My menopause experience made me want to help other women
Nov 03, 2022Beverley Peters is a beauty and massage therapist who works with men and women of all ages. Following her own experiences with menopause, she chose to pursue Jennifer Young's Diploma in Hormonal Wellness and Hormone Balancing Touch Therapies, so she can support other women on their menopause journey.
What do you do and why did you want to train in Hormonal Wellness Balancing therapies?
I am a beauty and massage therapist working with lots of different women across lots of different ages. I found I was increasingly talking about the menopause with lots of client and I had my own menopause myself around 49/50, lots of physical changes and in my moods. I didn't know where to go. I went to my GP and was basically told to go and look at a website and I felt that wasn't very helpful and I went on my own journey. I tried lots of different remedies and exercises, spoke to a lot of people and after about two years I found what worked for me.
What did work for you?
I eventually went onto HRT. I tried everything - homeopathy, started yoga, stopped drinking caffeine, I did CBD and that did make a difference to my hot flushes and night sweats but not a massive difference. I was always fighting against the HRT, I wanted to do it naturally but for me it wasn't the way.
What made you want to do the Jennifer Young hormonal balance training?
HRT was right for me. However, I know lots of people who don't want to go on HRT or can't and I wanted to do something to help other women. I also wanted to help men understand what women are going through - I know my husband has been through the mill. Then I saw Jennifer's course advertised and it really flicked a switch - it was something I felt I really needed to do.
Which training have you done so far?
I have done the mentoring and coaching qualification and I am just now doing the practical for the NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) because I thought that would be good alongside the mentoring and coaching. I have also just signed up to Jennifer's touch therapies for hormonal balance.
How did you find the mentoring and coaching qualification?
I found it really interesting and I think it's going to allow me to talk with my clients, as well as friends, helping me to pose questions so I can better understand what they're going through. I think it will help them understand better too. The course has really opened my mind to how to ask questions to get the most informative answers about what's going on.
Hormone Balancing Facial Treatment
Match menopause symptoms with acupressure points
£795
Did it surprise you at all?
Yes - by asking a simple question but in the right way you can delve deeper into what's going on. That way you can help someone find ways to move forward in their result and get to where they want to be.
I have just started the theory for the touch therapy and I am really looking forward to working on the acupressure points. I have worked with acupressure before in treatments but this is specific to hormone related issues, so I'm really looking forward to that. What I want to do at the end is put all the training together and combine the mentoring and the touch treatments to help people move forward.
What do you want to do with it?
As I'm getting older and I have experienced menopause, I feel passionate about it. I want to help other people navigate the minefield that is the menopause.
Do you feel the information that's out there is helpful?
I think initially there didn't seem to be much out there. I was speaking to other women and piecing it together. I think there's more information now, but I think it's maybe there's so much about HRT that women think they have to be on that and feel pressure. A lot of people I speak to still don't know where to go.
Do you think people still feel there's a lack of non-medical options?
I think a lot of women have been put on antidepressants straight away. If you're depressed that's all well and good, but there's a lot of women who aren't depressed, they're just feeling low. Then on the other side I think people just don't know where to look.
Do you think your knowledge as a therapist helped you to know you could explore a bit?
Yes. I'm quite open minded with that because of my profession. I think a lot of people are quite closed off and think a plant or holistic therapies can't help.
Do you think women feel a lack of confidence pushing back if they don't want to go on HRT?
A lot of women are a bit reluctant to go on HRT because of information from the past, but then they're not dealing with it in another way either - they're just really stuck. I think that's more what I've found. Sometimes I think they go on it and it's not the right HRT so they come off and don't try a different type. They're just existing with all these symptoms.
What have been your most prevalent symptoms?
For me it was the heat. I was having one or two hot flushes an hour and then six or seven at night. I wasn't sleeping, so I was exhausted. I had it in the pandemic so I wasn't at work, which perhaps made it easier to deal with. I was red like a tomato and I was a bit anxious, very short, very ratty, especially with my husband and son. I did speak to them and explain that it wasn't them, it was something that was happening to me. My son is now 25 and one thing I found really sweet was when he came to me after I started taking CBD tablets and there was a bit of a difference. He asked what it was because his friend's mum was going through it and he wanted to recommend it. I thought we're making progress here as a society, aren't we?
Hormone Balancing Body Treatment
Bring maximum benefit to your clients
£795
Did it creep up on you or did you know what it was?
It started creeping up on me but then when the heat got worse I realised it was something more. I work with a lot of women a similar age to me and we would start exchanging stories. One of the first clients I spoke to had been to a homeopathist so that's where I started. She recommended yoga too and bringing my caffeine intake down - I still do those things and I think they help. I think a lot of people think taking HRT will fix everything but you have to have other things as well - your nutrition, your exercise - it’s also part of your overall wellbeing.
Do you find your clients want to talk about menopause?
Absolutely. It's a much more open topic now - with my clients, my friends and also our husbands as we have really included them. I think they need to understand because a lot of men don't know what's going on. It's important they know it’s not because you hate them - that communication diffuses the situation because these things do affect marriages.
It's like a Pandora's box with clients, once it's open, everything comes out and it's really nice they feel they can offload. It helps people to start understanding what's going on and learning to live with it. We have to learn to live with it and then find what works for us. Then you grow into that person and all the wonderful things that come from that too.
Diploma in Hormonal Wellness Mentoring & Coaching
Support clients through hormonal change mentally as well as physically
From £875
