About us
We recognise that menopause can impact upon a woman’s physical and mental health, self-confidence and vitality for life, her personal relationships and working abilities. Our team of registered healthcare clinicians provide holistic, individualised care and treatment that supports women to attain wellness.
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Monica Barnes
Originally from Scotland, Monica Barnes is our Clinical Nurse Specialist and founder of Menopause and Wellness. Since qualifying as a nurse in 1996 she has worked extensively within senior nursing leadership positions including various charge nurse, senior charge nurse, head nurse and professional lead positions within the UK, Saudi Arabia and New Zealand.
Monica created Menopause and Wellness due to her own difficult experience with menopause and the problems she experienced in having both her symptoms recognised as being menopausal and then accessing timely menopause care and treatment. Her experience put her on a path of personal and professional exploration and she began researching and undertaking specialist menopause training in an attempt to understand what was happening to her and what treatments could support her with her symptoms. During this process, she came to understand the substantial lack of knowledge and understanding that exists with regard to menopause care and treatment. Monica has shared her own menopause story in the link below, to give women an understanding of why she has created Menopause and Wellness.
As a Clinical Nurse Specialist, Monica is educated to a master’s level, is a qualified Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) therapist and is an accredited Health Improvement Practitioner (HIP) having gained a specialist qualification in behaviour change and lifestyle treatment. Monica has also undertaken further specialist menopause training with the Newson Health Menopause Society. She is a member of The British Menopause Society, The North American Menopause Society, The Newson Health Menopause Society and the Clinical Nurse Specialist Society New Zealand.
Creating a new pathway in menopause care
Menopause care and treatment have traditionally been focused on whether a woman experiences difficult symptoms and if so her suitability for treatment with Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).
We understand that all perimenopausal and menopausal women have menopause healthcare needs whether they experience difficult symptoms or not. This approach is supported by recently updated UK Newson Health Menopause Society guidelines which clearly outline that hormonal therapy (HRT) is only one part of the care and treatment needed by perimenopausal and menopausal women.
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Our Mission
Our holistic approach to menopause care helps women tailor their own treatment for both physical and mental wellness. Our healthcare specialists help identify your unique symptoms and empower you to make informed choices about which treatments are right for you.
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Informed Decision Making
To empower women with education on menopause stages, onset, symptoms and physical health changes often associated with menopause together with helping them explore hormonal, non-hormonal and lifestyle treatment. This enables women to make informed treatment choices and become active participants in their care.
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Provision of Menopause Treatment
To offer women a choice of treatments including Hormonal Replacement Therapy, non-hormonal Menopause Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and specialist Menopause Lifestyle treatment. We are the first in New Zealand to provide Menopause CBT as a treatment option for women.
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Improve Physical Health & Wellbeing
To support women with menopause health screening checks and lifestyle treatment to support optimal health and ageing. We believe this to be an essential part of menopause care and treatment for all women.
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Supporting Self-Management
To support women with knowledge, understanding, tools and resources that help them to self-manage both now and in the future. We work to ensure this education is given to women as an integral part of all our treatments.
Our team
Monica has a team of several clinicians and specialists who are supporting her to provide holistic menopause care and treatment to women. All staff working within our team have undertaken further training in menopause and have a specialist interest in menopause care and treatment. Our team includes:
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Our team consists of several clinical nurse specialists who have all undertaken specialist menopause training through international menopause societies. This enables them to provide individualised and comprehensive support to women for their menopausal care needs.
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All of our clinicians who provide Menopause Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) are qualified CBT therapists who have undertaken specialist training in both Menopause CBT and Menopause Care and Treatment.
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Our team supports women with treatment using Hormone Replacement Therapy. This is provided through our collaborative work with a woman's own GP, or through one of our partnership GP's, who all have a specialist interest in supporting women with Menopause Care and Treatment.
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Our Health Improvement Practitioners (HIPs) are all registered healthcare clinicians who have undertaken specialist behaviour change and lifestyle treatment training. As HIPs, they are each accredited in being able to provide behaviour change and lifestyle treatment. This includes specialist menopause lifestyle support in areas such as Sleep, Nutrition, Stress Management and Exercise.
Want to Join Our Team
We are actively looking for Health Partners to help support our clients
Transform the health and wellbeing of your organisation.
Book a free 15 minute consultation to find out how we can support you to build a thriving culture for menopausal women in your workplace.