Okay I will try to remain calm as I respond to this post but I am pre-menstrual so cant promise! As a counsellor I am soooo fed up with being bombarded everywhere i go that CBT is the cure-all for every human condition out there. I have clients who have come to me saying that they have heard of CBT and would this help them? I am not a qualified CBT therapist by any means but I have over ten years experience of developing and faciitating CBT groups in the mental health project that i worked in so I can usually offer clients lots of what I know in terms of techniques. However what helps and what helps people in groups is knowing that they are not alone and that what they are experiencing is ok - hope, reassurance and encouragement is usually what most people respond to. CBT is great for certain conditions and certain types of people, however it requires a great amount of work - mostly in the form of keeping diaries, setting goals, catching your thoughts, recording your thoughts and then challenging your thoughts. There is also a requirement for people look at their behaviour in CBT, record it and also to challenge it but setting yourself small goals. This work requires a lot of energy and a lot of people by the time they get to asking for help are burnt out and at the end of their tether and do not have the energy to put into CBT. I am sick of people being told that 'if only they could change their thinking' they would feel so much better - in some ways i see the truth in that but at certain times in a month that almost feels impossible to do - we women carry enough guilt that we don't need to be thinking that this is our fault either - grrrr!!!
I was surprised to see that most of the studies that Emma put up were carried out by women - i wonder if they will use CBT when they are going through the menopause? Mind you it would have been worse if the study had been carried out by men. I also noticed that the studies I think (and I only scanned them) were carried out over a 9 week period - most women noted an improvement in their symptoms - well I am sorry but if you had asked me last week how I was I would have noted an improvement in my symptoms however this week I am back to being a loon again. In my opinion 9 weeks is not long enough to assess anyone's recovery!
Sorry rant over - I could go on but wont - I need to get ready to see a client at 5 pm. What i think helps most people is information. HRT, exercise, diet, rest, acceptance, challenging, good friends, small steps, being kind to yourself, betablockers, AD's, counselling, CBT either one to one or group form - I don't think any one thing should be pushed as the bee all and end all for coping with the menopause! xxx
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Topic: Tell us how you have coped with FLUSHES (Read 728750 times)