on the following themes: the phenomenology of the psychosocial disorders associated wit h infertility, the importance of diagnosis in a psychosocial consultat ion on infertility and the various types of intervention which the psy chologist can engage in to prevent or treat the psychosocial impact of infertility.