HERvoice

"Every person's journey through menopause is very unique... listening and understanding the impact and level of distress for some of these conditions is really important."  Virtual mental health counseling is now available at HerMD for California residents!  Dr. Michael Krychman is HerMD's Chief Medical Officer in addition to a Board Certified OBGYN and an AASECT Certified Sexu...

“If we know so much about the science of our skin. Why is there so much subjectivity around skincare?”   Devanshi Garg Sareen is a skincare enthusiast, a 3x founder, and a mother. Hailing from New York City by way of Iran, India, the UK, New Zealand, and Germany, almost always an outsider, she learned early on to look at people through the lens of shared human experiences. After 10+ years working...

"With age comes wisdom, creativity, ingenuity, and lessons learned. There's so much for women as they transition into their menopause and beyond to contribute to the world.  And yet, we don't pay attention to them....women are saying we're no longer going to take this.  We're going to talk about this. This is no longer taboo...While healthcare is falling behind, women are...

What needs to happen to provide better care for people with endometriosis? A LOT.  Shannon Cohn, Director of Below the Belt, shares her thoughts with Dr. Somi Javaid.  Below the Belt is a captivating documentary that follows a diverse selection of people with endometriosis as they navigate their diagnosis, from personal symptoms and navigating their everyday lives to the impact on their relationsh...

"Train for menopause like you're training for the marathon." Routinely dismissed, misdiagnosed, and undertreated, heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States. Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum is on a mission to empower women to live healthy, vital lives through comprehensive heart-centered prevention and wellness with her new app, Adesso.

"I almost became a statistic myself and I couldn't even believe it while it was happening. But maternal mortality doesn't just tell us the number of women dying in child birth...it also tells us how well a country's healthcare system is functioning. It tells us  the overall position of  women in society." Anushay Hossain is a feminist journalist and political analyst whose...

Could facilitating oral sex be the key to closing the orgasm gap?  Despite consistently ranking oral sex being one of their favorite if not their favorite sexual activities and three times as likely to lead to orgasm when compared to penetration, 87% of women have turned down receiving oral sex for a number of reasons.  On this episode of HerVoice, we sit down with Melanie Cristol, Founder, and CE...

"People who are trauma survivors, their body has not been a safe place. It's not a safe place to land and then there's that disconnect between the body and mind." On this episode of HerVoice, we sit down with Exhale to Inhale Instructor Ellyn Gerry to explore the mind-body connection and the healing power of trauma-informed yoga.  Ellyn Gerry has over three decades of combined...

"What we are trying to do is reframe periods to be something that is powerful and something that is exciting to talk about at the same time." Myths, misconceptions, and misinformation about periods feed into stigma which can be hugely damaging for menstruators around the world. On this episode of HerVoice, we sit down with Nadya Okamoto to discuss period poverty and the stigma around men...

"When you come from an approach of telehealth first, of digital-first, it's really what are the logistical challenges to reach those patients everywhere.... we're able to reach people in a way that traditional healthcare hasn't been able to. Through that we also know, for example, we have helped patients in 70% of counties that contain a healthcare provider shortage area. We al...

"All of us can become better informed and understand what are we entitled to and what we need. And if what we need isn't want we get how can we change that?" Reproductive rights have been among the most contentious and volatile issues in the United States. In this episode, Delphine O'Rourke sets the record straight on the ruling from data privacy concerns to contraception acces...

"I challenge anyone who hasn't looked in the eyes of these women to try to make any rulings or judgments about their lives and to make decisions about their bodies." Reproductive rights have been among the most contentious and volatile issues in the United States. In this episode, our founder, Dr. Somi Javaid sets the record straight on how the Roe v. Wade ruling will affect patient...

Did you know 40% of us are not contracting our pelvic floor muscles properly?  Tune in to part two of our pelvic floor episodes with The Origin Physical Therapist, Dr. Ashley Rawlins where we unpack pelvic floor health, pleasure (sexual dysfunction, improving arousal) and kegels, to learn more.  Ashley Rawlins is a doctor of physical therapy. She has advanced certification in the treatment of Pelv...

