Women’s Mental Health Related Content

Staff Profile: Karen S. Kantor, LICSW

Karen S. Kantor, LICSW, is an outpatient therapist and licensed social worker in the Division of Alcohol, Drugs, and Addiction at McLean Hospital. She has extensive training in the treatment of substance use disorders and co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses, such as mood and anxiety disorders. Ms...

Women’s Mental Health Leadership Council

McLean’s Women’s Mental Health Leadership Council is a growing group of influential women with a strong interest in and dedication to improving mental health care for women and girls, and a willingness to make women’s mental health a philanthropic priority. The council’s charge is to learn about...

Staff Profile: Kayia L. Akoun, MD

Kayia L. Akoun, MD, is a staff psychiatrist at McLean Hospital’s Dissociative Disorders and Trauma Inpatient Program. Her areas of interest include women’s mental health, trauma disorders, mood disorders, and college mental health.

Staff Profile: Lois W. Choi-Kain, MEd, MD

Lois W. Choi-Kain, MEd, MD, is the director of the Gunderson Personality Disorders Institute. The institute provides training and supervision for numerous proven treatments, including mentalization-based treatment (MBT), dialectical behavioral therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (DBT-PTSD)...

Staff Profile: Karen L. Jacob, PhD

Karen L. Jacob, PhD, is the program director of the Gunderson Residence. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from Clark University and completed her post-doctoral training at Cambridge Health Alliance at Harvard Medical School. Her clinical training has been primarily in cognitive behavior...

Staff Profile: Laura Payne, PhD

Laura Payne, PhD, is the director of the Clinical and Translational Pain Research Laboratory at McLean Hospital. Her research focuses on identifying neurobiological, behavioral, and psychological biomarkers related to pain, particularly menstrual pain in adolescents. Specifically, she is interested...

Staff Profile: Hannah Potvin, MD

Hannah Potvin, MD, joined McLean in 2024 as a staff psychiatrist at The Pavilion and to build women’s reproductive mental health services. She received her medical degree at the University of Texas, Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. From there she went to Emory University in Atlanta where she...

Staff Profile: R. Kathryn McHugh, PhD

R. Kathryn McHugh, PhD, engages in clinical and translational research focusing on the nature and treatment of anxiety and addiction. She is particularly interested in the study of affective vulnerability factors, such as distress intolerance and stress reactivity, that are common across...

Staff Profile: Ana Rodriguez-Villa, MD, MBA

Ana Rodriguez-Villa, MD, MBA, is the associate medical director in McLean’s Clinical Evaluation Center and a staff psychiatrist at the Gunderson Residence, an intensive, specialized residential program for women with severe personality disorders. Dr. Rodriguez-Villa works with individuals, couples...

Staff Profile: Brandon Unruh, MD

Brandon Unruh, MD, is the medical director of the Gunderson Residence, an intensive, specialized residential program for women with severe personality disorders. His clinical approach is anchored in the integration of evidence-based treatments such as dialectical behavior therapy, mentalization...

Klarman Eating Disorders Center

Founded with the generous support of the Klarman Family Foundation, the Klarman Eating Disorders Center (KEDC) provides world-class treatment for young adults, including cisgender women, transgender women, and non-binary individuals, ages 18 to 28. Our residential and partial hospital program...