Professor Myra Hunter

CBT Expert

Professor Myra Hunter

Myra S Hunter, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Health Psychology at King’s College London, is an expert in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and how it can be used to help women during the menopause. She was Expert Psychology Advisor to the Core Development Group for NICE Guidance on Menopause 2013-2015 and has published extensively on women’s health and menopause, including eight books, for example, Managing hot flushes and night sweats: a cognitive behavioural approach to menopause, Hunter and Smith, Routledge 2014 – a self-help CBT course that has been found to be effective in clinical trials.

Myra shares three insights for women approaching menopause:

  • Don’t necessarily expect the worst! Many social media and other sights present menopause as a terrible time… but in fact women’s experience varies a lot.
  • Look for balanced information from reliable sources and find out what you can do if you do have troublesome symptoms and remember that there are effective treatments available.
  • Midlife can bring many challenges so pause to consider what you are dealing with and how you might reduce stress and ongoing problems if you can before reaching the menopause.

H&H Articles

CBT for menopause

Published Articles

  1. Mann E, Smith MJ, Hellier J, Hamed H, Grunfeld B, Hunter MS. Efficacy of a cognitive behavioural intervention to treat menopausal symptoms following breast cancer treatment (MENOS 1): a randomised controlled trial. Lancet Oncology 2012;13(3):309–318.
  2. Ayers B, Smith M, Hellier J, Mann E and Hunter MS. Effectiveness of group and self-help cognitive behaviour therapy to reduce problematic menopausal hot flushes and night sweats (MENOS 2): a randomized controlled trial. Menopause: Journal of the North American Menopause Society 2012;19,7:749-759.
  3. Stefanopoulou E and Hunter MS. (2013) Telephone-guided Self Help Cognitive behaviour therapy for menopausal symptoms. Maturitas 2014, 77 (1) 73-77.
  4. Griffiths A, Hunter MS. Psychosocial factors and menopause: The impact of menopause on personal and working life. In Davies SC, Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer 2014, The Health of 51%. London: Department of Health 2015.
  5. Hardy C, Griffiths A, Hunter MS. What do working menopausal women want? A qualitative investigation into women’s perspectives on employer and line manager support. Maturitas 2017, 101, 37-41.
  6. Hardy C, Griffiths A, Norton S, Hunter MS. Self-help cognitive behavior therapy for working women with problematic hot flushes and night sweats (MENOS@Work): a multicenter randomized controlled trial. Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society 2018 25, 5, 508-19.
  7. Hardy C, Griffiths A, Hunter MS. Development and evaluation of online menopause awareness training for line managers in UK organizations. Maturitas 120 (2019) 83–89