Sexuality and Perimenopause: What Counselors Need to Know

✍ Scribed by Andrew P. Daire; Heidi Fairall

• Publisher: American Counseling Association
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 662 KB
• Volume: 4
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1524-6817
• DOI: 10.1002/j.2161-0029.2005.tb00124.x

✦ Synopsis

Perimenopause, which recently has been recognized as separate j -o m menopause, afects approximately 22 million US. women. It is a time when women are at greater risk f i r emotional, relationship, and sexual probkms. The authors describe the symptoms ofperimenopause, disms the resuIting psychosociaI and sexual impact, and preserrt treatment implications f i r counselors.

For women, advancing age and the onset of perimenopause bring a myriad of biological, psychological, emotional, and social changes that place them at higher risk for sexual problems of all kinds (Mansfield, Koch, & Voda, 2000; Myskow, 2002;Palacios, Tobar, & Menendez, 2002). In addition, it appears that perimenopausal women are more tolerant of associated physical changes and are more inclined to seek counseling for emotional symptoms than for physical ones (Dell & Stewart, 2000; Myskow, 2002).

As perimenopausal women may be reluctant to complain about or discuss their sexual difficulties, it is helpful for health professionals to be aware of this and ask them about their sexual lives. Sexual problems will thus be identified early at a stage when they are easier to treat. (Myskow, 2002, p. 259) Thus, it is imperative that counselors understand perimenopause, its impact on the lives of those experiencing symptoms, and how to effectively work with these individuals from a systemic perspective. It is hoped that this article will focus the mental health counseling community's attention on the symptoms, impact on sexual functioning, and therapeutic needs of women experiencing perimenopausal symptoms, which are estimated to affect 22 million in the United States (Lange-Collett & Schumann, 2002).

Although definitions of perimenopause differ slightly, they all include the salient characteristic of a slowing of the gonadal secretion to a point