Perimenopause often masquerades as burnout, anxiety, or depression, and many clients end up misdiagnosed and undertreated. The symptoms overlap almost completely: sleep disruption, irritability, brain fog, low motivation, loss of interest in sex, a sense that the life you built no longer fits. When a client presents this way, the treatment plan that follows depends entirely on whether the clinician considers hormones at all.

It also starts earlier than most training suggests. Perimenopause can begin years before any change in cycle is obvious. One in twenty people with ovaries reach menopause before 45 and one in a hundred before 40. Emerging research on ADHD points to severe perimenopausal symptoms peaking a full decade earlier than in the general population, so you may be seeing it much earlier than expected in the therapy room.

This session examines how hormonal fluctuation, cognitive shifts, and emotional dysregulation during perimenopause mirror common mental health presentations, and what helps you tell the difference. Dr. Plociniak covers the interplay between endocrine and nervous system regulation, how estrogen and progesterone shape emotional regulation and stress perception, and where these changes show up in relationships. Drawing on her work with couples navigating burnout and emotional disconnection, she looks at what happens to a partnership when one person's baseline changes and neither partner has language for it.

Through case examples and practical tools, you'll build confidence in identifying when symptoms point to hormonal dysfunction rather than burnout, and learn how to integrate psychoeducation, behavioral interventions, and medical collaboration into treatment planning.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Differentiate overlapping symptoms of perimenopause and burnout to improve diagnostic accuracy and treatment planning.

• Explain how fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone influence emotional regulation, cognitive function, and stress perception.

• Analyze how hormonally driven changes present in couples work, including shifts in desire, conflict patterns, and emotional availability.

• Apply evidence-based clinical and collaborative interventions to support clients experiencing hormonally influenced emotional dysregulation.

WHY YOU SHOULD JOIN US

Your client is exhausted, can't focus, is snapping at their partner, and doesn't recognize themselves. You have a differential in mind before they finish the sentence.

Perimenopause can last a decade, and for many people it starts well before they or anyone treating them expects it to. Most graduate programs never cover it. Most clients arrive having already been told by someone that they're depressed, stressed, or need to manage their anxiety better. That leaves a lot of women and people with ovaries in treatment for the wrong thing, or in treatment that works around a physiological reality nobody named.

Learn to ask the right questions, name what might be happening, and decide when to bring a physician into the picture.

Walk away with:

• A clear framework for differentiating hormonal presentations from burnout and mood disorders

• Language for psychoeducation you can use in session this week

• A practical approach to medical collaboration and referral, including what to ask for

WORKSHOP STRUCTURE

Part 1: Didactic Learning (~60 minutes) — The physiology, differential diagnoses, and clinical applications, with case examples

Part 2: Discussion and Case Consultation (~30 minutes) — Bring your own cases and questions

AUDIENCE

This session is designed for:

• Mental health professionals working with adult clients, individuals or couples, who want to recognize and respond to hormonally influenced presentations in women and people with ovaries.

• Professionals who may find the material helpful include: psychotherapists, clinicians, psychologists, social workers, registered interns, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, wellness support workers, coaches, and holistic practitioners.

• Students in mental health and counseling programs.

No background in endocrinology or reproductive health is required.