Perimenopausal Psychology
There is one thing that ALL women will experience, should we be fortunate to live long enough. Peri/menopause. Our lives might be quite different in many ways, but this transition of midlife is common to us all.
You've probably heard of it but thought it's only relevant to 'old' women. And while you feel 100 years old sometimes, you aren't old! But the reality is that if you're in your early to mid 40's through to your mid-50's, this conversation is relevant to you.
Now most people have heard of menopause. But did you know that it is a single day? It is 1-day after the 1-year anniversary of your last period. Yep. Just a day. After that day, you're post-menopausal.
Before that 1-year anniversary, women experience perimenopause.
For some it's a fleeting blip in their lives that is so brief, it's not even noticed. These lucky ladies make up about 20% of the perimenopausal population.
The rest of us, yep 80% of us, experience quite a degree of challenge. And those challenges can be physical, psychological and emotional. Because of that they can (and do) impact all aspects of our lives. And these symptoms can last 5-10 years!
What are the signs/symptoms of peri/menopause?
The signs of perimenopause begin in the early to mid 40's and include;
It's important to mention that some women experience perimenopause way earlier than the average. Often this is because their body just decided to do that or due to surgical or medical menopause. These reasons add a unique dimension to the experience of menopause and understandably, they can also make it far more difficult.
Would you like to know more about Perimenopause Psychology?
Please complete our new enquiry form and we will contact you to make booking arrangements.
How can a peri/menopause psychologist help?
Let me begin by encouraging you to speak with your GP or a menopause specialist about the options available to you, to help manage your symptoms. They can make a noticeable difference. But there are many women who, despite medication, continue to experience the physical symptoms as well as low mood, high anxiety, irritability, overwhelm, brain fog and/or a general sense of unrest and unease during this period of time. If this is your experience, you may benefit from seeing a peri/menopause psychologist.
You may wonder how a psychologist can help during this time. In addition to providing you with tools to help manage the physical symptoms of perimenopause, psychologists can help you with your mood, anxiety and irritability. We can also help if you're 'just not feeling like yourself', are feeling confused and 'all over the place'. We'll work with you to help you make sense of, adjust to, support, honour and manage, the changes this transition is bringing. Doing so often leads to conversations about identity, roles/responsibilities, boundaries, self-care (not just massages), values and ultimately how you want to show up in the world and how you want to live your life. We will share evidence-based frameworks and techniques throughout the process.
Here at Perth Psychology Collective, we are proud to have a number of experienced perimenopause psychologists on our team. Our aim is to provide state of the art care that is compassionate, unique to you and focused on guiding you towards health and wellbeing during this period of transition.
