Helen Rockliff currently lives in Bristol and has just completed a research doctorate exploring stress and emotion during in vitro fertilisation treatment. Helen read medical sciences at the University of Birmingham, where an opportunity to specialise in neuropharmacology sparked her fascination with how the brain works, from molecular interactions to social behaviour. Following graduation in 2003, she pursued this interest working for a Mental Health Care Team in Derbyshire. This opportunity gave her a broad working knowledge of hospital and home based psychiatric treatment in the UK. However many questions about the causes of mental illness remained answered. Seeking a more complete understanding she joined the Mental Health Research Unit (MHRU) in Derby, where she learned about theories of depression, focusing on the role of self-criticism in its development, and compassion in its prevention and cure. She then specialized in researching biological responses to compassionate emotions, aided by the pursuit of a masters degree in neuroimaging (FMRI scanning) at Aston University. After looking into the effects of oxytocin on peoples’ responses to receiving compassion at Southampton University, Helen moved to Bristol, where she is currently exploring the emotional challenges of infertility and the impact of psychological stress on in vitro fertilisation success rates.