1-1 Therapy for support with midlife symptoms and experiences.
Midlife can be a profound biological, psychological and social transition for women.
Perimenopause and menopause can bring significant physical and hormonal changes, but they rarely happen in isolation. For many women, this stage of life also coincides with raising children, demanding careers, changes in relationships, supporting ageing parents and questions about identity and what comes next.
It’s understandable that, when so many things are changing at once, you may begin to feel unlike yourself.
You might find yourself wondering:
“I don’t feel like myself anymore.”
“What is happening to me?”
“Is this menopause, anxiety, depression, stress — or all of these?”
You may notice changes in your mood, anxiety, sleep, confidence, motivation or relationships. Perhaps the ways you have coped with life in the past no longer seem to work in quite the same way. You may also be dealing with physical symptoms such as hot flushes, fatigue, genitourinary symptoms or changes in memory and concentration, which can have a significant impact on how you feel day to day.
As part of The Nurture Initiative, our clinical psychologist offers specialist psychological support for women navigating the emotional and psychological challenges of midlife, including those associated with perimenopause and menopause.
Dr Catherine Eekelaar is a clinical psychologist with 15 years of post-qualification experience. She is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and a Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society (BPS).
Catherine’s approach is grounded in evidence-based psychological therapies, drawing particularly on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT). Support is tailored to each woman’s individual circumstances, needs and goals rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach.
There is a growing evidence base for approaches such as ACT in supporting psychological wellbeing during the menopause transition, including areas such as mood, wellbeing and sleep. Research has found improvements in areas including mood, psychological wellbeing and sleep in menopausal women (eg. Monfaredi et al., 2022).
Menopause is not something that needs to be “fixed”. It is a significant life transition — one that can be approached with greater understanding, awareness and self-compassion.
Psychological support can provide a space to make sense of what you are experiencing, understand the relationship between your thoughts, emotions and physical experiences, and explore how you want to move forward.
Together, the focus is on developing greater psychological flexibility — learning to make space for difficult thoughts, feelings and physical experiences while continuing to take meaningful, intentional steps towards the people, activities and values that matter most to you.
You don't have to navigate this chapter alone.