A Letter from the President Crystal Clark
Dear MONA Members,
I would like to give a big welcome to our new professional and trainee members who joined during the month of June! In addition to new members joining, we held a successful webinar on Covid-19 and perinatal mental health to support our members who are taking care of the many perinatal patients during the pandemic. Thanks to our panel (Mary Kimmel and Deepika Goyal), our moderator (Samantha Meltzer-Brody) and all the members who tuned in and made the webinar a success! I would like to acknowledge our LGBTQ+ MONA members and patients in honor of Pride month that took place in June. Although the Covid-19 pandemic and civil unrest consumed the June headlines, the celebration of Pride Month commemorates the protests by members of the LGBTQ+ community in response to law enforcement raids of Stonewall Inn, a gay club, that took place on June 28th, 1969. Let us keep Pride going by making resources available to support our members who are caring for LGBTQ+ expecting and new parents. Please email your resources to the MONA listserv.
Many members responded to last month’s newsletter which addressed systemic racism and the civil unrest. To follow-up, I would like to share that MONA has determined actionable steps to be more inclusive. Thank you to the members who provided Black mental health resources which are featured in this newsletter and in support of Black Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week (July 19-25th). In addition to providing resources, stay tuned for MONA’s next webinar which will address the unique mental health issues for Black mothers/parents. Future inclusion efforts will highlight relevant research, curate optimal mental health resources, engage Black trainees, and prepare to include focused conference workshops and symposiums at our 2021 conference to support Black maternal mental health.
Have a Happy 4th of July! Stay safe!
Crystal Clark, MD, MSc
MONA President
Member of the Month: Zobeida Diaz
Zobeida Diaz, MD
1. What is your current professional role?
I am the attending psychiatrist at the Day Hospital Program at Women and Infants Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, working under the leadership of Dr. Margaret Howard, who founded the program in 2000. As many may know, this was the first mother-baby program established in the United States. In addition, I am an Assistant Professor, Clinical Educator at Brown University and enjoy supervising psychiatry residents, fellows, medical students, as well as visiting trainees from programs outside of Brown University.
2. What drew you to the field of Perinatal Mental Health?
My interest in this field started during my psychiatry residency training at Brown University, as I was given the opportunity to rotate in the Day Hospital Program at Women and Infants. I realized that aside from my experience in that program, I was provided with little exposure to the management of mood and anxiety disorders in the perinatal population during the rest of my training. And, it was clear that, with evidence based focused discussions with this patient population, it is possible for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers to benefit from medications and therapeutic interventions while minimizing risks to their babies.
3. What is your current research involvement?
At this time, I contribute data for research projects led by Dr. Margaret Howard and Dr. Cynthia Battle at Brown University. However, I have various research interests that I hope to pursue in the next couple of years.
4. What does a typical work day look like for you - including before and after work?
My colleagues know this about me…I stop and get a triple grande mocha every morning before work. Can’t function without it! At work, I meet with our multidisciplinary team every morning to round on our patients. We see up to 18 patients in our day hospital program. In addition, I serve as a medication consultant for our statewide program, RI MomsPRN, where any provider in the state can call for perinatal referrals, access to perinatal resources, or medication questions. I also provide evaluations to determine if a woman is a good candidate for Brexanolone, the first FDA-approved agent for Postpartum Depression. If so, I coordinate an admission to Women and Infants Hospital for treatment. Academically, I supervise the trainees, provide lectures, and mentor residents who are immersed in their psychotherapy training. After work, I spend time with my son, Ian, and our English Bulldog, Ziggy, before my husband, Greg, gets home from his work as a palliative medicine physician. We love taking walks around our coastal town of Barrington. As I do not like to cook, one of our favorite activities is to go out to dinner.
5. What are you most excited about in your current work?
I love working with the team in the Day Hospital Program because we are passionate about helping our women recover and establish strong bonds with their children, which will impact the mental health and well-being of future generations. Our team is composed of clinicians coming from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and we share our differences to promote diversity while finding commonality in our patients’ experiences as mothers. Lastly, we have recently started treating our postpartum women with Brexanolone and have been amazed by the rapid improvements in depression and anxiety symptoms in our patients.
6. What’s one of the most important things you’ve learned from a mentor or role model?
As simple as it sounds, I’ve learned that I must always keep an open mind when caring for my patients. If a patient is not getting better, I need to re-assess and consider that I am missing something vital in the presentation/history. This has helped me on many occasions. For example, if a woman is not demonstrating improvement in her anxiety symptoms from the use of a first line agent, such as a SSRI, and is struggling with concentration issues, I need to evaluate for potential and previously undiagnosed ADHD. When discovered, appropriate management of the ADHD can vastly improve not only their functioning, but the anxiety that was a manifestation of this disorder.
