President

Barbara Byers, MD, MPH
Barbara Byers is the Co-Founder of the DC Metro Perinatal Mental Health Collaborative.  She is a reproductive psychiatrist in Chevy Chase MD specializing in the treatment of women who have mood and anxiety disorders surrounding the perinatal period.  Dr. Byers graduated from the University of Virginia with a BS in Chemistry with a specialization in Biochemistry in 1997 and then got her Master’s in Public Health in 2000 where did a needs assessment and developed a health curriculum for homeless women in Savannah, Georgia.  In 2004 she graduated from medical school at the University of Rochester and then did a psychiatry residency at New York University/Bellevue where she trained in reproductive psychiatry.  Dr. Byers served as the medical director of the Women’s Mental Health Program at Georgetown University Hospital from 2008-2012 where she clinically managed patients and taught residents and faculty about perinatal mental health.  She has done multiple trainings and interviews for media outlets over the past 14 years of her career.

VICE PRESIDENT

Aimee Danielson, PhD
Aimee Danielson, PhD, is the Founder and Director of the Women’s Mental Health Program at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. She is a licensed clinical psychologist with specialized training and over 15 years of experience in Maternal Mental Health. Dr. Danielson received her BA from the University of Virginia and earned her doctorate in Clinical Health Psychology from the University of Miami in 2002, where her passion for maternal mental health began though her work with HIV+ mothers. She completed her clinical internship at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Frustrated by the lack of training opportunities in perinatal mental health, she went on to create and then complete a one-year fellowship in women’s perinatal mental health, where she further developed her specialization in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders in pregnant and postpartum women. Arriving at Georgetown in 2008, Dr. Danielson’s commitment to maternal mental health led to the development of the Women’s Mental Health Program. Since then, the Women’s Mental Health Program has been the primary program in the region providing specialized psychiatric evaluation and treatment for women with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. In addition to her clinical practice, she is actively involved in medical education as Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Obstetrics & Gynecology at Georgetown University School of Medicine, where she teaches medical students, residents, and attending physicians on the topic of perinatal and maternal mental health (PMMH). Dr. Danielson is a founding member of the DC Metro Perinatal Mental Health Collaborative and an active member of several local maternal mental health initiatives, both of which have enabled her to grow the capacity of PMMH-trained mental health providers across DC and serve as an advocate for PMMH awareness and services in and around the District of Columbia.

Membership Chair

Emma Basch, PsyD
Dr. Emma Basch is a licensed clinical psychologist with a focus on women’s mental health and a specialty in pregnancy and the postpartum period. She is the founder of Dr. Emma Basch & Associates, a group practice specializing in women’s mental health, supporting clients through telehealth in over 30 states. Dr. Basch also offers training on perinatal wellness to mental health providers and allied professionals, and provides training and supervision as a clinical instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at GWU. Dr. Basch is also trained in infertility and third-party reproduction and provides consultation and testing for intended parents, gamete donors, and gestational carriers.

EDUCATION CHAIR

Rachel Schechter, LICSW
Rachel Schechter has worked as a licensed clinical social worker for over a decade. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University and a Masters degree in Social Work from New York University. She has worked in a variety of settings including agencies focused on college-aged students, community mental health clinics, and a center that specializes in learning differences and attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder. She specializes in a variety of issues including depression, anxiety, life transitions, loss and grief, relationships, and women’s issues. Most recently she has focused a large part of her practice towards perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADS).

Rachel holds a certificate of advanced training from New York University. She has also received advanced training in cognitive behavior therapy, mindfulness, and postpartum related issues. In addition to her private practice, Rachel works as a group leader for a non-profit specializing in education and support for new mothers called PACE (pacemoms.org). She also volunteers as a coordinator and group leader for Postpartum International, and is a part of Mary's Center “Perinatal Mental Health Champions” which is a program aimed at sharing information and educating the Washington, DC community about PMADS. She lives in Maryland with her husband and their two children.

TECHNOLOGY CHAIR

Joanna Strait, LICSW
Joanna is a licensed clinical therapist who specializes in reproductive, maternal and quarter life mental health. In her private practice, Joanna works with clients who are struggling with depression, anxiety, life transitions, and perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs). Joanna has particular interest and expertise in perinatal grief and loss to include miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant loss. She has been in practice for over ten years and began her social work career working in a community mental health setting supporting mothers and families impacted by HIV/AIDS. She also has experience providing therapy within a hospice setting and brings those skills into her perinatal grief and loss work.

Joanna believes in providing hopeful, pregnant, postpartum and grieving moms with evidenced based therapy that incorporates practical tools and skills that they can start using right away so that they feel better as quickly as possible. Joanna also provides supervision to LMSW/LGSW clinicians with a particular focus on growing their perinatal knowledge and clinical skills. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and their three children.

FOUNDERS CHAIR

Lisa Catapano, MD, PhD
Dr. Catapano graduated from Harvard Medical School in 2003 with an MD and PhD in Neurobiology.  She completed her residency in Psychiatry at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), followed by a fellowship in clinical research at NIMH. Her fellowship research focused on the molecular basis of bipolar disorder, and the development of new therapeutics to treat mood disorders.

She received multiple awards as a resident and fellow, including the NIMH Outstanding Resident Award, the Laughlin fellowship of the American College of Psychiatrists, and the American Psychiatric Association/GlaxoSmithKline Fellowship. She was elected to the prestigious American College of Psychiatrists in 2014, and was selected to lead the workshop for early program directors at the 2015 American Association of Directors of Psychiatry Residency Training. In her current practice, Dr. Catapano specializes in mood disorders in women, particularly as related to infertility, pregnancy and the postpartum period. 

Dr. Catapano is an Associate Professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences.