One of my greatest passions is to help women through the turbulent waters of the (peri)menopause and beyond. I have extensive experience advising on and prescribing HRT and contraceptives. Even though I have seen many benefits and success stories, I also believe that it can distract from the true value of this transition and keep women trapped in unrealistic expectations from themselves and the world around them.

From adolescence (‘spring’ or ‘maiden’) women go into a ‘summer’ or ‘mothering’ phase when they are highly oestrogenised and often have lots of energy, vitality and the ability to multitask and take on many roles. They also tend to be more outgoing, pleasing and appeasing to their surroundings. At some point there comes a need for rebalancing, evaluation, introspection and clearing out some of the debris and accumulated responsibilities. I believe our culture has gone a bit over the top with predominantly ‘masculine’ values like hard work, pushing through, will power and ‘getting on with it’. Just like it cannot be summer forever, there is great benefit and value in an autumn season, designed for a clear out, letting the leaves change colour and drop off before a period of rest. Because this prepares the ground for new shoots and ideas and a redirection. The autumn phase is the time of the wild woman, who is rediscovering herself.