Professor Myra S Hunter  BA PhD CPsychol AFBPS
Professor of Clinical Health Psychology
Consultant Clinical Psychologist/
Professional Lead for Clinical Health Psychology South London & Maudsley Foundation Trust

biography

After training as a clinical psychologist she worked with Jack Rachman and Clare Phillips investigating pain in a psychiatric population at the Institute of Psychiatry. She has since combined research and clinical work in health and worked at King’s, Guy’s, University College Hospitals, and is now based at St Thomas’ Hospital. She obtained her PhD from King’s College London in 1988, was clinical director of the Women’s Health Research Unit UCL, Senior Lecturer with the IOP from 1999 and Professor of clinical health psychology since 2006. She jointly managed the Health Psychology service with Camden & Islington and is currently consultant clinical psychologist and professional lead for clinical health psychology with South London & Maudsley Foundation Trust.
Her main research interests are in the area of clinical health psychology and women’s health. She has carried out studies on fertility, assisted reproduction, antenatal screening, postnatal mental health, premenstrual problems and menopause/midlife. She published books on counselling and communication in obstetrics & gynaecology, assisted reproduction, premature menopause and psychological aspects of the menopause. Research has focused on the psychological understanding and development of interventions for people with physical and emotional problems, in the areas of women’s health (PMS and menopause), cardiology and oncology. She is currently carrying out two randomized controlled trials to evaluate psychological interventions for menopausal symptoms for women who have had breast cancer (MENOS1) and for well women in the community(MENOS2).

activities and interests

Clinical Health Psychology/Women’s Health

Research into psychological understanding and development of interventions for people with physical and emotional problems, in the areas of women’s health, cardiology and oncology.

teaching activities

Teaching includes students undertaking intercalated BSc, MSc in Health Psychology and D Clinical Psychology.

publications

Publications since 2000:

