Simona Stokes is an experienced counselling psychologist who uses CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) to help people with stress, depression and anxiety. After 20 years working in the NHS and voluntary sector, she then founded her own clinic in Birmingham, and has developed an interest and specialist knowledge in helping women with the emotional and psychological challenges of the peri/menopause. Simona’s personal experience of hormonal changes hit her hard and this led her to develop and successfully implement the psychological tools she had at her disposal to support her own journey and made her realise many women need help to understand the impact their hormones have on their moods, thoughts and emotions.
In discussion with Dr Louise Newson, Simona explains the power of estrogen as our primary fuel and the problems that can arise when estrogen falls. She explains the difference in perimenopausal depression compared to general depression, what CBT is and how it can help women at this time of life that can often be a pinch-point on our emotions. Simona advises how to look after yourself and your emotions and elaborates on why so many women feel a sense of loss of one’s role, of identity, and loss of purpose at this time.
Simona’s advice for women experiencing emotional challenges:
Simona’s clinic and website details can be found here.
The ‘Meno D’ rating scale to detect depression that Simona refers to can be found here.
If you would like to access psychological therapies via the NHS explore your options here.
You can find Simona on her social media pages a:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/menopausecbtclinic/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ThrivingBeyond40
218 - Tamsen Fadal: Speaking out about the menopause
217 - Menopause and the brain: why we need to bridge the gender gap in research
216 - All about progesterone: PMS, PMDD, postnatal depression and menopause
215 - More than ‘a little vaginal dryness’: how vaginal hormones can transform lives
214 - Dry eyes and menopause: what’s the link?
213 - Lorraine Candy: how to make your midlife magnificent
212 - How to thrive at work during the menopause
211 - Melasma: keeping hyperpigmentation at bay in the summer
210 - What is the right dose of HRT for you? Hormones and premature ovarian insufficiency
209 - Learning disabilities and the menopause
208 - Ultra-processed food unwrapped with Henry Dimbleby
207 - Managing menopause while living with physical disabilities
206 - Utrogestan supply issues: what it means and alternatives available
205 - Author Joanne Harris: ending the invisibility of menopausal women
204 - Hormonal changes and mental health: maternal mental health awareness
203 - Nursing and the menopause: International Nurses Day special episode
202 - What does the future hold for menopause and HRT? With menopause activist Kate Muir
201 - More than skin deep: menopause, skin and HRT doses with Dr Andrew Weber
200 - Osteoporosis: how to protect your bones during menopause and beyond
199 - Rosacea and menopause: what’s the link?
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