"Urinary incontinence affects 1 in 3 women." Although an extremely prevalent issue, many don’t realize that urinary incontinence, or the involuntary leakage of urine, is 100% treatable.  This is part one of two pelvic floor episodes with The Origin Physical Therapist, Dr. Ashley Rawlins where we unpack pelvic floor basics and incontinence. Stay tuned for part two, where we discuss the pe...

"This war on cancer that we have had for the last 50 years has made it such that we can now focus on all the repercussions of treatment because so many people are surviving for so much longer."  All forms of cancer treatment have the potential to negatively affect physical sexual function in women, including sexual desire, arousal, and pain. Despite the prevalence of sexual dysfunction,...

How can you reclaim your pleasure?  This episode unpacks how somatic psychology works within sex therapy, sex positivity,  moving past sexual trauma, and more.  Dr. Holly Richmond is a licensed marriage and family therapist, and certified sex therapist, and holds a Ph. D. in Somatic Psychology. Dr. Richmond is one of North America’s leading sex therapists, serving women, men, couples, and gender-d...

Over 50 million women in the US are menopausal, yet, there is still a lack of education and awareness around menopausal symptoms and treatment options. Why is society still not ready to talk openly (and without shame or stigma!) about menopause and its symptoms?  The latest episode of the HerVoice podcast is focused on talking all things menopause with Womaness founders Sally Mueller and Michelle...

In this episode of HerVoice we’re talking with Libby, a patient of ours who came to us with several sexual health issues including vaginismus (Vaginismus is the body's automatic reaction to the fear of vaginal penetration. Whenever penetration is attempted, the vaginal muscles tighten up on their own. Women have no control over it.), vulvodynia (chronic pain in the vulva), and decreased libid...

Imagine receiving a life-changing phone call. What would it be about? Saundra Pelletier, CEO of Evofem Biosciences received that phone call in 2018. It was her doctor on the other line. She had stage 3 breast cancer.  Saundra is not only a CEO, she is also a mother and a true advocate for women. When she received that phone call, she was in the midst of a Phase 3 clinical trial of what is now know...

40 - 100% of cancer patients struggle with some type of sexual dysfunction. For breast cancer survivors, the diagnosis of breast cancer encompasses not only physical, but also social and psychological concerns due to the importance of the breasts with respect to body image, sexuality and motherhood. Treatments that cancer patients undergo can have a large impact on sexual function: chemotherapy, s...

Irregular periods, hot flashes, sexual dysfunction, mood swings - you may be experiencing perimenopause and YES, there are treatment options to help women manage the 34 symptoms associated with perimenopause.  So, what exactly is perimenopause?  Perimenopause means "around menopause" and is the time in a woman’s life where her body is making the natural transition to menopause. Women exp...

Why do so many women settle for bad sex? Many of us have experienced it, and yet, we don’t talk about it that much.  As women we often see ourselves in the role of satisfying men while ignoring our own sexual satisfaction. We fake orgasms and go through the motions to make sure our partners are sexually fulfilled and oftentimes, it is just easier to have bad sex than to talk with our partners abou...

75% of women experience sexual pain at some point. Yes, 75%. Why are we not talking about it more? We are told sex will hurt the first time, and for many that may be the case - but sex should not continually hurt. Why, as women, are we not told that we may experience pain during sex and that it is NOT normal?   There are many reasons a woman may experience painful sex - it could be a gynecologic p...

Approximately 57% of high school seniors are sexually active. Studies have shown that those who are more well informed about sex are in less of a hurry to lose their virginity. As Abigail and I are navigating our first year of college, we found that the stigma of sex is very different than high school, and a lot of girls have certain "sexpectations" and “goals” that they want to hit befo...

Research has found that far fewer women than men are having orgasms during sex.  When we look at sex and orgasms more specifically, the vast majority of women do not orgasm from vaginal penetration alone. Most women can only experience orgasm with clitoral stimulation. So, what can we do to close this pleasure gap and have more (and better!) orgasms?  During this episode we talk with Alex Fine, co...