New menopause app uses hypnotherapy to help women manage hot flushes, night sweats, joint pain and other symptoms
- Hypnotherapy is an effective treatment for hot flushes and other menopause symptoms, says Hong Kong-based hypnotherapist Christine Deschemin
- The EverCalm menopause app helps women harness self-hypnosis and track and manage common symptoms of menopause, while providing other well-being advice
It was almost a decade ago when Christine Deschemin first learned that hospitals in her native France were using hypnotherapy as an alternative to general anaesthesia. She was instantly intrigued.
“I was surprised that doctors were using hypnosis in what I believe is the riskiest place in a hospital: the operating theatre,” says Deschemin of the treatment that is also called hypnoanesthesia.
“In the French healthcare system, doctors have to make sure any treatment is evidence-based and that it works because, like anywhere in the world, they don’t want to be sued. And it has to be cost-effective.”
Deschemin, who was working in banking in Hong Kong at the time, says the critical-thinking side of her brain – she has a degree in aeronautical engineering from France’s École Polytechnique and an MBA from Harvard Business School – went into overdrive.
“I had no preconceptions about hypnosis but I put my critical-thinking hat on and got busy thinking about all the applications for it.”