Hunter M.S., Salter-Ling N., and Glover L. (2000) Donor insemination: telling children about their origins. Child Psychol. Psychiat. Rev. 5 4 157-163.
Hunter M.S. (2000) The Women’s Health Questionnaire (WHQ): the development, standardisation and application of a measure of mid-aged women’s emotional and physical health. Qual. Life Res. 9 733-738 .
Hunter M.S., and O’Dea I. (2001) Development of the Menopause Representations Questionnaire. Psychol. Health Med. 6 1 65-76.
Salter-Ling N., Hunter M.S., and Glover L. (2001) Donor insemination treatment: exploring the experience of treatment and intention to tell. J. Reprod. Infant Psychol. 19 175-186.
Burgess, C., Hunter M.S., and Ramirez A. (2001) A qualitative study of delay among women reporting symptoms of breast cancer. Brit. J. Gen. Pract. 51 967-971.
Hunter M.S., Ussher J., Browne S., Cariss M., Jelley R., and Katz M. (2002) A randomised comparison of psychological (CBT), medical (fluoxetine) and combined (CBT and fluoxetine) treatment for women with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder. J. Psychosom. Obstet. and Gynaecol. 23 3 193-199.
Grunfeld E.A., Ramirez A.J., Hunter M.S., and Richards MA. (2002) Women’s knowledge and beliefs regarding breast cancer. Brit. J. Cancer 86 1373-78.
Hunter M.S, Grunfeld B, Ramirez A.J., and Richards M. (2003) Understanding helpseeking for breast cancer symptoms: a comparison of self regulation theory and the theory of planned behaviour. Brit. J. Health Psychol. 8 3 319-334.
Hunter M.S., Ussher J., Browne S., Cariss M., Jelley R., and Katz M. (2002) Medical (fluoxetine) and psychological (cognitive behaviour therapy) treatments for premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD): a study of treatment processes. J. Psychosom. Res. 53 3 811-818.
Voss S., Quail D., Dawson A., Bäckström T., Aguas F., Erenus M., The H., Bonnar J., De Geyter C., Hunter M.S, Nickelsen T. for the Euralox Investigators Group. (2002) A randomised, double-blind trial comparing Raloxifene HCl and continuous combined hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women: effects on compliance and quality of life. Brit. J.Obstet. Gynae. 109 874-885.
Ussher J.M., Hunter M.S., and Cariss M. (2002) A women centred psychological intervention for premenstrual symptoms, drawing on cognitive behavioural and narrative therapy. Clin. Psychol. Psychother. 9 319-331.
Glover L., Novakovic A., and Hunter M.S. (2002) An exploration of the nature and causes of distress in gynaecological outpatients. J. Psychosom. Obs. Gynaecol. 23 4 237-248.
Hunter M.S. and Orth-Gomer K. (2003) Editorial: Women’s Health. Special Issue on Women’s Health. J. Psychosom. Res. 54 2 99-101.
Grunfeld E.A., Hunter M.S., Ramirez A.J., and Richards M.A.(2003) Perceptions of breast cancer across the lifespan. J Psychosom Res 54 141-146.
Hunter M.S. (2003) Cognitive behavioural interventions for premenstrual and menopausal problems. J. Reprod. Infant Psychol. 21 183-94.
Glover L., Novakovic A., and Hunter M.S. (2003) Women’s needs and preferences for psychological help and support in a gynaecological out-patient service. J. Reprod. Infant Psychol. 21 3 195-206.
Hunter M.S. (2003) The Women’s Health Questionnaire (WHQ): Frequently Asked Questions. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 1 41.
Hunter M.S., Grunfeld E., Mittal S., Sikka P., Ramirez A.J, and Fentiman I. (2004) Menopausal symptoms and treatment preferences in women having adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. Psycho-oncol. 13 769-778.
Grunfeld E.A., Hunter M.S., Sikka P., and Mittal S. (2005) Adherence beliefs among breast cancer patients taking tamoxifen. Patient Educ. Counsell. 59 97-102.
Rawle H., Hunter M.S., and Westlake A. (2005) Developing clinical health psychology services for people attending cardiac rehabilitation. Clin. Psychol. 48 12-16.
Bish A., Ramirez A.J., Burgess C.C., and Hunter M.S. (2005) Understanding why women delay in seeking help for breast cancer symptoms. J. Psychosom. Res. 58 4 321-326.
Girod I, De la loge C, Keininger D, Hunter MS (2006) Development of a revised version of the Women’s Health Questionnaire (WHQ). Climacteric 9 (1) 4-12.
Burgess C.C., Potts H.W.W., Hamed H., Bish A.M., Hunter M.S., Richards M.A., and Ramirez A.J.(2006) Why do older women delay presentation with breast cancer symptoms?.Psychooncol. 15 (11) 962-968.
Gupta P., Sturdee D., and Hunter M.S. (2006) Mid Age Health in Women from Indian Subcontinent (MAHWIS): A study of experience of menopause and general health in women from Indian subcontinent. Climacteric 9 (1) 13-22.
Menon U., Burnell M., Sharma A., Gentry-Maharaj A. Fraser L., Parmar M,. Hunter M.S. and Jacobs I.J. (2007) Decline in women using hormone replacement therapy at recruitment to a large screening trial in the UK. Menopause: J of the North American Menopause Society, 14(3) 462-467.
Hunter M.S. & Rendall M. (2007) Bio-psycho-socio-cultural perspectives on menopause. Best Practice and Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 21 (2) 261-274.
White J., Hunter MS, Holltum S. (2007) How do women experience myocardiac infarction? A qualtaitiave exploration of illness perceptions, adjustment and coping. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 12, 3 278-288.
Elliott SA, Bewley S, Green L, Hunter MS, Hodgkiss A, Dunkley-Bent J, Boocock AM. (2007) Stakeholder views: necessary but not sufficient in devising mental health provision for maternity services. Clinician in Management,15, 1 43-51.
Burgess C.C., Bish A.M., Hunter M.S., Salkovskis P., Michell M., Whelehan P., Ramirez A.J.(2008) Promoting early presentation of breast cancer: Development of a psycho-educational intervention. Chronic Illness 4, 1, 13-27.
Green L, Elliott S, Anwar L, Best E, Tero M, Sarkar A, Ross-Davie M, Hodgkiss A, Hunter MS, Boocock A. (2008) An audit of pregnant women with severe mental illness referred during the first 2 years of a new perinatal mental health service. Archives of Women’s Mental Health 11, 2, 149-158.