7. What are your favorite things to do outside of work?
I love spending time with my family, singing in my band “Last Exit”, playing ice hockey, going out to the many restaurants around Providence, and traveling around and outside the country.
8. What is the most interesting book, podcast, TV series, or movie you’ve encountered in the past year?
I’m almost embarrassed to say it, but I loved the Game of Thrones series! I wish I loved watching documentaries or educational programs, but I simply love escaping into the fantasy world of George R. Martin, and of fantasy writers like him. What I find most fascinating about the Game of Thrones series is that millions of people are/were also drawn into the fantasy, including many of my patients, which provides for good rapport building!
Fellowship Opportunity: University of New Mexico School of Medicine
The University of New Mexico has a combined reproductive psychiatry and infant mental health fellowship that can be tailored to fellows interests. This is a 1 year clinical fellowship. Interested parties can contact me at negonzales@salud.unm.edu for more info.
Nina Gonzales, MD
Reproductive Psychiatry Fellowship Director
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
University of New Mexico, School of Medicine
Fellowship Opportunity Northwestern University
Perinatal and Women's Mental Health Fellowship
The Asher Center in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is committed to recruiting and training fellows to provide care for women across the reproductive lifespan and particularly during pregnancy and postpartum. We offer a one-year fellowship with an optional second year for two candidates.
Candidates will join a rich, collaborative environment with other clinicians and scientists in the Feinberg School of Medicine and throughout the University. The fellowship presents opportunities to complement existing clinical and research initiatives in women’s and perinatal mental health. Clinical duties will be 50% time and include patient care and participation in departmental educational activities. Educational time is allocated for 50% time which includes didactics and protected time for the completion of the required scholarly project.
Requirements & Eligibility
Eligible candidates will have completed a ACGME-accredited psychiatry residency program prior to the start date and will have board eligibility in general psychiatry. The candidate should have a strong clinical background with experience in the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic mental disorders.
Applications for 2021-2022 fellowship year
We are pleased to announce that we are recruiting two psychiatrists seeking advanced training in women's mental health with a focus on perinatal mental health & reproductive psychiatry for a one year clinical fellowship beginning July/August 2021 with an optional second year for those interested in research.
Required documents:
- Current CV
- Personal Statement - (One page maximum) describing your interests in perinatal and women’s mental health, achievements, and career goals (optional – include interests/goals in research)
- Two current letters of recommendation (to be emailed directly by the writer)
Application Process
To apply, submit the required documents by mail to Barbara Sutcliffe, Asher Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 676 North Saint Clair Street, Suite 1000, Chicago, Illinois 60611 or by email in a Word or PDF format to Barb Sutcliffe at b-sutcliffe@northwestern.edu
Fellowship Opportunity University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP IN REPRODUCTIVE MOOD DISORDERS
Seeking qualified applicants for the 2020 – 2021 academic year
The Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, hosts the only NIH-funded postdoctoral training program to train MD or PhD scientists in the pathophysiology of reproductive mood disorders (peripubertal, perinatal, premenstrual, and perimenopausal depression and anxiety). The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill represents an ideal setting for this program because it possesses a well-known collaborative infrastructure, a vibrant women’s mood disorder clinical program (which includes the first inpatient perinatal depression program in the country), and a critical mass of researchers in reproductive mood disorders.
The program’s emphasis is on training in pathophysiological mechanisms that underlie reproductive mood disorders. The trainees will develop mastery in the following: reproductive hormonal physiology and signaling; methods for manipulating the reproductive system; and clinical phenomenology of reproductive mood disorders. Additionally, trainees will develop expertise in one of three methodological training tracks: Neurosciences, Genetics, or Stress Physiology. U.S. citizenship or permanent residency required.
Send your curriculum vitae and letter of interest to Susan Girdler, Ph.D. (co-Program Director with David Rubinow, M.D.) at susan_girdler@med.unc.edu.
Fellowship University of IOWA
The University of Iowa Department of Psychiatry/Women’s Wellness & Counseling Service is thrilled to announce that we are currently accepting applications for 1 Postdoctoral Fellow in Perinatal Mental Health Care for the 2020/21 training period. The Women’s Wellness & Counseling Service (WWC) is the product of a unique, highly impactful collaboration between the Departments of Psychiatry and Obstetrics-Gynecology. Located at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics - Iowa’s premier academic medical center - the WWC has the unique distinction of being the only clinic in the state to provide comprehensive, specialized perinatal psychotherapy and medication management services in an outpatient care setting. We serve women across the reproductive spectrum with a focus on the perinatal period. In addition to cutting-edge clinical services, we provide high-quality education and training to clinicians and student-learners, and design research protocols that highlight the value of our clinical and training efforts.
