Our Mission
We at The Women’s Program are committed to providing the highest quality behavioral health services to women. In addition, we aspire to educate health care providers and the lay community about reproductive mental health issues.
Facts About Women's Mental Health
Mood disorders are twice as prevalent in women compared with men, particularly during the childbearing years. Unfortunately, women are less likely to report and seek help for these problems than they are for general medical problems, though they may be just as disabled by them. Both stigma and lack of knowledge regarding mental health problems are barriers to receiving care. Furthermore, studies have shown that untreated maternal depression has adverse effects not only for women, but for their children and their families as well.
Services
The Women's Program is a comprehensive, multi-site clinical and research program developed in the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry in collaboration with the Division of Child Psychiatry and the Department of OB/GYN. Our mission is to address the mental health needs of women across the life cycle. The clinical program provides expert psychiatric and psychological consultation and treatment for pregnant and post-partum women, as well as for psychiatric disorders and psychological distress related to the menstrual cycle, infertility, pregnancy loss, parenting, and menopause. We work integratively with other mental health, primary care, pediatric and obstetric and gynecologic providers in multiple medical and psychiatric settings. Clinical services are complemented by a breadth of research across disciplines, including service delivery, therapeutics, and neurobiological research that aims to answer key questions in gender-specific medicine and maternal and child mental health. The focus of both our clinical care and research is the wellness of our patients and their families for generations to come.
We offer the following related services:
- Comprehensive evaluation
- Psychopharmacologic consultation and management
- Psychotherapy: cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal, psychodynamic, supportive
- Crisis intervention
- Family education and support
- Access to group therapy
- Access to state-of-the-art research trials
- Referrals to appropriate programs and providers
Staff
- Elizabeth Fitelson, M.D., Director
- Lucy Epstein Hutner, M.D., Associate Director
- Catherine Monk, Ph.D., Associate Director for Research
- John Sahs, M.D., Associate Director for Community Services and Administration
- Kristin Leight, M.D., Coordinator, Neuro-12 Evaluation Service
- Eileen Kavanagh, M.D., MPA
- Carolyn Broudy, M.D., M.S.
- Beth Harre, M.D.
- Alexandra Martins, M.D.
- Meg Spinelli, M.D., Senior Medical Consultant
- Mary Sciutto, M.D., Director, Intensive Outpatient Program
Consultants:
- Evelyn Attia, MD
- Jean Endicott, MD
- Sylvia Fogel, MD
- Michelle Merrill, MD
- Elizabeth Werner, PhD
Links
- National Alliance on Mental Illness
- National Institute of Mental Health
- Postpartum Support International
- Postpartum Resource Center of New York
- Motherisk
- National Women’s Health Information Center
- Postpartum Depression Foundation
- Medical Education Postpartum Depression from NIH
Contact Us
To schedule an appointment or to make a referral, please call the referral line at 212-305-0365.
Locations
-
New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center
Neurological Institute
Psychiatry Specialty Clinics
710 West 168th Street, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10032 -
Columbia University Medical Center Eastside
16 East 60th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10022
