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A Mind of Her Own

A Mind of Her Own

By: Jennifer Reid MD
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A Mind of Her Own is a science-backed podcast dedicated to women's mental health, hosted by Dr. Jennifer Reid, MD, a Columbia and UCLA-trained psychiatrist, award-winning educator at the University of Pennsylvania, and author of Guilt Free: Reclaiming Your Life from Unreasonable Expectations. Dr. Reid sits down with clinicians, researchers, and writers to explore topics that matter: invisible labor, reproductive mental health, physician burnout, guilt, identity, and the forces that shape how women seek care and how they thrive. Now available for CME credit!

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Episodes
  • Beyond Distraction: A New Understanding of Adult ADHD

    Beyond Distraction: A New Understanding of Adult ADHD
    Jun 11 2026
    Does this sound familiar?“I’m busy all day, but I don’t get anything done. I want something to show for my efforts.”“Everyone in my life is tired of my lateness and unreliability.”“I can’t get motivated unless I’m facing a deadline, and what I produce isn’t as good as it could be.”In this episode of A Mind of Her Own with Jennifer Reid, MD, we hear from adult ADHD expert, J. Russell Ramsay, PhD about a new way of viewing ADHD: as fundamentally a self-regulation problem, not an attention problem. The name is misleading. What’s really impaired is the ability to organize behavior across time in order to consistently follow through on what you intend to do.CBT adapted for ADHD works differently than standard CBT. The focus isn’t on changing negative thoughts. It’s on reverse-engineering the how of not doing things, then building explicit step-by-step plans. The goal is slowing down the executive function deliberately, making implicit steps external and visible.The Core Executive Functions Affected in ADHD:* Inhibition (pausing before responding automatically)* Nonverbal working memory (mental simulation and planning)* Verbal working memory (internal self-talk and staying on track)* Emotional regulation and motivation (generating drive in the absence of immediate consequences)* Reconstitution (flexible, creative problem-solving)Emotional dysregulation is a core feature, but it’s invisible in the DSM. Emotions don’t appear in the diagnostic criteria at all, yet they drive much of what people actually struggle with: impulsive reactions, difficulty tolerating discomfort, and using guilt as a misguided motivator.Women are significantly under-diagnosed and diagnosed later. CDC data from 2024 found that 50% of people with ADHD were diagnosed at age 18 or older, and 61% of those were women. Girls’ symptoms often appear on the playground rather than in the classroom, with social disruption rather than academic chaos, making them easier to overlook. Women are also more likely to be diagnosed first with anxiety or depression.Self-mistrust is a hallmark and often mistaken for low confidence. After years of inconsistent follow-through, many adults with ADHD stop trusting themselves to do what they set out to do. This isn’t simply low self-esteem; it’s a learned pattern of doubting one’s own reliability, often amplified by the unspoken message: it must be something I’m doing wrong.High functioning doesn’t mean unaffected. Many people mask symptoms for years through compensatory strategies: all-nighters, parental scaffolding, sheer willpower, until the scaffolding is removed or life demands multiply (new job, parenthood, caregiving, perimenopause).Front-end perfectionism drives procrastination. The biggest cognitive distortion in ADHD isn’t negativity, it’s the belief that conditions must be perfect before starting. Waiting to feel focused, energized, or “in the mood” guarantees perpetual delay. The reframe: Do I have enough to begin?ADHD also brings real strengths. Creativity, the ability to hyper-focus in stimulating environments, hands-on intuitive knowledge, persistence when engaged, and the capacity for innovative thinking are all genuine advantages, not consolation prizes.Resources Mentioned* Book: Once I Get Started: The Adult ADHD Program for Turning Your Intentions into Actions — Dr. Russell Ramsay (Avery/Penguin Random House, May 2025)* Book: You Mean I’m Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy?! — Kate Kelly & Peggy Ramundo (mid-90s classic, still widely cited)* Book: The Power of Habit — Charles Duhigg (source of the “keystone habit” concept)* Book: The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain — Annie Murphy Paul (on environment, cognition, and the need for solitude)* Book: Living Well with Adult ADHD: Practical Strategies for Improving Your Daily Life — Dr. Laura Knouse & Dr. Russell Barkley (Guilford Press, 2025)* Researcher: Dr. Margaret Sibley — Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington; leading work on adult ADHD diagnosis guidelines through the American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders (APSARD)* Researcher: Dr. Russ Barkley — foundational work on ADHD as executive dysfunction* Assessment tool: QB Test (Qbtech) — computerized continuous performance task used to objectively measure attention, impulsivity, and activity* Website: cbt4adhd.com — Dr. Ramsay’s practice, contact form, and resourcesAbout Dr. Russell RamsayDr. J. Russell Ramsay is a licensed psychologist and board-certified cognitive-behavioral therapist specializing in the assessment and psychosocial treatment of adult ADHD. He was the co-founder and co-director of Penn’s Adult ADHD Treatment and Research Program, one of the earliest and most influential programs of its kind, established in 1999. Dr. Ramsay is the author of six books on adult ADHD, including his most recent, Once I Get Started (2025). He has lectured ...
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • "It's Your Body." Optimal Health in Perimenopause.

