Women’s Mental Health Therapy Across California

Women’s mental health often shifts during life’s biggest transitions, and supporting women through those changes is the heart of TrueLife’s work.

Pregnancy, the postpartum months, perimenopause, and menopause can bring anxiety, low mood, irritability, sleep problems, and changes in how you see yourself. Therapy can also help with health anxiety, work stress, and relationship strain.

Sessions are available online throughout California and in person in Redondo Beach, and therapy works alongside your medical care rather than replacing it.

Support through every stage

Whatever stage you’re in, these changes rarely come at a convenient time. They tend to arrive in the middle of an already full life, alongside careers, relationships, children, and aging parents. When your body and mood start to feel unfamiliar, it’s easy to wonder whether you’re overreacting or losing yourself. You aren’t, and you don’t have to sort through it alone.

Therapist with a clipboard in a session with a client

How TrueLife helps

Therapy draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and the science of mindfulness, tailored to what you need right now. Common areas of focus include:

  • Anxiety and low mood during pregnancy and after your baby arrives

  • The identity shifts of becoming a mother, and of later life stages

  • Changes in mood, anxiety, sleep, and focus during perimenopause and menopause

  • Health anxiety and the worry that can surround new symptoms

  • Workplace stress, burnout, and the return to work after a baby or during midlife changes

  • Relationship strain with a partner, family, or friends as roles shift

  • Support for partners who want to help without taking on the stress themselves

If changes in focus or memory are part of what you’re noticing, psychological testing for women can help sort out what’s behind them.


Dr. Katie O'Dowd, licensed clinical psychologist in California

Why work with Dr. O’Dowd

  • Licensed clinical psychologist (PSY 35468) with a Women’s Mental Health Specialist Certificate from PESI and training in pregnancy, postpartum, and menopause

  • Personal experience with health changes and midlife transitions, and an understanding of what it feels like when your body and your life start asking something new of you

  • Experience helping women through relationship changes with partners, family, and friends, including separation, shifting roles, and caring for aging parents

  • A firsthand understanding of workplace pressure from more than 25 years in universities, corporate settings, and startups

  • Also offers psychological testing for women, so changes in focus or memory can be explored at the same practice

How we work together

To begin...

The first step is a free 15-minute phone consultation to talk about what you’re going through and whether TrueLife is a good fit. Intake paperwork is sent before the first session, and sessions are typically weekly or as often as your needs call for.


Rates and meeting formats

Therapy is $250 per 53-minute session. TrueLife is in network with Aetna, Anthem, and UnitedHealthcare and provides superbills for other plans. Sessions are available online anywhere in California and in person in Redondo Beach.


If you need support now

If you are in crisis or having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or call 911 in an emergency. For support during pregnancy or postpartum, call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262). Both lines are free, confidential, and available 24/7.


  • Yes. Anxiety and low mood are common during pregnancy and the postpartum months, and they are treatable. If they’re getting in the way of sleep, daily life, or enjoying your baby, therapy can help.

  • Yes. Many women notice new anxiety, irritability, poor sleep, or trouble concentrating during this stage. Therapy can help you manage these changes, and if focus or memory is a concern, TrueLife also offers psychological testing.

  • Yes. Therapy can help you manage stress, set boundaries, and think through decisions about your career, whether you're feeling burned out, returning to work after a break, or carrying too much at once.

  • Yes. Therapy can help with conflict, communication, separation, and shifting roles in your relationships with partners, family, and friends, including the strain of caring for aging parents.

  • Yes. Therapy is available for partners who want to understand what their loved one is going through and support her without taking on her stress themselves.

  • No. Many women start therapy simply because they feel stuck, stretched thin, or not like themselves. You don't need a specific reason or diagnosis to reach out.

Frequently asked questions

You deserve to feel supported and understood.

A free 15-minute consultation is the easiest place to start.

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