Patient Care

Clinical Services

The Women’s Behavioral Health and Wellness Service provides patient-centered and evidence-based care to promote wellness in women across the lifespan. Our interdisciplinary team works collaboratively with primary care providers and specialists to provide consultative services and problem-focused care for women with behavioral health concerns related to periods of reproductive transition or medical conditions or treatment impacting reproductive hormones and well-being.

We are committed to providing a safe, inclusive, and equitable space that fosters healing and connection. These services are available to patients across Colorado and most services can be accessed virtually via telehealth. We accept Medicaid and most health insurance plans.

Services Offered

The WBHW outpatient programs provide individual, couples, and family therapy services for women and transgender individuals across the lifespan to address their unique needs and goals.

Our team of specialized providers offers care related to pregnancy, postpartum, pregnancy complications and loss, infertility, sexual health, menses, menopause, and medical conditions or treatment impacting reproductive health.

We seek to partner with you to enhance well-being and resilience, while reducing the risk of behavioral health concerns in the future.

Current Psychotherapy Groups (please note that an intake is required to participate, please call 303-724-1646 to schedule)

Traumatic Birth Group

6-week virtual therapy group
For those experiencing birth trauma after a frightening, distressing, or disempowering birthing experience
Facilitated by Dr. Winnifred Hunter, licensed Clinical Health Psychologist
Every Monday 1:00-2:30pm
Click here to see our flyer (Traumatic Birth Group)

Pelvic Pain Group

6-week virtual therapy group
For people living with persistent pelvic pain
Facilitated by licensed Clinical Health Psychologists Christina New PhD, Kaitlin Ross PhD, and Winnifred Hunter PhD

MAMAS (Mothers Aligning through Mood and Anxiety Support) Connect

12-week virtual therapy group
For those experiencing depression or anxiety during the first year after delivery. Babies are welcome to attend.
Facilitated by licensed mental health providers
Every Wednesday 1:30-2:30pm
Click here to see our flyer (MAMAS)

Bearing Hope Pregnancy Group

12-week virtual therapy group
For those experiencing depression or anxiety during the second or third trimester of pregnancy
Facilitated by licensed mental health providers
Every Wednesday 3:30-4:30pm
Click here to see our flyer (Bearing Hope)

Weight Management Group

Four-week virtual psychotherapy group with booster session
For persons coping with obesity
Facilitated by Dana Beall Brown, PhD
Mondays 4:00-5:00pm
Click here to see our flyer (Weight Management)

Current Support Groups (no intake is required to participate, please call 303-864-5252 or email healthyexpectations@childrenscolorado.org)

Black Mamas Circle

Rolling admission peer support group
For Black-identifying women to connect, learn, and increase well-being during pregnancy and the postpartum period
Facilitated by a licensed mental health provider and a peer mother from the community
Every Monday and Thursday 5:30-6:30pm
Click here to see our flyer (Black Mamas Circle)

Moms & Moods (M&Ms) Support Group

Free peer to peer support group for new mothers in the first year postpartum
Facilitated by a Healthy Expectations therapist
No intake visit or mental health diagnosis needed
Can be a transition to or from more intensive groups
Meets virtually every Wednesdays at 10:00-11:00am

Please call (303) 724-1646 for more information or to schedule an initial screening appointment.

Connections Program for High-Risk Infants and Families (link to website here)

This program offers services to women with high-risk pregnancies who have an unborn baby with (or at high risk of being born with) medical complications, parents of newborn babies with medical complications, parents coping with the loss of a baby, and babies and young children born with medical complications.

Healthy Expectations Program

With options ranging from free support groups to evidence-based mother-infant group psychotherapy, the Healthy Expectations program draws upon experts from various medical and mental health disciplines to support pregnant women and women struggling with mood and anxiety issues after delivery. Our groups are now offered within Women's Behavioral Health and Wellness, so please check the 'Current Psychotherapy Groups' tab for more information.

Healthy Expectation Intensive Outpatient Program (see more here)

IOPs provide care for individuals who would benefit from more than what is typically provided in an outpatient level of care. They are designed to help individuals start the path to recovery quickly and to lay the foundation for long-term success in their treatment.

The Healthy Expectations IOP is specifically designed to help individuals experiencing mood or anxiety challenges during pregnancy or the first year postpartum. You are welcome to bring your baby with you to be cared for in our adjacent playroom!