    "It's Your Body." Optimal Health in Perimenopause.
    Jun 4 2026
    “Every woman deserves the chance to have a real discussion about hormone therapy — and make whatever decision is right for her. I’m here to give information and answer questions. It’s your body.”— Dr. Jacqueline RiedelThe doctor who finally has time for youDr. Jacqueline Riedel, DO spent 15 years in family medicine where she learned this: women’s hormonal health in midlife was profoundly under-treated and misunderstood. In a busy hospital-based clinic, she’d start a long-overdue conversation with a patient about perimenopause symptoms… and have to cut it off because the schedule demanded it.So she left. She opened Magnolia Midlife Women’s Health, a direct-care practice built on something simple but radical: unhurried, conversational visits where women can actually ask their questions, get real answers, and leave feeling seen.In this conversation, she covers what’s really happening hormonally in your 30s, 40s, and 50s and why everything you were told to fear about hormone therapy probably isn’t the full story.Perimenopause starts earlier than you thinkDr. Riedel sees women with perimenopause symptoms long before any changes in the menstrual cycle. If you’ve been dismissed, or told your symptoms are just stress or mom-brain, you’re not alone. Symptoms she commonly sees:• New insomnia: can’t fall asleep or waking for no apparent reason• Anxiety, often misread as “just life stress”• Persistent, unexplained fatigue• Hot flashes and night sweats• Mood changes including irritability, low mood, brain fog• Cycle irregularities such as heavier periods, irregular timingDr. Riedel’s approach: map symptoms to your cycle. When do they happen? Are there patterns? She also rules out other common causes, including thyroid issues and iron deficiency before exploring hormone therapy as an option.MYTH BUSTINGThe fears holding women back from reliefTwo decades after the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study was misread and sensationalized, fear still dominates the conversation around hormone therapy. Dr. Riedel sets the record straight.Myth 1: Hormone therapy causes breast cancer.Fact: Long-term WHI follow-up showed women in the hormone treatment group had lower rates of breast cancer. Even a first-degree family history is not a contraindication. And if breast cancer does occur in someone using MHT, their risk of dying is actually lower than in those not using it.Myth 2: The doses in MHT are dangerously high.Fact: Menopausal hormone therapy doses are far lower than those in oral contraceptive pills. If you’d prescribe the pill, you can’t logically call MHT dangerous.Myth 3: Vaginal estrogen has systemic effects and should be avoided in cancer history.Fact: Topical vaginal estrogen has negligible systemic absorption. It reduces UTIs, yeast infections, urinary frequency, and pelvic floor dysfunction, even in women under active breast cancer treatment, per emerging oncology research. The FDA recently removed the black-box warning.TREATMENT OVERVIEWHow Dr. Riedel approaches careThere’s no single protocol. Dr. Riedel listens first, identifying the top two or three symptoms most affecting quality of life, and builds from there.Progesterone for sleep & anxiety• Stimulates GABA production, a calming neurotransmitter• Helps with sleep onset and staying asleep• Reduces the racing mind at 2am• Often the first place she startsEstrogen for vasomotor symptoms• Addresses night sweats, hot flashes, palpitations• Keeps estrogen levels from dropping to “empty”• Preferred as transdermal (patch, gel, spray) to avoid blood clot risk• Added when progesterone alone isn’t enoughVaginal estrogen for urogenital health• Reduces painful intercourse and dryness• Decreases UTIs and yeast infections• Supports pelvic floor health long-term• About 50% of women need this even on systemic estrogenNon-hormonal options when hormones aren’t right• Newer medications targeting particular neurons in the hypothalamus (hot flash regulation)Things you can do and questions to askDr. Riedel’s conversation offers practical starting points for women navigating this transition on their own or with a provider.01. Track your symptoms in relation to your cycleSleep disruption, anxiety, and mood changes that follow a cyclic pattern are often hormonal in origin. Note when in your cycle you feel worst because this information is gold for any provider visit.02. Ask your doctor to rule out thyroid and iron firstFatigue, brain fog, and sleep issues can also come from iron deficiency or thyroid dysfunction. Simple labs can clarify what you’re actually dealing with before hormones enter the picture.03. Reconsider what’s in your sleep toolkitAlcohol before bed worsens sleep, hot flashes, and anxiety, even though it feels like it helps. Benadryl/ZQuil, Ambien, and benzodiazepines disrupt true sleep architecture. CBT for insomnia has strong evidence and virtually zero side effects. 06. ...
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    47 mins
  • Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) Goes Global

    Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) Goes Global
    May 26 2026
    What does it take for a single idea to travel from a research lab in New Haven to war zones in Uganda, refugee camps in Malaysia, and clinics across 30 countries and six continents? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Myrna Weissman, one of the most consequential figures in modern psychiatry, to find out.Dr. Weissman co-developed Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) alongside her late husband, Dr. Gerald Klerman, on a simple premise: that human suffering is deeply tied to human connection. Grief. Conflict. Loneliness. Life upended. These are not niche clinical categories, but rather a universal language of distress. And IPT was built to respond to it.In this conversation, Dr. Weissman reflects on five decades of research, the pandemic-era project that became a sweeping global volume (now available free via open access), and what it means to build something that outlives its origins. *This episode briefly mentions suicide.(Re-post: This is one of our most beloved episodes, brought back by popular demand. If you’ve heard it before, we hope it moves you just as much the second time.)What Is Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) and Why Does It Work?IPT links the emergence of psychiatric symptoms to what is happening in a person’s current life. It focuses on four core problem areas:1. Grief — the loss of a loved one2. Disputes — conflict with someone important to you3. Transitions — life changes, even positive ones, that disrupt relationships4. Loneliness/Isolation — chronic or newly developed lack of attachmentThese four areas have proven to resonate across vastly different cultures because they reflect fundamental aspects of the human condition. Dr. Weissman emphasizes that IPT is not the only evidence-based psychotherapy — it is “one tool in the toolbox, not a religion.”IPT for AdolescentsAdolescence is a prime time for IPT’s problem areas, especially disputes, transitions, and loneliness. Key takeaways for parents:• Try to understand the specific stressors behind an adolescent’s symptoms rather than reacting to global, dramatic statements.• Always be alert to the possibility of suicidal ideation.• Communication barriers between teens and parents are common; a trusted third party (grandparent, therapist, family friend) can sometimes serve as a valuable bridge.The New Book: IPT Around the WorldThis book is now available open access for readers everywhere!The COVID-19 pandemic gave Dr. Weissman the unexpected opportunity to connect with IPT practitioners worldwide. What began as a routine update to the standard IPT manual grew into a sweeping collaborative volume covering more than 30 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Contributors were asked: What are you doing? What works? What doesn’t? What adaptations did you need to make?Notable chapters include:• Uganda — IPT was introduced around 2003 amid civil war and a mental health crisis. A landmark clinical trial published in JAMA confirmed its effectiveness. Sean Mabry, a former WHO worker, went on to treat hundreds of thousands of people using IPT, even by telephone during the pandemic, and has now established a low-cost program in New Jersey.• China — After government engagement and training by Columbia experts, IPT became what practitioners called a “rapidly growing practice,” with books, training programs, and internet-based delivery.• Malaysia — IPT has been applied with refugees, using the “transitions” framework to help people process displacement and profound loss.• Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, Zambia, Uganda) — Adaptations have been made for cultural context, including how disputes are communicated and resolved within different family and community structures.• Japan and Hong Kong — Initial resistance to psychotherapy has given way to growing acceptance and translated materials.• United States special populations — Chapters cover Alaska Natives, people who are incarcerated, sexual and gender minorities, pre-adolescents, adolescents, and older adults.Cultural AdaptationsDr. Weissman shares a vivid example from Uganda: women in marital disputes are often encouraged not to confront their husbands directly, but to work through an elder who mediates. The underlying IPT principle, that the dispute is driving the symptoms, remains intact; only the implementation changes.Resources Mentioned• International Society of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (ISIPT) — volunteer-run, affordable membership, biannual international conference (10th meeting held in the UK, March 2024)• Dr. Weissman’s new book on IPT across international sites — published Open Access, freely available to practitioners and researchers worldwide• Oxford University Press — publisher of the standard IPT manualAbout the GuestDr. Myrna Weissman is the Diana Goldman Kemper Family Professor of Epidemiology and Psychiatry at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and ...
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    35 mins
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