Course overview:
Menopause can lead to an increase in anxiety and low mood, at a time when you may feel at a loss or notice change in identity.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) as a treatment option for anxiety and low mood during menopause.
This course is aimed at people experiencing low mood or anxiety relating to their menopause symptoms. People may access the group at differing times in their menopause journey, and this can range from perimenopause, menopause or post menopause.
Course objectives:
The course will offer a space to be with people going through a similar experience. The course is delivered by CBT therapists, and you will have to opportunity to gather tools and techniques to help you with low mood and anxiety relating to your menopause symptoms.
What does the course cover?
In the first session, we will ease you into the group setting where you’ll explore your menopause symptoms and triggers, think about your goals for attending and look at how CBT can help and you will be introduced to relaxation techniques.
The second session will focus on stress management strategies with further relaxation techniques and understanding the differences between stress and anxiety.
The third session will look into the cognitive components of menopause such as thoughts, beliefs and worry; providing tools and techniques to make tweaks and changes to how you view and manage menopause symptoms.
The fourth session will focus on sleep hygiene, which will include strategies for improving sleep, managing night sweats and other symptoms that may impact a good night’s sleep.
The fifth session continues with sleep hygiene and night sweats. This is covered over two weeks as poor sleep can impact so many areas of day-to-day functioning.
In the final session wraps up the course with an overview of all the tools and techniques gathered over the previous five weeks. The final session is also personalised to any particular topics that may have come up for each group.
After the course, you’ll receive a one-to-one follow-up call to check in, receive feedback on the course, answer any questions you may have and discuss what next steps are appropriate to continue your progress and development.
What to expect?
This is a face-to-face course run over 6 weeks for 90 minutes each week. It is small group sessions at Thurrock Health Centre or Corringham Integrated Medical and Wellbeing Centre, which helps keep it private and comfortable.
Although sessions are conducted in a group setting, it’s not traditional group therapy. Each session includes group discussions, practical activities, and tasks to try between sessions. The course creates a comfortable and private environment for learning, where you can feel at ease while gaining new skills.
Next steps
After referring to the service through a self-referral or through your GP, you will have a gateway assessment, which will determine what therapy options are appropriate. It is important you are able to access the full 6-week programme and dates will be discussed with you at assessment. Attending this group is subject to appropriateness and availability that can be discussed at the assessment.