— MEET OUR TEAM —
Our Psychotherapists
Women's Wellness Psychiatry was founded in 2017 to provide expert reproductive mental health care for those seeking an integrative and holistic approach to care across important life stages and transitions.
Our psychotherapists utilize an array of evidence-based, trauma-informed therapies, and are highly trained and specialized in reproductive issues and important life changes, including premenstrual syndromes, preconception, pregnancy and postpartum, difficult fertility journeys, grief and loss, and midlife and menopause.
Clinical Psychologist
Sonja Banks, Ph.D.
ABOUT
Dr. Banks has over 22 years of experience as a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. She specializes in maternal mental health issues; reproductive trauma & loss; new parent preparation; fertility challenges; special needs parenting; and pregnancy after loss. In addition, she treats disorders such as Generalized Anxiety, Panic, OCD, complicated grief, and chronic pain.
Dr. Sonja Banks completed her M.A and Ph.D. degrees at CSPP-San Diego in Clinical Psychology with a Health Psychology/Behavioral Health Emphasis. She then finished her post-doctoral Fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina. She also worked as the Senior Reproductive Psychologist at UC San Diego’s Department of Psychiatry -Maternal Mental Health Clinic’s Intensive Outpatient Program for Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders.
Dr. Banks believes in a warm, collaborative, and goal-oriented approach to treatment. She is a Certified Cognitive Behavioral Therapist but uses other modalities such as Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). She also has developed a 9-component model of self-care that can be tailored to each client’s needs.
SPECIALTY AREAS
Pregnancy/Postpartum Mood and Anxiety Disorders
Reproductive Trauma and Grief/Loss
Fertility Challenges
Pregnancy after Loss
OCD/Generalized Anxiety/Panic Disorder/Phobias
Mood Disorders
Pain Management and Chronic Health Issues
Clinical Psychologist
Allison Altman, Ph.D.
ABOUT
Dr. Altman is a licensed clinical psychologist in the state of California. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and completed her postdoctoral training in women’s health at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.
Dr. Altman specializes in women’s mental health and trauma, specifically in the perinatal period. She also specializes in working with women experiencing infertility, and has trained at the UCSF Center for Reproductive Health. She has expertise in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mood and anxiety disorders, grief following pregnancy loss, and the adjustment to pregnancy and postpartum, especially for those with a history of infertility.
Dr. Altman utilizes evidence-based approaches, and has extensive training in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), cognitive processing therapy (CPT), prolonged exposure therapy (PE), interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), and mindfulness-based interventions. She believes that balancing acceptance and change is essential for growth, and her approach is collaborative and goal-oriented, working from a place of empathy and validation
SPECIALTY AREAS
Perinatal and postpartum mood disorders
Infertility
PTSD and Traumatic Stress
Emotion Dysregulation
Anxiety disorders
Pregnancy loss/grief
Clinical Psychologist
Jessica Abdalla, Ph.D.
ABOUT
Dr. Jessica Abdalla is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Santa Clara University and her master’s and doctoral degrees from Idaho State University. She completed her internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the Palo Alto VA, where she specialized in behavioral medicine and women’s health psychology.
Dr. Abdalla is passionate about supporting women through reproductive challenges and health concerns, drawing on clients’ strengths and resilience to empower positive self-care and lasting change.
She practices from an evidence-based, biopsychosocial framework, integrating CBT, DBT, ACT, and mindfulness-based interventions. Dr. Abdalla strives to build collaborative, empathetic, and goal-oriented therapeutic relationships focused on improving quality of life and wellbeing. She specializes in mood and anxiety disorders, grief following pregnancy loss, adjustment to pregnancy and postpartum, reproductive mental health concerns, and co-occurring medical conditions, with additional expertise in sleep disorders, weight management, and chronic pain.
SPECIALTY AREAS
CBT for ADHD
CBTi (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia)
Perinatal and postpartum mood disorders
Anxiety disorders
Pregnancy loss/grief
Adjustment/life transitions
Coping with co-occurring/chronic medical conditions
Chronic pain management
Body Image
Clinical Psychologist
Erin Armer, Ph.D.
ABOUT
Dr. Armer is a licensed clinical psychologist in California who helps individuals navigate life’s challenges with self-compassion and resilience. She works collaboratively with patients to support healing, self-understanding, and growth.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from UCLA and her master’s and doctoral degrees in Clinical Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Armer completed her Doctoral Psychology Internship at the Stanford School of Medicine and later returned to Stanford Medicine as a Post-doctoral Child Psychology Fellow after time spent raising her children, including a child with special needs. Her training included pediatric psychology and trauma-informed work with parents of infants hospitalized in the NICU.
Dr. Armer specializes in supporting women through pregnancy, postpartum adjustment, and parenthood. She is certified in Perinatal Mental Health (PMH-C) and is a Master Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) Practitioner. She integrates ART, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness, and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), tailoring her approach to each patient’s needs. Her goal is to help individuals find balance, meaning, and confidence during times of change and uncertainty.
