I've been researching and writing about women's mental health and wellbeing since the early eighties. In 1981 I wrote about women's inner conflicts with emotional independence in my book,The Cinderella Complex. The book became a bestseller and was eventually translated into 23 languages. In the 90s, my daughter Gabrielle and I wrote You Mean I Don't Have to Feel This Way?: New Help for Depression, Anxiety and Addiction. This book was the first to explain the biological underpinnings of mood disorders to the lay reader. After its publication we were invited to speak about depression in families at various medical schools, including Johns Hopkins, New York-Cornell, and The New York State Psychaitric Institute. Later in the 90s Bantam published my book Red Hot Mamas: Coming Into Our Own at Fifty. It deals not only with the physical and emotional aspects of menopause and perimenopause, but with the exciting possibilities that lie ahead for women who've arrived at this stage of life.

After 9/11 I began studies to become a psychotherapist. Today, my research and writing on women's life challenges is informed by what I learn clinically, through my work with patients. It's very exciting for me to have this website for women. Here you'll find pages on the social forces that impinge on women's mental health and emotional wellbeing: sexual and physical trauma, workplace discrimination, and the ever present pressure for physical beauty.

In addition, a number of pages provide information on the estrogen-serotonin connection to mood swings. This hormone roller coaster can seriously affect women's quality of life. Fortunately, a great deal has been learned about how we can be helped to feel better during times when our estrogen and serotonin levels shift: premenstrually, during pregnancy, postpartum, during the perimenopause, and even in later life.

My intention, with this website, is to provide a place where women can inform themselves and get support on the very particular ways in which their emotional wellbeing and mental health are unique.

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New York psychotherapist Colette Dowling, LMSW is a licensed NY State social worker with an MSW degree from The Smith College School for Social Work. In addition, she has advanced training from the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy, in New York. Ms. Dowling has a private practice in Manhattan, specializing in the treatment of women. She can be reached for appointments at dowlingcolette@earthlink.net, or by calling 718-594-0201.

Profiles of Colette's therapy practice are available at:

http://therapist.psychologytoday.com/34706.

OR

http://www.colettedowlingtherapy.com/

Health and Wellness Directory

New York psychotherapist Colette Dowling New York psychotherapist Colette Dowling helps women develop strength and individuality while remaining vulnerable, open and loving in intimate relationships.

NYC Psychotherapist Colette Dowling NYC Psychotherapist Colette Dowling has an office in Manhattan and specializes in the treatment of women.

NYC Psychotherapist Colette Dowling's Blog on Women's Mental Health NYC Psychotherapist Colette Dowling offers a blog with cutting edge information on women's mental health issues, including hormone-related swings in depression, anxiety, and compulsive eating.

The Cinderella Complex In the 80s, NY therapist Colette Dowling discovered women's deep-rooted conflicts with independence and labled them The Cinderella Complex.

PMS: How to Deal With It PMS is a real physiological illness that affects 60% of all women in varying degrees. Good news? It can be treated.

Compulsive Eating: How to Beat It Compulsive eating has been found to be connected with the same disturbance in the brain that is found in depression and other mood disorders. This has led to new information on how to get over it.

Hot Flashes: What Are They and When Will They Depart? Some women have a harder time with hot flashes because their serotonin levels are low. They may be helped with special treatment.

Premenstrual-Cravings Can Be Tamed! Premenstrual-cravings result from lowered serotonin, the mood and appetite regulator. Here's how to naturally build serotonin and tame premenstrual cravings.

Anxiety: A Treatable Glitch in the Brain Many who have chronic anxiety, panic attacks, or social phobias may be suffering from a treatable glitch in the brain.

Postpartum Depression Is Treatable--and Often Preventable! Postpartum depression is surprisingly treatable and in some cases preventable. Women who inform their doctors of previous depressions can be offered preventative medication immediately post-birth.

Lithium: A Brilliant Discovery The modern era of pharmacotherapy began in 1949, when Australian psychiatrist John Cade discovered lithium, a cure for mania.

Women and Self Esteem Social conditioning contributes to the problem of women and self esteem. The good news is that the effects of conditioning can be changed.

Girls' Dieting and Depression: An Adolescent Crisis Girls' dieting often has a relationship to depression. Some girls start dieting as a way of coping with depression. Others become depressed because extreme dieting affects their serotonin levels.

Sex Hormones and Women's Mood A link between sex hormones and women's mood points the way to greater emotional stability.

Women at the Top in a Hostile Work Environment Women at the top face a hostile work environment.

Sexual Abuse of School Girls Sexual abuse of school girls can cause psychological trauma, including PTSD (Post -Traumatic Stress Disorder). Parents should be aware.

Depression Light Therapy Depression Light Therapy is being offered patients by a sophisticated new program at Columbia University. Individualized dosages and timing are prescribed for patients.

Why Women Panic Women women panic--in fact having attacks at 2.5 the rate of men--is a subject for scientific speculation.

Dealing With a Loved One's Depression When facing a loved one's depression it can be hard knowing what to do. A psychotherapist gives advice on how to be helpful to the one who's down.

Women's Strength: The Myths That Shrink Us Women's strength has historically been denied, producing the false concept of a "weaker sex'. Research shows that women's physical potential is vastly underestimated.

Mood and the Brain The body, in particular the brain, plays a big role in mood --who's vulnerable to mood disorders, who isn't, and how bad these disorders might become.

Low Thyroid in Women Mimics Depression Low thyroid, known as hypothyroidism, wreaks havoc with moods, energy, weight and cognition. Women are especially vulnerable.The good news is that it's treatable.

Real Love: Can You Deal With It? Real love is based on an appreciation of the individuality, separateness, and freedom of another.

Love or Emotional Hunger? The deep yearning for another can come from emotional hunger rathen than love.

Menopausal Depression is No Myth Menopausal depression is common and can be treated.

Depression at Night: A Troubled Sleep One of the first signs of depression is troubled sleep.

What Depression Feels Like People often wonder what depression feels like. It can rob you of your interest in life and profoundly impair sleep, appetite, attention, memory and the ability to perform routine tasks.