Managing Hot Flushes with Group Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

"I was so exhausted with the menopause that I started taking more and more days off work. After I took part in the Group CBT I had fewer night sweats, my sleep was less disturbed and I began to have more energy. One of the most helpful things was learning about the physiology of the flushes, and realising I wasn't having some sort of psychological problem but something everyone experiences. Now I'm back at work and if I have a flush I breathe through it and tell myself it will pass. It's just not a problem any more. I think CBT should be free on the NHS." - Lynne, who attended the Group CBT programme.

"Myra Hunter has dedicated her career to working in women's health and, with Melanie Smith, has spent many years developing and testing the efficacy of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) as an intervention to help women during midlife. They have gained considerable knowledge and expertise in this area, identifying what women find helpful and honing the intervention. They have delivered courses to many groups of women who have benefited from this approach to menopause management and have now pooled this expertise into a manual for other health professionals." From the Foreword - Dr Deborah Fenlon, Senior Lecturer, University of Southampton, Clinical Advisor for Breast Cancer Care and Chair of the National Cancer Research Institute Clinical Studies Group for breast cancer working party on symptom management (vasomotor).

"I was so exhausted with the menopause that I started taking more and more days off work. After I took part in the Group CBT I had fewer night sweats, my sleep was less disturbed and I began to have more energy. One of the most helpful things was learning about the physiology of the flushes, and realising I wasn't having some sort of psychological problem but something everyone experiences. Now I'm back at work and if I have a flush I breathe through it and tell myself it will pass. It's just not a problem any more. I think CBT should be free on the NHS." - Lynne, who attended the Group CBT programme

"Myra Hunter has dedicated her career to working in women's health and, with Melanie Smith, has spent many years developing and testing the efficacy of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) as an intervention to help women during midlife. They have gained considerable knowledge and expertise in this area, identifying what women find helpful and honing the intervention. They have delivered courses to many groups of women who have benefited from this approach to menopause management and have now pooled this expertise into a manual for other health professionals." From the Foreword - Dr Deborah Fenlon, Senior Lecturer, University of Southampton, Clinical Advisor for Breast Cancer Care and Chair of the National Cancer Research Institute Clinical Studies Group for breast cancer working party on symptom management (vasomotor).