Clinical Approaches to Women Coping With Pregnancy Loss and Perinatal Depression

Presenters' Biographies:  

Helen L. Coons, Ph.D., ABPP is a clinical psychologist and a board certified Clinical Health Psychologist who specializes in women's health and mental health. She is the President and Clinical Director of Women's Mental Health Associates, Philadelphia; a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Drexel University College of Medicine; and is Adjunct Faculty, Department of Psychiatry, Pennsylvania Hospital, University of Pennsylvania Health System. Dr. Coons received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Temple University in 1990 after interning in Medical Psychology, Duke University Medical Center. In 2005, she represented the APA at the DHHS Primary Health Care Policy Fellowship.

Dr. Coons' independent practice rotates weekly to women's primary care, obstetrics, gynecology, reproductive endocrinology, oncology and urogynecology settings. She specializes in the collaborative care of women across the life span with health, mental health, relationship, sexual, family and professional concerns.

A Fellow of the APA and the Pennsylvania Psychological Association, Dr. Coons is Chair of the Planning Committee for the APA CWP Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology. She was recently elected to CAPP and served on CWP from 2005-2008. Dr. Coons received the 2001 APA, Committee on Women in Psychology Emerging Leader Award as well as the 2005 American Psychological Foundation and APA Division of Health Psychology Timothy B. Jeffrey Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions to Clinical Health Psychology.

Dr. Coons enjoys translating research in health psychology through interactive continuing education to psychologists, physicians and other health and mental health providers; presentations to community, corporate and professional audiences; and by contributing to magazine articles as well as TV, radio, internet, and live web casts programs on women's health and mental health.  

Dr. Pamela A. Geller is Associate Professor of Psychology and Public Health at Drexel University, Research Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Drexel University College of Medicine, and Director of the Drexel University Student Counseling Center on the Center City Hahnemann Campus in Philadelphia. She completed a BA in Art and Biology and BS in Psychology at Newcomb College of Tulane University. She earned her MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology from Kent State University and completed a NIH postdoctoral fellowship in Psychiatric Epidemiology at the Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.

Dr. Geller's research interests involve the association between stressful life events and mental and physical health outcomes. Her work has focused largely on women's health particularly in the area of reproductive health, and has been presented both nationally and internationally. She also appears on programming for BBC Radio. Dr. Geller is Associate Editor of the Health Psychology volume of Wiley's Handbook of Psychology, in which she authored the chapter on women's health psychology. Other substantial work has examined the mental health consequences of miscarriage and has resulted in a number of published articles, some of which are contained as handouts in this CE program. With an Interdisciplinary Women's Health Competency Award from the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Dr. Geller has created an interactive, computer-based curriculum to educate medical students, OB/GYN residents and other healthcare providers, about pregnancy loss and its psychological sequelae, as well as to promote more sensitive provider-patient communication and the provision of appropriate referrals.