Women’s Behavioral Health
Our Approach
Our organization works across and within systems at the community, local, state, and federal levels to pilot approaches and advance policies that support women’s behavioral health.
Our approach focuses on the periods when a woman is at greatest risk for behavioral health concerns. We have developed and are advancing comprehensive strategies that involve various stakeholders and levels of intervention during these unique developmental periods.
Collective action, coupled with targeted investments and a commitment to addressing the unique needs of women, can pave the way for a future where behavioral health is prioritized, stigma is reduced, and women receive the support they need to thrive.
Women’s Mental Health
Across the Lifespan
Mental health is a critical aspect of overall well-being, and women experience life events and transitions throughout the life course that can affect their mental health. Poor mental health among women has far-reaching consequences that extend beyond individual well-being. Undiagnosed, underdiagnosed, and untreated mental health needs can negatively impact family dynamics, productivity, and economic stability, ultimately affecting entire communities. Societal expectations and the normalization of certain emotional struggles can contribute to the oversight of women’s mental health conditions, and this becomes even more evident for certain populations, including women of color.
This brief emphasizes the importance of addressing women’s mental health through a comprehensive, systems-based, and multifaceted approach. It encompasses specific recommendations, including building social connection to advance promotion, prevention, and early intervention; making treatment more accessible; building capacity within clinical and community-based workforces; fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and research; and centering women’s voices to dismantle barriers and create an equitable future for women’s mental health.
With Women in Mind: A Webinar Series
Women experience events and transitions throughout their lifespan that can impact their behavioral health and well-being. With Women in Mind, a new webinar series from The Hackett Center, covers behavioral health topics related to women’s lives from infancy through menopause. Through facilitated conversation and audience participation, With Women in Mind creates a space to raise awareness, highlight challenges, and spark meaningful, solution-oriented dialogue between specialists and women with lived experience.
With Women in Mind: Understanding and Navigating Behavioral Health for Adolescent Girls
The Hackett Center hosts its fourth webinar on With Women in Mind: Understanding and Navigating Behavioral Health for Adolescent. Marcy Melvin hosts the conversation between Dr. Deborah Cohen and Dr. Peggy B. Smith, who discuss adolescent girls and their behavioral health as it relates to social and emotional development, puberty and the societal pressures they face with an emphasis on ways we can support them during this pivotal time. The series is intended to educate and raise awareness of women’s behavioral health across the lifespan, and to offer a space for dialogue between experts and women with lived experience.