Take a far-too-taboo subject like menopause. Mix in a still-stigmatized topic like mental health. The result? Little understanding of how perimenopause—the beginning of the menopause transition and a time of dramatic hormonal fluctuations—can trigger depression, anxiety, irritability, and other mental health challenges for many women. In fact, almost 40% of women in late menopause report symptoms of depression. And women with prior mental health challenges are even more at risk for symptoms during the menopause transition. Fortunately, you don’t have to “suffer through it;” treatment options exist to help you feel better.
Join us for an incredible panel of experts in reproductive mental health—the intersection between mental health and women’s main reproductive transitions of puberty, pregnancy and menopause. Dr. Lee Cohen is a national and international leader in the field of women’s mental health and was among the founders of the field of Perinatal and Reproductive Psychiatry. Dr. Lisa Weinstock is a distinguished perinatal/reproductive psychiatrist in private practice committed to caring for women throughout the menopause transition. And Let’s Talk Menopause’s co-founder, Donna Klassen, LCSW, is also a a psychotherapist in private practice specializing in reproductive mental health. They will help us understand and navigate this critical, and under-researched, topic of mood and menopause.
Dr. Cohen is Director of The Ammon-Pinizzotto Center for Women’s Mental Health and Associate Chief of Psychiatry for Philanthropy and Department Communications at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is also the Edmund and Carroll Carpenter Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He completed his residency training and fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He is a national and international leader in the field of women’s mental health and was among the founders of the field of Perinatal and Reproductive Psychiatry. His work spans the domains of research, teaching and clinical care in the area of treatment of mood and anxiety disorders with subspecialty interest in psychiatric disorders associated with female reproductive function. These include psychiatric disorders during pregnancy and the post-partum period, depression in midlife women and issues related to infertility and mental health. The research which he conducts and oversees has helped to inform the care of patients who suffer from psychiatric illness.
Dr. Weinstock is a reproductive psychiatrist specializing in women’s mental health. She works with women who face emotional and psychiatric difficulties throughout the female lifecycle. Her areas of interest include treatment of psychiatric disorders during pregnancy and the postpartum period, PMDD, mood issues associated with perimenopause, and emotional issues related to infertility treatment. She has a private practice in Mount Kisco NY.
Dr. Weinstock graduated from the University of Pennsylvania College of Arts and Sciences and received her medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania. She did her residency training in adult psychiatry at McLean Hospital followed by a fellowship in perinatal psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at NY Medical College and is on the advisory board of Let’s Talk Menopause.
Dr. Sipra Laddha is the co-founder of LunaJoy, an innovative telemedicine platform dedicated to supporting women from adolescence through menopause.
Donna is a graduate of The NYU Silver School of Social Work and a licensed clinical social worker with more than 30 years of experience. Her areas of practice include trauma, infertility, perinatal loss, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, and menopause. Donna is trained in evidence-based therapies including CBT, DBT and ACT. In addition to her private practice, Donna is the co-founder of Let's Talk Menopause, a national nonprofit organization changing the conversation around menopause so women get the information they need and the healthcare they deserve. Before starting Let's Talk Menopause, Donna served as admissions and clinical director at The Motherhood Center of New York, a treatment center for new and expecting mothers. She has also held supervisory roles at SUNY Stony Brook, the Jewish Board of Children and Family Services, and Safespace.
Whether working with families after 9/11, teenagers struggling with self-esteem, women navigating infertility, the perinatal period, or menopause, she feels lucky to have the opportunity to work with amazing individuals at crossroads in their lives.
