The Change
Reclaiming and redefining The Change as a time of possibility, agency and growth.
The Change is a six-week journey for women that blends evidence-based psychology, nature connection, creative practice and shared learning.
It does not treat menopause as a list of symptoms or women as problems to be fixed. Together, women explore what is happening in their bodies and minds, question the stories they have inherited about womanhood and ageing, and define what this stage of life can mean for them.
Body, identity, meaning and what comes next
The programme brings together neuropsychology, applied cognitive psychology, socio-cultural psychology, Jungian perspectives and positive psychology. Women explore hormones, stress and the nervous system alongside identity, social conditioning, self-compassion, boundaries, values and hope for the future.
Nature, creativity and storytelling create different ways to understand and express experiences that can be difficult to put into words. The result is a programme that recognises the wholeness of a woman’s journey, not only its biological dimensions.
Psychology, creativity and the woodland
The workshops take place in the woodland centre at Penllergare Valley Woods. This gives us a warm, accessible indoor space for learning and arts-based practice, with the woodland immediately around us.
Sessions move naturally between discussion, psychological learning, creative activity, reflection and time among the trees. Women can engage in different ways, without pressure to disclose personal experiences.
The group becomes an important part of the journey. Participants described safety, honesty, sisterhood and the relief of feeling less alone.
What’s in the programme
Each session combines accessible psychological learning with participatory, reflective, nature-based and creative activities.
1. Demystifying bodies, brains and hormones
- Understand the stress response and the impact of female hormones
- Explore the story of womanhood through cycles and roles
- Map the pressures women experience across different parts of life
- Discover flow state as a support for wellbeing
2. Managing unhelpful thinking patterns
- Recognise habitual and automatic thinking patterns
- Develop practical approaches to self-compassion
- Use nature-based practices to support regulation, balance and restoration
3. Undoing social conditioning
- Explore how gender conditioning can shape identity and self-worth
- Question inherited expectations about womanhood and ageing
- Experiment with creative techniques for self-expression
4. Jungian psychology and female archetypes
- Explore archetypes and their influence on identity
- Reflect on personal and cultural patterns
- Identify core values and use photography to express them
5. Compassionate boundaries
- Understand boundaries as a practice of integrity grounded in values
- Use the BIG model of Boundaries, Integrity and Generosity
- Apply values-led boundaries across relationships, work and self-care
- Create a woodland labyrinth representing limits and support
6. Own your story
- Bring together the programme’s psychological and creative learning
- Set goals and affirmations for what comes next
- Create a collective manifesto for moving forward as women
- Take part in a supported self-portrait photoshoot that feels authentic and empowering
What women said about The Change
Women described feeling calmer, clearer, more compassionate towards themselves and more hopeful about what comes next.
Explore the impact
Across two six-week programmes involving 25 women, participants described:
- Improved emotional wellbeing and a greater sense of steadiness
- A clearer understanding of hormones, stress and the nervous system
- More self-compassion and less self-criticism
- Greater confidence in their judgement, choices and boundaries
- Freedom to question restrictive expectations about womanhood and ageing
- A renewed sense of identity, agency and hope
- Stronger connection with nature as an ongoing wellbeing resource
- Sisterhood, belonging and feeling less alone
- Practical psychological tools they could use in everyday life
“It was really different in that it didn’t just look at biology. It looked at our whole identity.”
“I have a clearer sense of who I am now, whereas before I was always trying to remember who I was before.”
“I feel like I’ve got myself back a bit, which I honestly didn’t expect.”
“There was a real sense of sisterhood.”
“I felt steadier and more grounded by the end.”
“I feel like I’ve got myself back a bit, which I honestly didn’t expect.”
“It’s given me permission to not have to perform to others’ expectations.”
“Being amongst the trees each week with you women has been amazing.”
“The psychology made sense without feeling heavy.”
“I feel more hopeful about what comes next.”
“I am leaving the last session feeling much stronger, calmer, more courageous and brave.”
“I feel like I’ve been handed back parts of myself I didn’t even know I’d lost.”
“The archetypes were amazing. They reminded me of my power and that the shadow side is also something to honour.”
“Today I was a goddess in the woods!”
“My self-confidence was on the floor last year. I felt beautiful today for the first time in I can’t remember how long.”
“Menopause is a gift when we learn how to work with it.”
Interested in The Change?
The programme runs at different times depending on funding, partnerships and available places. We also work with organisations to develop versions for the communities they support.