Working with the Menstrual Cycle in Psychotherapy
NOW CLOSED
Saturday 14 January 2023
A Live Webinar with Dr Margaret Altemus, Letticia Banton, Danielle Redland and Jane Catherine Severn
CE Credits: 4 hours
- Includes a subtitled recording of the event and a transcript, with access for a year (14 days post the event)
- Bookings close at 4:00am EDT Wednesday 11 January
The menstrual cycle is an integral part of many women’s daily lived experience for around three decades of their life. Each month female hormonal fluctuations result in a range of physiological, physical, and psychological changes that can impact a woman’s identity in a profound way, at bio-psycho-social and spiritual levels of experience.
READ MORE...Yet in 2022, many people don’t openly discuss the menstrual cycle in western mainstream culture, and it carries a lingering shadow of shame.
The menstrual cycle has been overlooked and this is most evident in psychotherapeutic theory, research, and training. However, with the rise of the ‘period power’ movement, a new feminist discourse around menstruation is opening outside the therapy room. As psychotherapists, how can we more openly, sensitively, and insightfully dialogue about it inside the therapy room with our clients?
In this conference, we will take a multidisciplinary view to better understand the place of the menstrual cycle in women’s lives. We will hear from a range of speakers from across the globe offering biopsychology, psychoanalytical and humanistic therapy perspectives. While the content will primarily be about women’s experience, we recognise not all women have periods and not all people who have periods identify as women. We intend this to be an inclusive event that recognises subjectivity. We welcome women, men, and gender non-conforming therapists to join us to learn more about how the menstrual cycle may impact clients of all genders in a variety of ways.
We will close with a panel discussion taking a pragmatic lens, to ensure you leave with some ideas of how you can incorporate working with the menstrual cycle in your therapeutic practice.
FULL PROGRAMME
09.00 EST
Introductions
09.05
Letticia Banton
Contextual Lens
From wandering womb to raging hormones: the impact of history on why psychotherapy is so silent on the menstrual cycle
09.20
Dr Margaret Altemus
Menstrual Cycle Hormones and Mental Health
The menstrual cycle enables ovulation and conception through a sequence of hormonal changes. The hormonal fluxes across the menstrual cycle are associated with physical and psychological symptoms in most women which are mild and do not impair functioning. However, some women experience disabling symptoms, with approximately 5% meeting diagnostic criteria for premenstrual dysphoric disorder. For women with psychiatric disorders, symptoms are often exacerbated premenstrually. The menstrual cycle can be disrupted by food restriction, excessive exercise, and hormonal disorders including polycystic ovary syndrome and hyperandrogenism. The effect of mood disorders and stress on the menstrual cycle is less robust. Several treatment strategies have been identified for premenstrual psychological symptoms. However, the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying premenstrual symptoms are unclear and more research is needed to develop more targeted treatments.
10.10
Q&A
10.25
Break
10.45
Danielle Redland
Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Menstruation and Secondary Amenorrhea
Whatever a patient’s sex or gender, recollections and experiences of menstruation and secondary amenorrhea in a therapy can inform us of how they view themselves and the world around them. Stories of menarche often infer sadistic tendencies from the mother and seek room for expression. Narratives of irregular or absent periods can signify a lived or inherited abuse, trauma, or neglect. Menstruation is a key feature of identity, expressing a continuation and solidarity, sometimes rejected by the individual, as seen in anorexia. We should be curious about a patient’s periodicity and when appropriate enquire of it in the first consultation just as we would any other reality.
11.15
Q&A
11.30
Break
11.45
Jane Catherine Severn
Femenome: A cycle-logical approach to therapy with women
Inside every woman who comes to us, something essential, eloquent and profound is asking to be heard – something to which we psychotherapists have traditionally paid little attention. At best our unawareness limits the help we can offer. At worst it may mean we are unwittingly working against our clients’ innate growth catalysts. This presentation offers a radical re-cognition of the female psyche-logical design – a comprehensive model and freshly minted lexicon of the menstrual cycle within the overall psychospiritual Self-developmental sequence of menarche, menstrual cycle years, menopause and mature life – as a compellingly relevant diagnostic and remedial tool for therapy with women.
12.30
Q&A
12.45
Panel Session with Q&A
Thinking about how to integrate the menstrual cycle in therapeutic practice
13.30
End
FEES (USD)
Bookings close at 4:00am EDT Wednesday 11 January
Live Webinar:
$110 (Member $55)
(Click here to become a member)
Includes a recording of the event.
CE
This event is accredited by:
- NBCC
Certificates of attendance for 4 hours will be provided.
To receive the full CE credits, you are required to attend 100% of the live event. No partial credit will be given.
This event is NOT accredited by the following organisations:
- ASWB
- NYSED (Psychology)
- NYSED (Psychoanalysis)
- NYSED (Social Workers)
Please note that if you are unable to attend all of the live event, you will need to undertake our event specific test in order to receive the CE certification. This will be made available soon after the live event has taken place.
Please contact events@conferonline.org for any further questions.
Confer has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7136. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Confer is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
VENUE
This is a live online webinar using Zoom software. Zoom is free to download and use.
For more information about Zoom click here.
To download Zoom free of charge click here.
For special accommodations for individuals with disabilities see our FAQs.
SCHEDULE
Saturday
09.00 EST Introductions
09.05 Letticia Banton
09.20 Dr Margaret Altemus
10.10 Q&A
10.25 Break
10.45 Danielle Redland
11.15 Q&A
11.30 Break
11.45 Jane Catherine Severn
12.30 Q&A
12.45 Panel Session with Q&A
13.30 End
CONTENT LEVEL
- Intermediate
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Develop a multidisciplinary understanding of the place of the menstrual cycle in psychotherapy
- Integrate biopsychology, psychoanalytical and humanistic therapy perspectives
- Describe the hormonal changes of the normal menstrual cycle and how they relate to uterine tissue changes and ovulation.
- Describe the effects of typical menstrual cycle hormone changes on mood in healthy women and women with psychiatric disorders
- Identify common etiologies of disrupted menstrual cycle function including food restriction, excessive exercise, polycystic ovary syndrome, and hyperandrogenism.
TARGET
AUDIENCE
- Psychologists
- Counselors
- Social Workers
- Psychotherapists
- Addiction Professionals
- Marriage and Family Therapists
- Psychiatrists
- Other related mental health professions.
BOOKING CONDITIONS
Regrettably, refunds cannot be given in any circumstances except as follows:
- You cancel in writing to info@conferonline.org 60 days before the first date of the event you have booked, in which case you will be entitled to a 100% refund.
- You cancel in writing to info@conferonline.org 30 days before the first date of the event you have booked, in which case you will be entitled to a 50% refund.
This does not apply to parts of an event such as a seminar within a series but only to a whole event or complete series. You may give your place to another person if you let us know that person's name at least 24 hours before the event begins.
We reserve the right to change a speaker at one of our conferences without offering a refund. However, if a solo presenter cancels we will offer a full refund OR transfer of your fee to another Confer event. If the entire event is canceled we will offer you a full refund.
We reserve the right to change our prices at any time. Regrettably, discounts offered after you made your booking cannot be claimed or applied retrospectively.