SPECIALTY AREAS
Pregnancy and Postpartum Mood and Anxiety disorders
Reproductive Trauma and Grief/Loss
Fertility Challenges
Pregnancy after Loss
Trauma and PTSD (including medical and birth trauma, NICU experiences)
OCD, Generalized Anxiety, Panic Disorder, and Phobias
Mood Disorders
Pain Management and Chronic Health Issues
Caregiver Burnout and Pediatric Chronic Illness Support
Psychotherapist
Jessica Lief, LCSW
ABOUT
Jessica C. Lief, LCSW earned her undergraduate degree from Sarah Lawrence College with a concentration in literature, nonfiction writing, and French. She obtained a master’s degree in Advanced Clinical Practice in Social Work from New York University and a Master of Studies in Law with a concentration in Health Law with high honors from UC Law San Francisco. Currently, she is enrolled in a doctorate in social work program through Simmons University. She also completed advanced psychoanalytic training.
Jessica is passionate about guiding every patient in their transformation and witnessing each step as it is achieved. She works to help you find what is deeply meaningful and important in your life and help you develop concrete skills to get your needs met. She also has experience working with themes of reproductive justice and LGBTQ+ and racial minority populations.
Jessica's approach incorporates Dialectic Behavioral Therapy, mindful self-compassion, self-psychology, and psychodynamic therapy.
SPECIALTY AREAS
Eating disorders and body image
Fertility, grief, loss, and IVF
Perinatal and postpartum depression, psychosis, and PTSD
Chronic illnesses, including endometriosis and PCOS
Psychotherapist
Jan Yaffe, MFT
ABOUT
Jan Yaffe is a licensed California Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT), who has been a Psychotherapist for over 36 years. She received her Master’s in Education with a specialty in Counseling at Boston University, and has had postgraduate training in cognitive psychology, mindfulness, and couple’s therapy. She also trained as a mediator and life coach.
Jan has worked extensively with women facing health and mental health challenges, including perinatal health, pregnancy loss, postpartum depression and infertility. In addition to working with individuals and couples, she has led numerous groups and workshops for women on topics ranging from resilience, pregnancy, challenges of midlife and grief. Jan’s approach incorporates cognitive therapy and mindfulness. Her basic philosophy is that people are whole even if they feel broken. This approach encourages an individual to visualize issues from a new perspective and begin to form new patterns of thinking and acting that support well-being and greater life satisfaction.
Jan is looking forward to seeing couples and individuals and leading support groups and is deeply committed to helping women find happiness and live fulfilling and meaningful lives.
SPECIALTY AREAS
Resilience
Couples therapy
Life transitions
Challenges of midlife
Women’s mental health and wellbeing
Grief and loss
Chronic illness
Support groups
Clinical Psychologist
Molly Dahlman, Ph.D.
ABOUT
Dr. Dahlman is a licensed clinical psychologist in the state of California and is a Bay Area native. She received her Ph.D. from the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology at Palo Alto University and her B.A. from the University of Michigan.
Dr. Dahlman is passionate about women’s health issues and wellness and is also a survivor of infertility. Her personal experience inspired her to specialize in perinatal mental health. In addition to her professional training, Dr. Dahlman draws from her lived experience with infertility to best support clients facing reproductive challenges as well as those transitioning into parenthood.
Dr. Dahlman has eleven years of successful experience providing crisis intervention as well as both short- and long-term counseling to culturally, ethnically, and socio-economically diverse populations throughout the Bay Area. Her clinical approach is strengths-based and is informed by evidence-based treatments, the recovery-oriented care model, and the biopsychosocial approach to care.
Dr. Dahlman’s therapeutic style is client-centered, collaborative, and recovery-based and she carefully tailors treatment plans and interventions to meet the needs and strengths of each client. Along with perinatal mental health, other areas of specialty and interest include mood disorders, traumatic stress, psychosis, serious and persistent mental illness, and working with older adults.
SPECIALTY AREAS
Perinatal and postpartum mood disorders
Depression, bipolar, and other mood disorders
Anxiety disorders
Infertility and loss
PTSD/traumatic stress
Psychosis
Serious and persistent mental illness
Older adults
— ALSO ON OUR TEAM —
Our Clinical Team is Also Comprised of Reproductive & Integrative Psychiatrists
All of our psychiatrists are highly trained and specialized in reproductive issues including premenstrual syndromes, preconception, pregnancy and postpartum, infertility, and perimenopause.
Our Psychiatrists »
— THE PROCESS —
Free Phone Consult with Head Reproductive Psychiatrist, Dr. Glezer
We’ll review your current state, prior medical history, a brief overview of our services, and options moving forward.
PLEASE NOTE - WE DO NOT ACCEPT INSURANCE
In order to provide a truly individualized and best standard of care, our practice is out-of-network. Please read this brief article explaining why accepting insurance oftentimes compromises care.