Author Psychiatrist Speaker Women’s Mental Health Advocate
Empowering women to take control of their mental health.
Dr. Pooja Lakshmin MD is a board certified psychiatrist and New York Times contributor specializing in women's mental health and a leading voice at the intersection of mental health and gender, focused on helping women and other marginalized communities escape the tyranny of faux self-care. She maintains an active private practice, where she treats women struggling with burnout, perfectionism, and disillusionment, as well as clinical conditions like depression and anxiety. Pooja's viral New York Times essays and Instagram posts have resonated with thousands of women suffering from the betrayal of burnout.
In 2020, after noticing a gap in accessible science-based digital resources tailored to women’s emotional well-being, Pooja founded Gemma, a physician-led education platform dedicated exclusively to women’s mental health, impact, and equity. Gemma provides expert taught virtual courses to support women’s mental well-being and is building an innovative approach to online learning and women’s mental health.
Pooja is a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the George Washington University School of Medicine, where she is a clinical supervisor in the Five Trimesters perinatal psychiatry clinic. She serves as a medical advisor to Peloton, and has spoken on parental and women's mental well-being for organizations like McKinsey, Memorial Sloan Kettering, 23andMe, alice and olivia, Hello Sunshine, The March of Dimes, The Girl Scouts of the USA, Thrive Global and others. Her advice has been featured on the Today Show, Good Morning America, The Drew Barrymore Show, NPR, and in Glamour, Marie Claire, Self, Shape, Harper’s Bazaar and many other media outlets.
She lives in Austin, Texas with her partner Justin, their son, and their two cats, Kitty and Fifi.
Pooja’s first book is available for preorder now!
Published by Penguin Life and in stores on March 14, 2023
The problem with self-care as an antidote to the demands of parenthood is that in becoming part of the parenting to-do-list, it still requires an already empty adult to give more. This is particularly true for mothers who have internalized our cultural meme of mother as martyr and for whom the transition to motherhood can feel like an erasure of womanhood. Making yourself smaller and smaller in the service of your child may feel noble at first but ultimately can lead to resentment, bitterness and mental health issues of your own.
The New York Times
