Hormonal Shift Awareness Therapy

Focus on the significance of assessing and tracking the hormonal shifts is a specially designed and unique component of treatment for women at Orchid This treatment was created and based on the preliminary research of Donna Corrente, MS,CAS,CAP to address the physical and emotional needs of women caused by the four hormonal stages while they undergo the process of addiction treatment and recovery. The combination of emotional needs created by hormones and through the process of detox can make addiction recovery an exhausting process. Hormonal shift assessment and ongoing tracking Hormonal Therapy seeks to address the distinctive challenges faced by women of all ages as they seek to break free from drug and alcohol addiction and discover their authentic selves through treatment.

What is Hormonal Shift Awareness Therapy?

Hormonal Shift Awareness Therapy is a one-of-a-kind treatment protocol available exclusively at Orchid. It is a distinctive therapeutic component designed to help women better understand the hormonal stages they will experience throughout their lives and learn how to integrate that knowledge into their drug and alcohol addiction recovery. Too often, the turbulent emotions and physical symptoms that accompany natural hormonal shifts and changes cause women to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. Through Hormonal Shift Awareness Therapy, women gain an objective perspective on the moods, feelings and behaviors that they experience as result of these hormonal shifts. They learn how to identify issues related to hormonal shifts, mitigate those issues naturally without drugs and alcohol, and create a plan for dealing with the hormonal stages that all women experience.

Hormonal Shift Awareness Therapy and Recovery

Emotional and psychological triggers are common causes for drug relapse for those in early recovery. For women, those triggers often originate or are exacerbated by hormonal shifting related to PMS, menstruation or peri-menopause.  While at Orchid, women are taught to identify and track those triggers, explore them and create a plan to deal with them without relapsing. Hormonal Shift Awareness Therapy integrates the skills needed for relapse prevention and the awareness of emotions, thoughts and behaviors that present during hormonal shifts depending on a woman's specific life-stage. This helps each client create a unique treatment plan that will aid her throughout recovery.

Four Hormonal Stages

Hormonal Shift Awareness Therapy at Orchid breaks down the hormonal shifts that come and go in a woman's life into four stages:

1. Menstruation
2. Peri-menopause
3. Menopause
4. Post-menopause

Throughout a woman's reproductive life, she will experience the first hormonal stage, menstruation: a monthly cycle characterized by physical and emotional symptoms - all triggered by hormones. In the course of the month, the uterus creates a lining to support the fertilization of an egg released by the ovaries and, if that egg is not fertilized, the lining is shed during menstruation. During the stages of menstruation, different hormones are released, creating symptoms that include bloating and cramps, irritability, mood swings, fatigue among others. Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is often very painful for women and immediately precedes menstruation. Some women experience symptoms throughout the month; Hormonal Shift Awareness Therapy addresses those issues.

Peri-menopause, menopause, and post-menopause are the last three hormonal stages. It is during menopause that menstruation stops; the hormonal shifts before, during and after menopause can be quite severe. Some women experience peri-menopause, the first stage of menopause, in their 30s or their 40s. As the production of the hormone estrogen slows and stops, women will move into menopause, a hormonal stage that affects the ovaries, brain and uterus. Menopausal distress can be quite extreme and complications may occur that exacerbate the stressful nature of the hormonal shift. Hormonal Shift Awareness Therapy helps women learn how to identify and treat these issues naturally as they move into post-menopause, the last hormonal stage that is also characterized by physical and emotional changes.

The goal of Hormonal Shift Awareness Therapy at Orchid is to help women find the celebration in each hormonal stage and mitigate the behavioral and emotional symptoms as they develop.

Benefits of Hormonal Shift Awareness Therapy

Hormonal Shift Awareness Therapy at Orchid provides women with the tools they need to successfully remain relapse-free as they experience the different hormonal shifts and changes in their lives. Some of the questions you can expect to have answered during Hormonal Shift Awareness Therapy include:

• How can I naturally treat PMS, peri-menopause, menopause and post-menopause symptoms?
• What should I eat or avoid eating during different hormonal stages?
• How do I handle the mood swings that often come with each hormonal shift?
• How do I deal with issues that come up in recovery when I am menstruating or beginning the process of ceasing menstruation?
• How do I balance my recovery and my women's health when symptoms are most extreme?

Is Hormonal Shift Awareness Therapy Right for You?

Contact us at Orchid today for more information about Hormonal Shift Awareness Therapy. Speak with a counselor to determine whether or not your recovery program will benefit from Hormonal Shift Awareness Therapy and learn the value in understanding hormonal shifting and changes that all women experience in their lifetimes. Call now.