Menopause: identification and management

Access to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

In addition to, or as a preferred option to other treatment including HRT, the guideline includes offering CBT as a management option for vasomotor symptoms, sleep problems or depressive symptoms associated with menopause. NICE understands that there may be long waiting times for CBT, and that people currently trained in CBT may not be familiar with menopause-specific CBT. We have highlighted the following support which may help address the challenges.

Support outside of NICE

• The BMS run a course that provides an introduction to group cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for menopause symptoms. It is designed for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals (for example, psychologists and registered counsellors) who work regularly in the field of women’s health, in either primary or secondary care.
• If healthcare professionals are unable to attend a menopause CBT course, they or their organisation can buy a book called Managing Hot Flushes and Night Sweats with Group CBT: An evidence-based treatment manual for health professionals. This is an evidenced based manual, written by the academic researchers who ran the randomised controlled trials of the MENOS CBT intervention, that equips health professionals with the knowledge, skills and materials to run groups to help women to manage menopausal symptoms.
• If 1-to-1 or group menopause CBT is unavailable locally, either face-to-face or online, a self-help book also written by the academic researchers who ran the randomised controlled trials of the MENOS CBT intervention can be bought. It is called Living Well Through the Menopause: a self-help guide using cognitive behavioural therapy.

Note that external websites and resources have not been produced by NICE. NICE has not made any judgement about the methodology, quality or usability of the websites or resources.