DBT and Perimenopause

Perimenopause is a major life transition, and shifts in hormones can intensify emotions, stress responses, and mental clarity. Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) offers practical, evidence-based skills to help you stay grounded, regulate emotions, and feel more in control of your daily life. Talking with a trained professional who understands both the clinical and lived experience of perimenopause can also offer relief and validation during a time that often feels isolating. Having space to name your emotions, make sense of your symptoms, and feel genuinely heard can be just as healing as learning new skills. Therapy provides a grounded, compassionate place to process what you're going through and regain a sense of clarity and confidence.

Emotion Regulation:

Managing Intense Emotions &

Mood Changes

Heighten emotional sensitivity makes feelings unpredictable and overwhelming. Emotion Regulation skills help you understand and work with your emotions instead of being swept away by them.

Helps with:

Mood swings and irritability
Anxiety
Depression
Increased emotionality or tearfulness
Low self-esteem
Fatigue-related irritability
Difficulty concentrating (when emotionally overloaded)

Emotion Regulation skills support you by helping you name and understand emotions so you can respond instead of react. You will learn to interrupt urges that intensify distress, build emotional resilience and create small, achievable moments of mastery to rebuild confidence and emotional stability.

Emotion Regulation skills will help reduce the cycle of “feeling out of control” that can amplify perimenopausal distress.

Distress Tolerance:

Getting Through Difficult Moments Without Escalation

Hormonal shifts can trigger sudden waves of emotion, panic, irritability, or overwhelm. Distress Tolerance skills give you tools to ride out these spikes safely and skillfully.

Helps with:

Anxiety and “edginess”
Sudden irritability
Overwhelm during hot flashes or insomnia
Tearfulness or emotional flooding
Days where brain fog increases frustration
Fatigue-related emotional reactivity

Distress Tolerance skills support you with crisis survival strategies to help you navigate intense emotions without acting on impulses you may regret. By teaching you grounding and sensory-based skills to help calm your nervous system when anxiety or irritability rise quickly. Self-soothing techniques bring comfort and stability when you’re feeling emotionally raw.

With Distress Tolerance skills you will learn to reduce your suffering by learning to acknowledge your experience without judgment or self-blame - especially when symptoms feel unpredictable.

Mindfulness:

Reducing Brain Fog &

Staying Present

Perimenopause often brings “brain fog,” distractibility, and a sense of feeling emotionally or mentally scattered. Mindfulness practices build awareness, focus, and clarity.

Helps with:

Difficulty concentrating
Forgetfulness and brain fog
Mood swings triggered by stress
Anxiety
Feeling disconnected or overwhelmed
Increased emotional reactivity

Mindfulness skills support you by helping you notice early signs of emotional shifts before they escalate. You will improve focus and attention, making it easier to stay present even on foggier days. You will learn to become aware of physical sensations - such as rising heat, tension, or fast heart rate - before they become overwhelming, so you can pause and choose how to respond.

Mindfulness skills help you build non-judgmental acceptance while reducing self-criticism and emotional spirals and strengthens your ability to gently redirect your attention when your mind feels scattered.

Interpersonal Effectiveness:

Navigating Relationships

During Change

Relationships can be impacted due to irritability, fatigue, shifting needs, or changes in self-esteem. Interpersonal Effectiveness skills help you communicate clearly and protect your energy.

Helps with:

Irritability toward others
Low self-esteem
Feeling misunderstood or unsupported
Relationship strain during mood changes
Boundary-setting challenges
Asking for help when symptoms feel heavy

Interpersonal Effectiveness skills support you by providing tools to express your needs clearly and confidently. You will learn to set boundaries to conserve energy and prevent burnout and healthy communication skills for when emotions run high. They encourage self-respect and assertiveness, strengthening your sense of control and self-worth.

Interpersonal Effectiveness skills help you maintain supportive, balanced relationships during a time of significant change.

DBT and Perimenopause

Heighten emotional sensitivity makes feelings unpredictable and overwhelming. Emotion Regulation skills help you understand and work with your emotions instead of being swept away by them.

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"The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change" – Carl Rogers