Hot Flushes & How to Manage Them with Dr Melanie Smith, Clinical Health Psychologist - S3. Ep 8.

The Happy Menopause

Probably the most well-known of the menopausal symptoms, the hot flush has provided endless material for humourists over the years but it’s no fun when it’s happening to you. It can cause huge distress, especially in a professional or social situation or if it’s persistently disrupting your sleep. But help is at hand in this episode with this month’s guest who is just the woman we need to provide us with some practical flush-busting strategies.

I’m delighted to introduce the brilliant Dr Melanie Smith – she’s a clinical health psychologist who played a key role, along with Professor Myra Hunter, in developing and facilitating the first cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT as it’s often known, for menopause groups as part of an innovative research trial. This research demonstrates that CBT is a valid and effective non-medical approach to managing menopause symptoms and Melanie is here today to explain to us what a huge difference it can make to dealing with hot flushes.

We discuss what hot flushes are and why they happen. Melanie explains what CBT is and why a psychological approach can help to tackle something that seems to be such a physical problem. We explore the role of stress in triggering and exacerbating hot flushes and Melanie shares some practical strategies to help you combat them.

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Check out the full Show Notes for this episode on my website www.well-well-well.co.uk/podcast, where you'll find all the relevant links and references for each guest.
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Learn how to build your own menopause diet to manage your symptoms with my latest book The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish.