With the easing of restrictions in Melbourne we are seeing a gradual return to face to face counselling for some of our locally based clients. Others are happy to remain on the Zoom online video platform for convenience, or because it’s their best option if they live far from the centre. Last week we had two new referrals for post abortion counselling from interstate, one a remote rural area. For these women, the online option is a lifeline.

The enquiries for couples counselling continue almost daily. The pressures of this COVID-19 year seem to have really pushed to the fore those issues which are habitually tucked away within many couples’ relationships.

Stage 4 restrictions in Melbourne have prevented us from seeing any face to face clients for some weeks now but our staff and volunteers are still working hard on the phone and online to provide the best possible outcomes for all who contact us for help. Most weeks we average 8-10 new clients. Occasionally we will refer a client on to a different service for help with a specific issue, otherwise a counsellor is assigned the same day.

We continue to respond to many requests for couples counselling, some involving pregnancy and/or pregnancy loss, but all showing how vulnerable relationships and families can become when external stresses increase. Whatever we can do to strengthen a couple’s ability to communicate well and better care for each other is going to flow into benefits for pregnancy decisions, children’s welfare and society in general down the track.

In November this year Open Doors will turn 36. What has changed over this time and what has stayed the same about what we do?

The biggest change we have seen has been the shrinking window of opportunity to reach out to a woman who is unexpectedly pregnant and thinking about abortion. No longer does she come to us for a free pregnancy test and counselling, as was the norm up until the early 2000s. Now she does her own test at home and then, with a couple of clicks on her phone, she is able to book in for an abortion, even obtain a same day appointment.

None of us could have expected the way in which this year has unfolded! COVID 19 threw a massive curve ball into everyone’s plans, causing disruption to our day to day routines, sometimes fear and anxiety, and uncertainty about what the future might look like. We wonder, will life ever be quite the same?

In a way, this is how an unplanned pregnancy can seem to a woman or couple who are shaken by the news.  Plans are suddenly up in the air. The future seems uncertain. There may be fear and anxiety about how they will manage. Will life ever be the same?

Open Doors Annual Report for the year 2019