Anxiety, depression, memory loss, stubborn weight, sleep deprivation, exhaustion, joint pain, and of course hot flushes. Menopause can challenge us on a very physical level, but it can also be emotionally and mentally exhausting – even frightening – and this side of it isn’t talked about enough. Many women experience intense sadness, anger, guilt or shame. Anxiety, depression, even suicidal thoughts, or a desire to tear down your apparently comfortable life, can all result from the change of hormones.

You may feel like you’re paddling harder and going backwards. You may even worry you’re losing your mind or have early-onset dementia. You struggle with the demands of daily life and to function on levels you once aced. Maybe you daren’t admit you’re struggling, because you’ve always been the strong one.

You may feel broken, or that menopause is stealing your very identity. But that identity is a mask you’ve slowly built over the years. It’s not who you really are. It’s made of all the times you said yes when you wanted to say no; when you didn’t speak up for yourself because you didn’t think you’d be heard or understood; when you put everyone else’s needs and comfort before your own.

Here’s the best news – you’re not broken. You’re being offered the chance to break out of the straitjacket your life has become. No more pushing through. No more putting up with things. No more pretending you’re fine.

Menopause can be scary, isolating and bewildering. But what if you could find a space where you feel heard, held, understood and explained?

I’m Karen, and I aim to provide exactly that – a safe, nurturing, non-judgmental container where you can explore who you are and who you’re becoming in the second half of your life. *

My signature offering is small-group menopause coaching – 7 weeks of gentle guidance, information and support, with no more than 6 in any cohort. Menopals Magic (formerly Coping to Confidence) offers insights, explanations and suggestions for lifestyle tweaks. We ask questions that go deep, helping you access intuitive self-knowledge to create your own personal route map to navigate from the storm of peri- and menopause into the calm waters of wisdom and self-knowledge.

After those seven sessions where we support each other as a group, we’ll arrange a personal session with me 1:1 to discuss your best way forward.

In our ‘Menopals Magic’ sessions, we focus on thriving through menopause, strengthening relationships with ourselves and others, and rebuilding mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. We aim to leave you flowing with the changes of menopause, embracing its wisdom to create personal transformation, nurturing your mental and emotional health, and implementing lifestyle tweaks to positively impact your physical health. 

I’ve navigated menopause myself, and suffered some of the symptoms to varying extents. I was one of the lucky ones – I realised it was menopause relatively early – though when I mentioned it to my partner, he already knew. But one of the reasons I trained as a Menopause Coach with Woman of a Certain Stage was the horror stories I was hearing about what some women go through at this time of life. Lauren Chiren, who founded the company, quit her job because she thought she was suffering early-onset dementia in her 30s; sadly, she’s not the only woman who wanted to kiss her doctor when told it was ‘only’ menopause.

I learned a lot on that course, and I bring much of it to Menopals Magic. Alongside the lifestyle tweaks that can make a big difference to your symptoms, I support you to discover who you are and who you want to be – and how you can get your friends, family and partner on board with the changes you want to make, so you feel supported and held as you move into your new identity as a wise woman with so much to offer – to yourself as well as to others.

“I have just completed the Menopause Coping to Confidence course and am smiling just writing the name. Learning new strategies, being reminded of what’s important in self care, looking at the impact of diet, hydration and sleep, various ways to regain your control of your own life, how to respond to what it throws at you, how to think clearer and feel better in yourself, all whilst sharing in a small group, was enlightening and so uplifting. Only sad bit is finishing, – I would love this every week, not just for the course duration 🙂 !!! Wholeheartedly recommend this to rediscover yourself and be able to move forward more positively in all aspects.” – Client CV.