How Hypnotherapy Can Relieve Menopause Symptoms

You know that feeling when you’re so engrossed in a novel, movie, or song that everything around you seems to fade away? Your deep concentration causes you to forget about what’s happening in the room, and even the worries you had a few minutes before. The ability to intentionally focus your attention on something can be harnessed by hypnotherapy to help you manage menopause symptoms.

What is Hypnotherapy?

Hypnotherapy is a treatment technique that uses the mind-body connection to manage issues in which psychological factors influence physical symptoms. The potential impact of hypnotherapy is far-reaching; it has been found to decrease pain, increase fertility, and even fight cancer.

Hypnotherapy is sometimes referred to as hypnosis. While the two are closely tied, they are not synonymous. Hypnosis is a trance-like state that resembles sleep but is induced by the person performing the therapy.

Hypnotherapy is a type of hypnosis—and not the one used at magic shows.

Hypnotherapy is a heightened state of concentration and attention that allows people to block out distractions and become more focused and relaxed. Guided by a trained, certified hypnotist or hypnotherapist, hypnosis allows you to be more open to suggestions for making positive changes in your perceptions, sensations, emotions, memories, thoughts, or behaviors.

How Does Hypnotherapy Work?

There are four stages of hypnosis. During this process, your pulse and respiration rate slows down, and your brain produces more alpha brainwaves, which causes you to feel relaxed. Once you’re relaxed enough, you become open to suggestions.

Stage 1: Induction

You begin to relax, focus your attention and ignore distractions. This is done through breathing techniques, such as controlled breathing or muscle relaxation, or focusing on a visual image.

Stage 2: Deepener

Now you take your relaxation and focus to a deeper level. Your guide may use visualizations that help you feel like you are descending, such as walking down stairs or submerging under water.

Stage 3: Suggestions

This stage is where the work is done to change a behavior or perception. Once you’re in a hypnotic state, the therapist will focus on the goals you’ve laid out together. This is usually done through visualization.

Stage 4: Emergence

In the last stage, you come out of hypnosis through visualizations opposite from those in the deepener stage. You may picture yourself walking up the stairs, for example.

Can Hypnotherapy Help My Menopause Symptoms?

Yes! Hypnotherapy can be an effective way to relieve some of the symptoms of menopause. Research has found it especially helpful when used alongside talk therapy.

Hot flashes

• A 2014 study of postmenopausal women found that hypnotherapy significantly reduced hot flashes.

Insomnia

• Hypnotherapy for sleep is more than a relaxation strategy—it’s about helping you discover and tackle the underlying issues preventing you from getting quality sleep. One study on peri- and postmenopausal women found that hypnotherapy significantly improved overall sleep quality.

Anxiety

• Hypnosis alleviates anxiety by encouraging your body to activate its natural relaxation response. A 2021 study found that relaxation techniques such as hypnotherapy reduce anxiety symptoms among postmenopausal women.

Memory loss

• A recent study showed strong potential for using hypnosis and self-hypnosis to treat menopause-related cognitive impairment, such as memory loss. Both peri- and postmenopausal women demonstrated improvements.

Getting Started

Midday offers hypnotherapy sessions developed by trained specialists in the Wellness library. You’ll find hypnotherapy programs for hot flash relief, sleep disturbance, and anxiety.

It’s also possible to practice self-hypnosis, similar to self-guided meditation.

Try this self-hypnosis exercise for anxiety:

Find a quiet, comfortable space and close your eyes.

• Focus on and slow your breath. Imagine each area of your body relaxing.
• Introduce a suggestion such as: “I am not worried. I am confident it will be okay.”
• Picture yourself in a safe and relaxing place, happy and at peace.
• Imagine a stream. Try to hear the sound of the moving water. Now imagine your worries floating down the stream, away from you.