Essential reads & resources

Written by Dianne Mani, PSYD, Sr. Clinical Director, Seven Starling

Women deserve mental health care that helps them feel understood, supported, and not alone.

At Seven Starling, we care for women through some of life’s most meaningful and vulnerable transitions — from fertility and pregnancy to postpartum, perimenopause, and menopause. These seasons can be marked by joy, hope, and transformation, as well as profound physical, emotional, and identity shifts. They can also bring anxiety, sadness, overwhelm, grief, loneliness, and the feeling that no one fully understands what you are carrying.

Our Seven Seasons Care Model was built to meet women in those moments with compassion, structure, and specialized support. It is designed to help patients feel better, build confidence, and move forward with the right care for the season they are in.

About Perinatal Anxiety, Mood Disorders, and Menopause

Mental health challenges during reproductive transitions are more common than many people realize.

Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders are the most common complication of childbirth in the United States, affecting 1 in 5 women. When left untreated, these conditions can affect emotional wellbeing, bonding, prenatal care, and overall family health. They can also have lasting effects on both mothers and children. And these needs do not end after the postpartum period.

Perimenopause and menopause are also significant transitions that can have a real impact on mental health. Perimenopause is the time leading up to a woman’s final menstrual period and can last 4 to 10 years. Postmenopause begins after 12 months without a period, with the average age in the U.S. around 51.5.

During this stage, women may experience anxiety, low mood, irritability, sleep disruption, panic, brain fog, and distress related to changes in identity, body, and relationships. These experiences are real, valid, and deserving of support.

At Seven Starling, we believe women deserve expert mental health care across every reproductive stage — not only in pregnancy and postpartum, but throughout the full arc of womanhood.

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What is the Seven Seasons Care Model?

Our Seven Seasons Care Model meets women where they are, offering compassionate, evidence-based mental health support that helps them feel better, more confident, and less alone.

Our model is grounded in four core ideas:

1. Holistic, evidence-based care

We look at the full picture of a patient’s wellbeing and use care approaches that are grounded in research. That means support can address emotional health, relationships, life stressors, physical symptoms, and the broader context of what a patient is going through.

2. Integrated, team-based support

Patients are supported by a coordinated care team, rather than feeling like they have to navigate everything alone. Therapists, the Medical team, and care team members work together to create a more connected and supportive experience.

3. Goal-oriented treatment

Care is personalized and intentional. Patients and providers work together to identify what matters most, whether that is feeling less overwhelmed, improving sleep, strengthening relationships, or feeling more like themselves again.

4. Dynamic, measurement-guided care

Healing is not always linear, and care should be able to adapt over time. We regularly track progress using tools like the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 every 8 weeks so patients and providers can better understand what is improving, where more support may be needed, and how care can continue to evolve.

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This structure helps patients feel more supported and more confident in their care. Instead of wondering whether they are making progress, they can better understand where they are in the process, what they are working toward, and how support can grow with them over time. The goal is to create a care experience that feels clear, connected, and reassuring — one that helps patients feel better and less alone.

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Understanding the Seven Seasons

At Seven Starling, we believe mental health is not fixed. It moves. It shifts. It changes as women move through different experiences and different needs.

As seasons in nature reflect inevitable cycles of change, each with its own purpose, beauty, and challenges. We use that same lens in care. Rather than seeing emotional health as one static state, we recognize that women move through different emotional seasons over time. Some seasons feel heavy. Some feel expansive. All are valid. All are temporary. And all deserve support.

Each journey at Seven Starling is guided by Seven Seasons:

Grounding — finding safety, steadiness, and a place to begin

Awareness — noticing emotions and patterns with curiosity

Balance — building trust, stability, and regulation

Blooming — making space for identity, change, and growth

Connection — strengthening support, relationships, and community

Nesting — preparing for what is ahead with intention

Renewal — integrating what has been learned and carrying it forward

The goal is not perfection or a perfectly linear path. Patients may revisit a season, move more slowly through one part of care, or need different kinds of support at different moments. That is part of healing. The framework helps women feel less lost and more supported, with language that helps name where they are and what they may need next.

What patients can expect in care

Seven Starling supports women across fertility, pregnancy, perinatal loss, postpartum, parenthood, and menopause. Care is personalized to each woman’s needs, symptoms, and season of life. Depending on the care plan, support may include individual therapy, therapist-led group therapy, medical care, care coordination, and app-based reflections and tools between sessions.

Individual Therapy

Individual therapy is often the foundation of care. It helps patients build emotional awareness, stability, and self-trust with a clinician who understands reproductive transitions.

Group Therapy

Therapist-led group therapy offers connection, validation, and community. It can help women feel less alone, reduce shame, and learn alongside others in similar life stages.

Medical Care

Medical care from a Nurse Practitioner is part of care for our patients, helping us consider any health factors that may be relevant to emotional wellbeing and treatment planning. This allows care to reflect the full picture of what a patient is experiencing. When appropriate, medical support may also include medication management as part of a broader, personalized treatment plan. Note: At this time, medication management is not available for pregnant patients.

Care Coordination

Care coordination helps create a more seamless care experience, making it easier for patients to feel supported across services and providers.

App-Based Support Between Sessions

Patients also have access to app-based reflections and tools designed around the Seven Seasons, helping them build insight and practice skills between appointments.

Care that helps women feel better — and less alone

At Seven Starling, our goal is not only to reduce symptoms. It is to help women feel seen, supported, and cared for in a way that reflects the full complexity of their lives.

Whether someone is navigating postpartum depression, anxiety, trauma, grief, fertility challenges, or the emotional and physical changes of menopause, she deserves care that offers both expertise and hope. Our Seven Seasons Care Model was created to do exactly that: to meet women with compassion, guide them with structure, and help them move toward feeling better, more confident, and less alone.

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Sources

• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (n.d.). Perinatal mental health. https://www.acog.org/programs/perinatal-mental-health
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (2023). Screening and diagnosis of mental health conditions during pregnancy and postpartum. https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/clinical-practice-guideline/articles/2023/06/screening-and-diagnosis-of-mental-health-conditions-during-pregnancy-and-postpartum
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (n.d.). Postpartum depression. https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/postpartum-depression
• National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2024). Menopause: Identification and management (NG23). https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng23
• Soares, C. N. (2019). Depression and menopause: An update on current knowledge and clinical management for this critical window. Medical Clinics of North America, 103(4), 651–667. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31078198/
• Spector, A., Desai, R., Badawy, Y., & Li, Z. (2024). The effectiveness of psychosocial interventions on non-physiological symptoms of menopause: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Maturitas, 188, 108124. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38364979/‍
• Ye, M., Dweck, M. R., Huntley, C. D., & Hunter, M. S. (2022). Efficacy of cognitive therapy and behavior therapy for menopausal symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, 52(14), 2923–2935. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35199638/

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