Integrated care and collegial collaboration are our greatest strengths. Our staff is anchored by highly experienced perinatal psychologists and psychiatrists but also includes doctoral-level students, resident physicians, fellows, medical students, and other clinicians. Embedded within the Department of Psychiatry, the WWC benefits from the vast resources and support of this dynamic and diverse department. This departmental support has resulted in both the tremendous growth of our clinic since its founding in 2007 and the development of/collaboration on numerous state-of-the-art, innovative initiatives including telehealth care for postpartum women, an integrative Chronic Pelvic Pain Clinic, Inpatient Antepartum Clinic, IVF psychoeducational group treatment program (CALM-IVF), and a program to offer Brexanolone (brand name Zulresso) as a medication treatment for severe postpartum depression.
The 2020/21 Postdoctoral Fellowship in Perinatal Mental Health Care will offer exceptional opportunities that will produce a highly-marketable, well-rounded graduate positioned to excel in a variety of desirable career settings. The fellowship program will include approximately 2000 hours of specialized training (including paid time off, vacation, and sick leave) in clinical psychology; 1500 hours will be supervised professional experience as required by the Iowa Board of Psychology for licensure purposes. 1. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. If you have questions please contact WWC/Training Director Stacey Pawlak, PhD at stacey-pawlak@uiowa.edu.
International Marce Society for Perinatal Mental Health Conference
Over the last few months, it's become apparent that plans to host Marcé 2020 in Iowa City are no longer realistic. We are now making plans to recast Marcé 2020 into a meaningful, appropriately priced, online conference experience in accordance with results of our recent survey of the Marcé membership. While we are excited about the possibility of hosting an online event (October 5-7), our ability to do so will depend on having enough registrants commit by completing and paying registration fees by July 17, 2020.
Sincerely,
Lisa Segre
Website: https://marce2020.com/registration
Location: Virtual
Maternal choline and respiratory coronavirus effects on fetal brain development
Here is a link to the article via pubmed:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7247782
Camille Hoffman -Shuler
Website: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7247782
INTRODUCTION TO REPRODUCTIVE PSYCHOLOGY Online Training by Julie Bindeman
I'm offering our next year of an online live training: Introduction to Reproductive Psychology. This complete course enables clinicians to feel competent in beginning to work with reproductive cases around infertility, pregnancy loss, birth trauma, postpartum, ethics, culture, and third party consultations. A complete overview can be found here: https://greaterwashingtontherapy.com/courses/ The course meets with a small cohort monthly over the span of 10 months for 3 hours each time. There is a total possibility of 30 CE's that are sponsored by Integrative Therapy of Greater Washington, an approved APA CE Sponsor.
It counts towards the required continuing education for PSI's Advanced training.
Email: drbindeman@gmail.com
Website: https://greaterwashingtontherapy.com/courses/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/drbindeman
Twitter: @drjulieb
Stress Less Liver Better For Pregnancy, Postpartum and Early Motherhood by Dr Diane Sanford
Here's a brief description of the book:
In her latest book from her Stress Less Live Better series, Dr. Sanford and Megan Demsky teach you how to best meet the challenges of pregnancy, postpartum and early motherhood. With over 30 years expertise in Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders, and motherhood and emotional health, Dr. Sanford presents her 5 Simple Skills to reduce stress, anxiety and parenting guilt, by learning to calm your mind and body. Based on her Stress Less Live Better program developed for moms and busy people, these skill sets are practical and can easily fit into your daily life without needing extra time.
As a mom who experienced postpartum anxiety and a mindfulness student under Dr. Sanford, Megan talks about the importance of self-care, mind-body stress reduction, and the way these skills have helped her have more ease and joy in her life. Complete with exercises and opportunities for reflection, this book will guide you on your journey to stress less and live better.
About the Author-Dr. Sanford
Dr. Diane Sanford is a psychologist, author, educator, and mom. An expert in perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, she learned the importance of self-care in maintaining health and wellbeing while treating pregnant and postpartum moms, but kept searching for more effective ways to reduce anxiety, worry, and self- criticism. For the past decade, she has focused on mindfulness-based solutions to remedy stress and negative thinking. Based on her experiences with hundreds of clients, training from different mindfulness and mind-body health teachers, and her own life’s journey, this book offers professional guidance and personal insights that will teach you how to stress less and enjoy life more.
Marce of North America
The Marcé Society of North America is committed to the advancement of Clinical Care, Research, Advocacy, and Education.
Email: INFO@PERINATALMENTALHEALTH.COM
Website: www.marcenortham.com
Phone: 219.465.1115
Twitter: @Marcenortham