Episode 10: Not Here to F*ck Spiders: Mental Health, Menopause & Feeling Like Yourself Again with Dominique Williams

In this episode, Dr. Michelle is joined by Dominique Williams, a Registered Social Worker at Coven Women’s Health, for a deeply honest and empowering conversation about mental health in perimenopause/menopause, and why so many women feel dismissed, invisible, or like they’re “losing it” during this transition.

Dominique shares her personal journey through perimenopause, a breast cancer diagnosis, and the moment she was told by a healthcare provider that there was “nothing” that could help her symptoms - an experience that shaped her work supporting other women today.

Together, they unpack the emotional, psychological, and neurological changes that can happen during hormonal transitions, the role therapy (especially CBT) can play in symptom relief, and why addressing mental health is not optional care, it’s essential.

In this episode, we’re talking about:

• Dominique’s personal experience with perimenopause, breast cancer, and medical dismissal

• Why so many women feel invisible or minimized when they raise menopause concerns

• The most common mental health symptoms in perimenopause and menopause

• Anxiety, low mood, irritability, rage, and why your “bullshit tolerance” suddenly drops

• Brain fog, memory lapses, and why they don’t mean you’re developing dementia

• How hormonal changes impact the brain, including the amygdala

• Why therapy, especially Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), is evidence-based care for menopause

• How CBT can help with hot flashes, sleep disruption, anxiety, and mood changes

• A simple, practical CBT grounding exercise you can try when your mind won’t stop racing

• Why thoughts can intensify physical symptoms and how to interrupt that cycle

• What it really means to say “I don’t feel like myself” and why that feeling is valid

If you’ve ever wondered whether what you’re feeling in perimenopause or menopause is “normal,” or if mental health support actually belongs in menopause care - this conversation is for you.