Perimenopause is a time when our souls long for change. The mood swings and physical discomfort can make it feel like our bodies and brains are betraying and victimizing us. Our Sacred Cycle author Mary McDonald, a therapist who works with people with PMS, PMDD, trauma, and other reproductive health issues, reframes that betrayal as an intervention. With inclusive language and compassionate, practical understanding, she brings affirmation, insight, and science to help us navigate our out-of-control emotions, let go of what no longer serves us, and step fully into our power and wisdom. McDonald invites us to examine what the huge moods of midlife are really telling us. She offers tools to pick apart the facts behind our feelings from the internalized patriarchal messages that lead us to mistrust and mistreat our bodies and minds. The map she draws for our journey is one of shadow work and soul retrieval, a hero's journey in which we stop trying to "fix" ourselves and rediscover the person we were supposed to be. The greatest prize is to finally get to meet the wise, experienced, and unapologetically authentic soul we were always meant to become. Mary McDonald is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in Montana, a California registered therapist, and a licensed teacher with master's degrees in counseling psychology and culturally responsive pedagogy. Mary studied depth psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, where she learned how psychological healing can occur through exploring the rejected and repressed parts of the self. She speaks about and specializes in treating people who struggle with women's issues including trauma, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), and hormone imbalance. Using a feminist approach to psychotherapy, she has helped those who struggle with patriarchal oppression find their voice, strength, and inner wisdom. Through her own personal journey to work through PMDD, bulimia, and depression, she found that art, ritual, and depth therapy were necessary tools in empowering her to manage the side effects of hormonal imbalance. You can find her online at alpenglowdepththerapy.com