Clinical Advisory Panel
Robin Hooper, LCSW
Robin is a Liscened Clinical Social Worker who’s background includes working with hundreds of women, children and their family’s in a therapeutic setting. Robin became active in the maternal mental health field and 2020 mom after she was blindsighted with debilitating ocd after the birth of her first son and crippled by psychosis after the birth of her twin daughters. Robin’s drive comes remembering the mommies who did not make it out of darkness. She does this work in their honor. Read her “My Why” story here.
Bridget Frese Hutchens, MSN, RN, CNM
Bridget a nurse, a midwife, Robert Wood Johnson Future of Nursing Scholar and a PhD student at Yale School of Nursing with a focus on maternal mental health. With over twelve years of maternity nursing experience, Bridget has worked in hospitals, birth centers, and as a nurse home visitor supporting young first-time moms. Her current research focuses on women's hospital experiences for birth and postpartum depression. Read her “My Why” story here.
Danielle Friend, RN MSN
Danielle is a registered nurse in the perinatal unit, a recipient of the Ida Cannon Social Service award and a Doctor of Nursing student at California Baptist University, with a focus on maternal mental health. Danielle has over 10 years experiencing working with the perinatal population. Her current research focuses on education of healthcare works and patients on perinatal depression and identification and screening in the hospital and community. Prior to becoming an RN, Danielle worked for five years with the Riverside County Department of Mental Health as a peer specialist in the Wrap Around Program. She gained her experience for this program through life experience with a child with mental illness and depression. Mental health has always been her passion and she brings this passion to perinatal nursing. Danielle is dedicated to ensuring no woman falls through the cracks and suffers alone with perinatal depression.
Desirée L. Israel, LGSW
Desirée is a licensed social worker, perinatal psychotherapist, trained birth doula, Reiki practitioner, and owner of Postpartum Recovery helping women decipher the funk of motherhood through her practice in Baltimore, MD.Additionally, she serves as a diversity committee member for Postpartum Progress, a Maryland co-coordinator for Postpartum Support International and her practice is a Perinatal Safe Spot through the National Perinatal Task Force.
Karen Kleiman, MSW, LCSW
Karen is the Founder and Executive Director of The Postpartum Stress Center, working with women and their families for over 25 years. As a pioneer in the field, Karen has paved the way for women who struggle with postpartum depression and anxiety and the clinicians who provide treatment. She has also authored several groundbreaking books on the subject.
Elyse Springer, MA, MFT
Elyse is a licensed marriage and family therapist with offices in the Los Feliz/Silver Lake area of Los Angeles. In her private practice, Elyse works with HIV/AIDS, trauma, anxiety, creative blocks and perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. In addition to her current work in private practice, Elyse is a steering committee member of Los Angeles County’s Perinatal Mental Health Task Force and a past co-chair of the Los Angeles County HIV Mental Health Task Force. Read her “My Why” story here.
Rupa Puri Zimmermann, Ph.D.
Dr. Zimmermann is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Northern California. She specializes in CBT, DBT, and family therapy, and has a special interest in supporting women and their families coping with perinatal and postpartum mood and anxiety disorders. Read her “My Why” story here.
Amanda Yeaton-Massey, MD, FACOG
Amanda Yeaton-Massey is a Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist with a passion for perinatal mental health. After her own experience with perinatal depression, Dr. Yeaton-Massey redirected her academic and clinical focus to increasing awareness and improving diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders in perinatal period. Dr. Yeaton-Massey received her MD at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), then went on to complete a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology followed by a fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Stanford University. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Maternal-Fetal Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at UCSF and Medical Director of Perinatal Mental Health.