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CBT for Menopausal Symptoms

4-week course for developing skills to better manage hot flushes and night sweats

Course overview:

CBT for Menopausal Symptoms is a course designed for women who are currently experiencing hot flushes and night sweats. This course is intended to explore and enable clients to adapt thoughts and behaviours to reduce problematic symptoms using research-based skills.

For many women, the onset of menopause is accompanied by hot flushes and night sweats. In addition, we may be experiencing significant changes in our lives around aging, family set-up and relationships. All of this can be stressful and contribute to feelings of low mood, anxiety, and poor sleep. This course will support you in exploring those physical and mental challenges and creating and working through personalised goals for improved wellbeing.

This programme aims to:

  • Provide information and strategies to help you to deal with hot flushes and night sweats

  • Use relaxation and paced breathing to reduce stress and deal with hot flushes

  • Reduce hot flush triggers and their impact

  • Help you to deal with night sweats and sleep problems

  • Set individual goals

  • Provide a supportive setting where you can learn from each other

“As regards to the menopause, it turned my feelings around completely. I was depressed. I was fed-up. I couldn’t cope. The hot flushes were driving me to absolute distraction. And now I feel back in control of my life. That’s the difference it has made. ”
— Jean, participant from the courses research groups

During the 4-weeks, we will cover the following: your experience of menopausal symptoms, the physiology of hot flushes, the role of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, identifying what brings the symptoms on and makes them worse, relaxation and paced breathing, stress management, setting individual goals, relationships and social settings, managing night sweats and sleep, and how to maintain changes.

Course format:

CBT for Menopausal symptoms is delivered over 4 weeks consisting of weekly 2-hour group sessions. The course is hosted by our Recovery Practitioner staff who will guide attendees through presentations and skill-based learning. Each session will include elements of group discussion and will allow time for sharing and supporting each other. In order to experience the full benefits of this course, there is an expectation that you practice the skills we cover each week at home.

We are currently piloting this accredited course for free and will be actively seeking feedback from attendees to establish if further content is needed. Registration and a pre-assessment appointment to explore suitability are required to join. Please check the FAQ section below for more information about whether the course might be suitable for your current needs.

This course was researched and developed by Myra Hunter and Melanie Smith from Kings College, London. The Recovery Practitioners delivering this course have been trained by the British Menopause Society.

 
 

Details:

Dates: Tuesday 17 September — 8 October 2024

Times: 10:00am — 12 noon

Location: Ernest English House, Buckwell Street, Plymouth PL1 2DA (map)

 
“The hot sweats vary during the day, they come and go, but they haven’t changed. It’s just coping with them that has become easier.”
— Alice, participant from the courses research groups and self-help
 

Register for this course:

Please complete the form below to register for our 4-week course and a member of the team will be in touch to arrange your pre-assessment appointment.

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Frequently asked questions:

Check out the answers to some common questions below. If you want to ask something else, please contact us.

  • Cognitive behaviour therapy is a brief, non-medical approach that can be helpful for a range of health problems, including anxiety and stress, depressed mood, hot flushes and night sweats, sleep problems and fatigue. CBT helps people to develop practical ways of managing problems and provides new coping skills and useful strategies. For this reason, it can be a helpful approach to try because the skills can be applied to different problems, and can improve wellbeing in general.

  • No. This course is specifically designed for those experiencing hot flushes and night sweats. It is not appropriate for training or CPD purposes.

  • The pre-assessment appointment is an informal chat lasting around 15-20 minutes to explore your personal experience of menopause symptoms. We will also ask you about your current mental health to ensure that this is the right time for you to engage with this course.

  • Attendance can vary, but to keep everyone comfortable we aim for a group size of up to 10. At times this may be slightly less or more dependent on various factors, including room size, available facilitators, and demand for the course.

  • Anyone in Devon who is experiencing peri-menopausal or menopausal symptoms at any age is welcome to register for the course.

  • Yes, all locations we use for our courses are accessible for wheelchair users. Please indicate on your registration form if you require wheelchair access so that we can ensure we make your arrival as easy as possible.

  • This course is currently being piloted and we hope to add future dates for this course later in the year.