Therapist Resources
Assessments, interventions, handouts, and links for the support of therapists working with clients navigating the menopause experience.
Assessments
Is it menopause, or just me? A list of the big, weird, silent, and quality of life impacting symptoms that may be experienced in the menopause journey.
Menopause symptom impact assessment. Rating the severity of impact on the clients’ physical, psychological and vasomotor symptoms of menopause.
Ground yourself. Practice these simple grounding techniques to help reduce anxiety, worry, sleeplessness, irritability, and mood dysregulation. Bring yourself back to the here and now.
Help your client meet themselves. Introductory exercise to work through with client in and outside of therapy. Help them Discover who you they are today, allowing the therapeutic work to explore the clients’ authentic and fulfilling path.
Menopause symptom severity. Rating of the severity of symptoms experienced in menopause.
Identify areas of impacted sexual functioning. Assessment of psychological and physiological arousal symptoms in women.
Let Go. Practice this simple mindfulness technique to help reduce anxious or racing thoughts, dread, worry or sadness. Learn to control what you can, and accept the purpose & journey of menopause without resistance.
Help your clients reconnect physically. This exercise for couples can bridge obstacles to satisfying sexual intimacy, allowing partners to eliminate expectations of performance and reconnect on sensual and sexual touch that feels good to both.
Hot flashes management. When clients are unable or don’t want medical treatment like hormone therapy for hot flashes, CBT has shown efficacy in reducing frequency and duration of VSM symptoms.
Take the temperature of the relationship. This short scale scores the level of relationship satisfaction, revealing areas of support and connection, and areas that might need some attention.
Identify sleep experiences and deficits. A quick assessment of the quality of sleep, including assessment for insomnia, level of restfulness, and potential impacts of disrupted sleep.
Mindfulness Practice
Relax. Practice this whole-body technique to deepen the relaxation possible in your body by working with stress and resistance. Meet your body where it’s at, and lean in to induce a more relaxed state, and reduce anxiety, racing thoughts, and vasomotor symptoms.
Process & Growth
Expand yourself. It’s never to late to learn. Use this expansive emotions wheel to better identify and discover the depth and range of your emotional experiences. Challenge yourself to look at it daily and find an emotion you felt, or use it to better express yourself.
Suggested Resources
North American Menopause Society - an excellent resource for clinicians and clients, with the most up to date research on menopause, treatment, and resources.
Local Menopause Provider Directory - search your location for Menopause Certified Healthcare Professionals
The New Menopause, Dr. Mary Claire Haver, MD - the current go-to book on all things menopause for clients and clinicians. With current sources, Dr. Haver debunks the old fears and misunderstandings on menopause and treatment. Her book is accessible, and an excellent resource to suggest to clients wanting to learn more about their experience without having to read medical journals.
Set Boundaries, Find Peace, Nedra Glover Tawwab - the menopause experience is frequently intersected with big transitions in life (caring for aging parents, launching children, renegotiating goals and connection in relationships, reevaluation of career and goals for the next chapter), which can have many clients facing the distress of identifying and communicating their wants and needs in the important areas of their lives. Ms. Tawwab provides clients with education on the importance of boundaries, what they are, and how to set them with family, friends, work and self, with plain language readers can use to communicate. Her second book, Drama Free, is also highly recommended, expanding the focus of familial relationships and boundaries.
Come As You Are, Dr. Emily Nagoski, PhD- a comprehensive book accessible for clinicians and clients, providing psychoeducation and real strategies to understand sexual desire and responsiveness, particularly when libidos may be mismatched in the couple. Excellent book for eliminating the shame of low desire or misaligned sexual needs in partnerships, and redirecting sexual intimacy back to where it really lives: in the brain.
Hold Me Tight, Dr. Sue Johnson - Dr. Johnson’s (the founder of Emotionally Focused Therapy) book written for the people explores attachment styles and relational patterns in plain language accessible to everyone, while also offering education and practical exercises to learn to connect more deeply, building trust, safety, vulnerability and connection in partnerships. Her book also includes a quiz for readers to take to discover their attachment style.
Links
Books
Get In Touch
Have more questions? Looking for more training? Please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Olivia Wright, LMFT
Founder, Menopause-Informed Therapy
Owner, Magnolia Therapy & Wellness
Email: olivia@magnoliatherapyservices.org
Text/Call: (916) 342-0178
Available for trainings and educational seminars across the country, as well as private individual and couples therapy in person, or virtually throughout California.