Our team of reproductive psychiatrists specialize in the evaluation and medication management of psychiatric concerns as they relate to the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, postpartum, infertility, perinatal loss, menopause or medical conditions or treatments that impact female reproductive hormones.

While our role on our interdisciplinary team often centers on pharmacologic treatments, we aim to develop comprehensive and holistic treatment plans that align with each patient’s individual values.

Services we provide include:

Preconception Consultation for women who have a family or personal history of a mental health disorder and/or use of psychiatric medications that would like to plan for a future pregnancy.
Provider or Second-Opinion Consultation for women who are currently in psychiatric care and have decided with their treating psychiatrist that consultation with a specialist would be beneficial.
Problem-focused Medication Management for women who desire treatment with a reproductive psychiatrist either during the perinatal period or while establishing a longer-term treatment plan for psychiatric care in the context of reproductive transition or medical treatment impacting reproductive hormones and well-being

The Women’s Behavioral Health and Wellness Service provides consultation and treatment within women’s health care settings at UCHealth and other locations.

Our team collaborates with your health care providers to provide same day, integrated behavioral health care.

Sessions and typically brief and limited to 6-8 sessions.

We currently provide behavioral health services in:

UCHealth Women’s Integrated Services in Health (WISH)
Select UCHealth and CU Medicine Gynecology Services
University of Colorado Medicine Ob/Gyn East Denver
Daianne O’Connor Thompson Breast Center
CU Medicine OB-GYN - Central Park

If you are at patient in these settings and are interested in a consultation, please ask your physician, nurse practitioner, nurse, or care coordinator to introduce you to a member of Women’s Integrated Behavioral Health team.

Our interdisciplinary team of providers has expertise in:

Infertility
Pregnancy and postpartum
Perinatal loss
Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
Persistent pelvic pain
Chronic gynecologic conditions
Sexual health
Perimenopause
Breast cancers

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

When you call 303-724-1646, you will be connected to a care coordinator.
The care coordinator will ask about your presenting concern(s), what services you are interested in receiving, how you learned about our program, and some questions specific to your situation.
The care coordinator may then discuss this information with our team to determine the optimal services for you that we can provide or if additional resources are needed.
The care coordinator will then follow up with you after discussion with the team. If our services meet your needs, the care coordinator will then schedule an appointment at a time that works with your schedule. Appointments can be done either in-person or virtually and based on your preference.
You will receive a welcome email with details about the appointment and the steps to complete prior to the appointment. Appointment meeting information will then be sent to you through the UCHealth patient portal, My Health Connection. If you do not have My Health Connection at the time of scheduling, a link will be provided in the welcome email to register for an account.

The short answer is no. 
Reproductive psychiatrists within WBHW do not commonly test hormones or prescribe them. This might seem surprising given that reproductive psychiatrists are specially trained in understanding how changes in hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, influence mental health. However, women experiencing psychiatric symptoms related to reproductive transitions, such depression or anxiety during pregnancy, the postpartum, or menopause, rarely have abnormalities in their hormones. Instead, such psychiatric symptoms are generally caused by abnormalities in how the brain responds to normal variations in these hormones. Currently, the most effective treatments for these psychiatric symptoms are not typically hormones but rather certain types of psychiatric medications. WBHW reproductive psychiatrists have expertise in using these medications to treat psychiatric symptoms in women during reproductive transitions. 
If your WBHW reproductive psychiatrist determines that hormone testing and/or hormone therapy may be appropriate (such as during the menopause transition), they will collaborate with your current primary care physician and obstetrician-gynecologist or provide you with a referral to a physician within the CU health system who specializes in hormone evaluation and treatment.  
For women who are primarily interested in hormone testing and treatment as opposed to psychiatric evaluation and treatment, we recommend consulting with your primary care physician or obstetrician-gynecologist. 
Along with psychiatric medications, WBHW reproductive psychiatrists will sometimes recommend evidence-based nutritional supplements to help treat a woman’s symptoms. However, these are used in conjunction with medications instead of as the primary treatment. For women who are who are primarily looking for complimentary and alternative therapies, other clinics might be a better fit. 

Tools & Resources

CU Campuses

CU Anschutz Medical Campus

Department of Psychiatry

School of Medicine

Clinical Services

Services Offered

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Psychiatry (SOM)

Clinical Services

Services Offered

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Do you accept my insurance?

Do you offer telehealth services?

Do I need a referral?

What can I expect if I request an appointment?

Does WBHW provide hormone testing and/or hormone therapy?

Do I need an intake to attend a group therapy session?

Psychiatry (SOM)