Overview
A. Women and Prevention of Recurrent Depression
B. Psychology of Women's Health
C. "Energy Depletion Theory" of Women's Global Excess of Depression
D. "Matriarchal Studies"/Cross-cultural Psychology
A. Positive Psychology and Women's Lives
B. Neurobiology of "Flow"
A. "Integral Health" and Healing (which encompasses Integrative, Behavioral, and Complementary and Alternative Medicine, CAM; as well as Health Psychology and Psychiatry)
B. Psychology of Choosing Sustainable Ways of Living ("Sustainability Studies")
More specifically, my current interests include: 1) understanding depressions, especially those in women, by studies a) that emerge from my new "bioenergetic depletion” theory of health, an interdisciplinary, cultural and sociobiological theory which links, e.g., the excess of depression in women compared to men to women's (literally) "doing too much" (as assessed, for example, by the UN/WHO's objective indicators of "gender inequality" and by subjective measures of "unequal, gender ideology"); b) that focus on helping girls and women to better reclaim and replenish our/their energy and to better “highlight” positive experiences in our/their lives; and c) that document the potential negative effects of commonplace life events (such as gender stigmatization and discrimination) -- e.g., "objectification experiences" -- on energy depletion, allosteric stress, and health; 2) extending the uses of social neuroscience and social psychophysiology in studying health effects and correlates of psychological processes, e.g., by studies a) that explore the neurobiological underpinnings of what social psychologists term "intrinsic motivation"; and b) that build upon her hypothesis that enhancing intrinsic motivation -- just having more fun for its own sake – will help to renew energy and enhance health in girls and women; and 3) learning about special aspects of positive psychology and “therapeutic recreation” in women’s lives using, e.g., focus-group methodology and innovative group processes based on collaborative learning theory.
Clinical Interests
These include the practice of psychiatry, behavioral medicine and clinical health psychology in a small private setting; one focus of the practice is on developing innovative group activities and thereby enhancing self-care and energy replenishment in women. (She also practices "feminist" psychodynamic, psychotherapy-based psychiatry/psychopharmacology, but mainly does so at low-fee, public clinics in the summer.)
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Publications
Women and depression: Research, theory, and social policy
Chapter · January 1, 2006 The World Health Organization (WHO) has found gender differences in depression in all regions of the globe and has identified clinical depression as a leading cause of disease-related disability among the worldʹs women (Demyttenaere et al., 2004). Depressi ... Full text CiteThe Energy Depletion Theory of the Excess of Depression Among Women
Journal Article American Journal of Orthopsychiatry · 2005 CiteProvider encouragement of breast-feeding: evidence from a national survey.
Journal Article Obstetrics and gynecology · February 2001 ObjectiveTo examine the influence of provider encouragement on breast-feeding among women of different social and ethnic backgrounds in the United States.MethodsA nationally representative sample of 2017 parents with children younger than ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
Same
ResearchResearch Associate · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 1995 - 2001View All Grants