Empowered Beginnings: Navigating Mental Health Through the Perinatal Journey
Join us virtually from 11am – 2pm on Friday, January 31st for the Opening Up forum, hosted by the Women’s Health Concerns Clinic at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, which specializes in perinatal, premenstrual and perimenopausal mental health, supporting women and their families throughout all of life’s stages.
The 4th Annual edition of Opening Up, entitled Empowered Beginnings: Navigating Mental Health Through the Perinatal Journey, will delve into the intricate connection between previous mental health concerns, the perinatal phase of pregnancy, and post-partum wellbeing after giving birth.
The Women’s Health Concerns Clinic at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton specializes in perinatal, premenstrual and perimenopausal mental health challenges, supporting women and their families in all stages of their lives. Registration is $10, and 100% of your ticket purchase price will be donated to support the work of the Women’s Health Concerns Clinic at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. Every person who registers will also receive a recording of the Opening Up forum.
Date & Time
Friday, January 31, 2025
11 am to 2 pm
Location
A Virtual Event presented by the Women’s Health Concerns Clinic
Tickets
$10
We want everyone who wishes to attend Opening Up to be able to do so. If you need compassionate (free) access to this workshop, please click here for assistance.
Our Hosts
Dr. Luisa Caropreso is an Assistant Professor at McMaster University and a Psychiatrist at the Women's Health Concerns Clinic (WHCC), specializing in perinatal psychiatry, premenstrual disorders, and perimenopause. Her clinical and research work is dedicated to advancing women’s mental health, which she sees as a vital pathway to empowering women and promoting gender equality and justice.
Dr. Benicio Frey serves many roles in supporting mental health, as Psychiatrist and Medical Director, Women’s Health Concerns Clinic, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton; Director, Centre for Clinical Neurosciences, McMaster University; Homewood Research Chair in Women’s Mental Health and Depression; and Director, Canadian Biomarker Integration Network in Depression. He and his collaborators have published clinical trials of new treatments for perinatal anxiety, emotional dysregulation in the perinatal period, and menopause-related mental health issues. His new area of research includes a better understanding of the neurobiology and risk factors related to hormonal sensitivity, including comorbid conditions, emotional dysregulation and history of significant trauma, with the ultimate goal of developing new treatments.
Dr. Sheryl Green is a licensed Clinical and Health Psychologist and works within the Women's Health Concerns Clinic and Firestone Sleep Medicine Clinic at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton. Dr. Green is a Fellow of the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies and provides education and training in the use of cognitive behavioural interventions for mood, anxiety, insomnia and health-related difficulties. She develops cognitive-behavioural treatment protocols designed to meet the unique needs of specialized populations, including women during the perinatal period and menopausal transition.
Speakers
Lived Experience
Women with lived experience will share their stories and perspectives. These are the real experts.
Health Professionals
Meet the Speakers with Lived Experience
Dr. Daisy Singla is a clinical psychologist by training, a senior scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. She has led and contributed to large clinical trials focused on clinically sensitive and contextually relevant models of care targeting depression, anxiety and child outcomes in an effort to improve child and maternal health worldwide. Dr. Singla aspires to increase access to evidence-based psychological treatments to enrich the lives of all women, their children and their families.
Dr. Lianne Tomfohr-Madsen is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the Canada Research Chair in Mental Health Equity. Her research is focused on the psychological and social factors that promote or detract from optimal health trajectories and seeks to address patient-oriented research priorities related to the development, testing and dissemination of prevention and intervention programs that will improve both parent and child mental health. Her current program of research is profoundly influenced by her role as a mother and her clinical work, which has often led her to engage in community building, mindfulness and self-compassion research.
Dr. Simone Vigod is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Temetry Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, and head of the Department of Psychiatry at Women’s College Hospital. Dr. Vigod is a leading expert in perinatal mood disorders and has conducted some of the largest studies worldwide on maternal mental illness around the time of pregnancy. Mental illness at this life stage poses unique risks to mothers and their children at a critical juncture in both of their lives. Her research is helping raise awareness about gaps in access to specialized perinatal mental healthcare, as well as identifying vulnerable populations where these gaps are most prominent.