You've had labs run and been told they're normal. You've snapped at someone you love over something small. You've walked into a room and forgotten why. You've felt a rage that doesn't sound like you, and then felt guilty about that on top of it.
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I know what it's like to reach this stage and feel something has shifted underneath you, without a clear name for what.
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Most content in this space treats perimenopause as a hormone problem. This workshop takes it seriously as what it actually is for high-functioning women: a nervous system revealing everything it has been quietly carrying.
​This workshop is about understanding what your rage, irritability, and brain fog are trying to tell you and what to do about it.​
What you'll learn
Why now, why you. The one frame that reorganizes everything you've been feeling. Perimenopause reveals what was already there. It removes the buffer that was hiding how much you were already carrying.
The neurobiology, in plain language. What shifting estrogen does to the parts of the brain that regulate mood, memory, and your fuse. No jargon, no hand-waving.
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How to tell what you're actually dealing with. A clear way to sort what's perimenopause, what might be clinical depression or an anxiety disorder, what could be ADHD unmasking in midlife, and when to see a therapist, when to see a doctor, and when to see both.
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Three tools you'll leave using. Real, practiced strategies you'll walk through in real time. One for catching irritability before it escalates. One for the 3am spiral. One for the moments the fog hits hardest.
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Rage as information, not failure. How to read what your anger is actually pointing at. Sometimes it's a nervous system that needs regulation, sometimes it's a life that needs restructuring, and knowing the difference matters.
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A plan you can act on. You'll leave with one clear starting assignment and a full workbook for everything else.
The research behind it
Grounded in published clinical research:
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In a randomized controlled trial, menopause-specific cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT-Meno, Green et al., 2019) led to meaningful improvements in depressive symptoms and sleep. Gains were still holding three months later.
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In November 2024, the UK's NICE guidelines began recommending menopause-specific CBT as an option for sleep problems and low mood associated with menopause. Offered alongside hormone therapy, or as an alternative for women who can't or prefer not to use it.
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Research suggests perimenopausal cognitive changes are typically real but transient, and are distinct from dementia. Understanding this clearly is itself part of what lowers the distress.
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Emerging evidence points to sleep and mood as the two biggest amplifiers of both irritability and brain fog. Treating those directly does more than trying to fix the fog itself.
Who this is for
Women in their late 30s through 50s who've noticed a version of themselves that doesn't feel quite like themselves, and want to understand what's actually happening.
You don't need to know if it's "really" perimenopause to be in the room. Especially resonant if you're the person other people count on to hold it together, and lately holding it together is getting harder.
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Meet your facilitator
Jyothi James, LMHC is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with over ten years of clinical experience, certified in EMDR and AEDP. She specializes in trauma, anxiety, and the mental health dimensions of the perimenopause transition, and has built her clinical approach around the identity and nervous-system shifts of this stage.
What you'll leave with
Every registrant receives a designed take-home workbook so the parts we can't fully cover live still go home with you:
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The Catch, Check, Change worksheet. For catching the thought spirals that fuel irritability, with a worked example and space for your own.
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The Worry Appointment protocol. For containing spiraling thoughts, including the 3am loop.
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The One-Minute Break. A short somatic practice with a two-week daily assignment.
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The Brain Fog Field Guide. What actually helps in the moment, what maintains function through the fluctuation, and what the research says about long-term brain health.
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The Rage Audit. A structured way to read what your anger is pointing at, and sort what needs regulation from what needs restructuring.
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The Who Do I See map. How to tell perimenopause from depression, anxiety, ADHD, or thyroid, and which type of clinician to bring which concern to.
If Tuesday at 7pm doesn't work, every registrant gets the replay.
FAQ
Can perimenopause cause rage or a shorter fuse? Yes. Shifting hormone levels affect how the nervous system regulates emotion, which is part of why a shorter fuse or unfamiliar rage is one of the most common and least discussed experiences women report during this time.
Can perimenopause cause anxiety? Yes. Many women notice new or worsening anxiety for the first time during this transition, even with no prior history.
Is brain fog during perimenopause normal? Is it early dementia? Very normal, and no. Perimenopausal cognitive changes are typically transient and are distinct from dementia. Understanding this clearly is part of what reduces the distress.
How do I know if this is perimenopause or something else? This is one of the things we'll cover directly. How to distinguish perimenopause from clinical depression, an anxiety disorder, ADHD, or thyroid, and which type of provider to bring which concern to.
Do I need therapy for perimenopause symptoms? Not necessarily. Talk-based, evidence-based approaches like CBT are now recommended by clinical guidelines alongside medical treatment, because this transition has a real psychological dimension, not only a hormonal one.
Will this replace seeing my doctor? No. This workshop is educational and complements medical care.
​​​​​​What if I can't attend live? Every registrant receives the replay, so you can watch on your own time.