Hunter MS, Coventry S, Hamed H, Fentiman I & Grunfeld AE. (2008) Evaluation of a cognitive behavioural intervention for women suffering from menopausal symptoms following breast cancer treatment. Psycho-oncology (on line).
Rendall MJ, Simmons LM & Hunter MS (2008) The Hot Flush beliefs Scale: a tool for assessing thoughts and beliefs associated with experience of menopausal hot flushes and night sweats. Maturitas, 60, 158-169.
Hunter M.S., Gupta P., Papitsch-Clarke A., Bhugra D., Sturdee D. (2008) Culture, country of residence and subjective well-being: a comparison of South Asian mid-aged women living in the UK, UK Caucasian women and women living in Delhi, India. International Journal of Medicine and Culture 1, 1, 44-57.
Hunter MS. (2008)Psychological approaches to the treatment of PMS and PMDD. Gynaecology Forum 13, 3, 26-29.
Hunter M.S., Gupta P., Papitsch-Clark A., et al. (2009)Mid-Aged Health in Women from the Indian Subcontinent (MAHWIS): a further quantitative and qualitative investigation of experience of menopause in UK Asian women, compared to UK Caucasian women and women living in Delhi. Climacteric 12 1 26-37.
Hunter M.S.,Coventry S., Mendes N. Grunfled E.(2009) Menopausal symptoms following breast cancer treatment: A qualitative investigation of cognitive and behavioural responses. Maturitas 63 4 336-340.
Hunter M.S., Coventry S., Hamed H., Hunter M.S. (2009)Evaluation of a group cognitive behavioural intervention for women suffering from menopausal symptoms following breast cancer treatment. Psycho-Oncology 18 5 560-563.
Hunter M. S. (2009) Cardiac syndrome X: a reassuring diagnosis? Menopause-the Journal of the North American Menopause Society 16 1 13-14.
Child A., Sanders J., Sigel P., Hunter M.S. (2010)Meeting the psychological needs of cardiac patients: an integrated stepped care approach within a cardiac rehabilitation setting. British Journal of Cardiology 17 4 175-179. 5. Ayers B., Forshaw M., Hunter M.S.(2010) The impact of attitudes towards the menopause on women’s symptom experience: A systematic review. Maturitas 65 1 28-36.
Hunter M.S., Mann E. (2010) A cognitive model of menopausal hot flushes and night sweats. J Psychosom Res, 69:491-501.
Hunter M.S. (2010) Cortisol, hot flashes and cardiovascular risk. Menopause: J N American Menopause Society, 2011 on line in press.
Hunter M.S., Haqqani J.R. (2011) An investigation of subjective perceptions and physiological measures of hot flushes and night sweats. Climacteric 13:146-151.
Firth C, Jacobs C, Evison M, Pichert G, Izatt L. and Hunter MS. Novel one-stop multidisciplinary follow-up clinic for BRCA1/2 carriers: patient satisfaction and decision making. Psycho-Oncology. 2011 17, 4, 175-179.
Hunter MS. Menopausal symptoms in cancer patients. MIMS Women’s Health 2010.
Mann E, Hunter MS. Concordance between self-reported and sternal skin conductance measures of hot flushes in symptomatic menopausal women: a systematic review. Menopause: J American Menopause Society 2011 18, 6, 709-722.
Smith MJ, Mann E, Mirza A, Hunter MS. Men and women’s perceptions of hot flushes within social situations: are menopausal women’s negative beliefs valid?
Maturitas 2011 69, 57-62.
Hunter MS. Editorial: Cortisol, hot flashes and cardiovascular risk. Menopause: J N American Menopause Society, 2011 18, 3, 251-252.
Singer D, Mann E, Hunter MS, Pitkin J, Panay N. The Silent Grief: psychosocial aspects of premature ovarian failure. Climacteric, 2011, 14, 4, 428-437.
Ayers B, Forshaw M, Hunter MS. Menopause from culture to body experience. The Psychologist May 2011, 24, 5 348-352.
Mann E, Smith M, Hellier J, Hunter MS. A randomised controlled trial of a cognitive behavioural intervention for women who have menopausal symptoms following breast cancer treatment (MENOS 1): Trial protocol. BMC Cancer 2011,11: 44.
Archer DF, Sturdee DW, Baber R, de Villiers TJ, Pines A, Freedman RR, Gompel A, Hickey M, Hunter MS, Lobo RA, Lumsden MA, MacLennan AH, Maki P, Palacios S, Shah D, Villaseca P, and Warren M. Menopausal hot flushes and night sweats: where are we now? Climacteric 2011, 14, 5, 515-528.
Ayers B, Mann E, Hunter MS. A randomised controlled trial of a group and self help cognitive behavioural interventions for women who have menopausal symptoms MENOS2. BMJ Open 2011;1:e000047. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2010-000047.
Hunter MS, Ayers B, Smith M. The Hot Flush Behavior Scale: a measure of behavioral reactions to menopausal hot flushes and night sweats. Menopause: The Journal of the North American Menopause Society. 2011,18, 11, 1178-83. doi: 10.1097/gme.0b013e318219d791.
Hunter MS, Gentry-Maharaj A, Ryan A, Burnell M, Lanceley A, Fraser L, Jacobs, Menon U. Prevalence, frequency and problem rating of hot flushes persist in older postmenopausal women: impact of age, BMI, hysterectomy, lifestyle and mood in a cross sectional cohort study of 10,418 British women aged 54-65. British J Obstetrics & Gynaecology 2012 119: 40–50. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2011.03166.x
Hunter MS. Long term impacts of early and surgical menopause. Editorial. Menopause: The Journal of the North American Menopause Society (in press).
Ayers B, Smith M, Hellier J, Mann E and Hunter MS. Effectiveness of group and self-help cognitive behaviour therapy to reduce problematic menopausal hot flushes and night sweats (MENOS 2): a randomized controlled trial. Menopause (in press).
Mann E, Smith MJ, Hellier J, Balabanovic J, Hamed H, Grunfeld B, Hunter MS. Efficacy of a cognitive behavioural intervention to treat menopausal symptoms following breast cancer treatment (MENOS 1): a randomised controlled trial. Lancet Oncology (in press).
Mann, E, Singer D, Pitkin J, Panay N, Hunter MS. Psychosocial adjustment in women with premature menopause: a cross-sectional survey. Climacteric (in press).
Hammam RAM, Abbas RA, Hunter MS. Menopause and Work – A Survey of Middle-Aged Female Teaching Staff in an Egyptian Governmental Faculty of Medicine. Maturitas (in press).

last updated: Thursday, February 26, 2009