Dr Dawn Kingston

Dr Dawn Kingston https://www.drdawnmentalhealth4women.com/research-studies I’m Dr. Dawn Kingston and I’m on a mission to help women live their best lives. I want to change this.

Dr. Dawn Kingston & The HOPE Team
Helping Women Overcome Mental Heathcare Barriers
🌼HOPE: Free selfguided therapy
📖Book: Your Brain on Pregnancy
🐑Farm in off hrs
⬇️Join a research study! My work centers on helping pregnant women take care of their mental and emotional well-being. Healthy families depend upon healthy mothers, and my goal is to help mothers be at their very best. I have two grown sons of my own, and I know firsthand that I can only support them well when I am healthy myself. As an associate professor at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, and holder of the Lois Hole Hospital for Women Cross-Provincial Chair in Perinatal Mental Health, I’m able to help pregnant women build strong emotional health and become the parent they want to be. I’ve been doing research on prenatal mental health for the past 10 years. I became seriously interested in women’s mental health during pregnancy when I was a nurse caring for sick infants in a neonatal intensive care unit. I realized that the medical field was focused on physical pregnancy problems, but some new research was linking prenatal stress, anxiety and depression to preterm birth and other health problems in children whose mothers suffered with prenatal anxiety or depression. A decade later, we now know that mental health problems are among the most common health problems in pregnancy. Unfortunately, help for emotional and mental health during pregnancy is often unavailable when and where women need it and they end up feeling alone and desperate. My goal is to share information and answers to questions that I constantly hear from women, their families and their prenatal care providers and provide bottom line, practical solutions that you can use to support your emotional health. Everything I offer will be based on our best evidence for how to prevent and treat emotional health problems in pregnancy. One last thing. The material I provide is meant to help you find the help you need to restore or maintain you mental and emotional health. As with all online health information, you should share it with your own provider before beginning any course of treatment. Warmly,
Dr. K

12/19/2025

The end of the year can be a hectic time! It’s okay to say ‘no’ to some commitments and recharge whether that’s a quiet day, or an upbeat day with close friends, or hitting the gym - if it helps you reset that’s ok!

If the shorter days have got you down, you’re not alone. Winter Solstice - the shortest day of the year in the northern ...
12/16/2025

If the shorter days have got you down, you’re not alone. Winter Solstice - the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere is coming up, on December 21st, from 8.55hrs of daylight in Toronto to 5.35hrs in Whitehorse.

However many hours of light one city may have compared to another, we’re all getting less with the sun setting before 5pm. This reduction in light can be challenging for many people.

If you’re experiencing the winter blues, simple adjustments may help. Until spring arrives in full force, it could feel really difficult to cope with the long days. Here are several things you can do in the meantime to ease some of symptoms of SAD:

- Take care of your body: Stretch, prioritize sleep hygiene, hydrate.
- Plan ahead: meet up with friends, decide on a weekly mealplan
- Increase your light intake: throw the curtains open first thing in the morning, try light therapy
- Get an assessment done for depression/speak with your doctor: the HOPE Platform offers access to a simple depression screener

Looking a thoughtful holiday gift for an expecting friend or new mom? Why not gift a copy of “Your Brain on Pregnancy” a...
12/12/2025

Looking a thoughtful holiday gift for an expecting friend or new mom? Why not gift a copy of “Your Brain on Pregnancy” and slip a card into their stocking?

With real-life stories, easy-to-use self-assessments, and advice on how to talk to your doctor, this definitive and practical book breaks down stigma and gives women the tools they need to safeguard their health and their baby’s health for all the milestones to come.

Attachment refers to the idea that people are hard-wired to form attachments and there are four kinds of attachment in h...
12/09/2025

Attachment refers to the idea that people are hard-wired to form attachments and there are four kinds of attachment in human relationships, with the underlying message is that every person is formed by their early experiences of nurturing and care.

These early experiences impact the way each person responds to situations as adults, with patterns that have a way of popping up in life.

You may find yourself in relationships that are unhealthy or even dangerous. It’s can be helpful to look at these learned patterns and make choices to unravel the harmful pieces.

Your early years may not have been ideal, but with some focused work and self-compassion, you can unravel the unhealthy strands of your personal story and work in some helpful strands that make you a stronger, healthier person. 

Access the Attachment chapter in HOPE’s IPT Course (Interpersonal Psychotherapy) and get a copy of the accompanying mini e-book to learn more. These resources can help you identify your attachment style(s) and equip you to improve communication in relationships.

Grateful for this heartfelt, honest review of the book, 'Your Brain on Pregnancy' from !
12/04/2025

Grateful for this heartfelt, honest review of the book, 'Your Brain on Pregnancy' from !

✨ I got my head examined for…. my mother. ✨Our mothers, grandmothers, and aunts went through life without research that ...
12/02/2025

✨ I got my head examined for…. my mother. ✨

Our mothers, grandmothers, and aunts went through life without research that truly understood women’s brains. But now, we can change that.

Dr. Dawn Kingston and her team are studying EEG brain scans to better understand women’s mental health at different life stages. By participating, I’m helping pave the way for future non-invasive therapies that could support women’s mental health and well-being—something my mother never had.

Join me in making a difference. 💜

📍 Edmonton & Calgary
📩 hope@ucalgary.ca

This study has received approval from the Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board at the University of Calgary -0104.

Did you know that approximately 75% of women aged between 45 years and 55 years suffer from symptoms of menopause”? Expl...
11/28/2025

Did you know that approximately 75% of women aged between 45 years and 55 years suffer from symptoms of menopause”?

Explore resource recommendations for menopause and mental health through

books
websites
journals
and more.

In our research, we have found that many women prefer to self manage their mental health experience. That’s why the plat...
11/25/2025

In our research, we have found that many women prefer to self manage their mental health experience. That’s why the platform was created with the help of funders in the Alberta area.

The HOPE Platform offers three types of therapy in course format for a self-guided experience:

CBT - Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
IPT - Interpersonal Psychotherapy, and
a mini course on trauma.

While these courses do not replace professional therapeutic support, it meets the need for mental health support in those periods between sessions, or if an individual is not ready to reach out to a healthcare professional for whatever reason.

Got questions about the platform? Feel free to ask away!

11/17/2025

The new HOPE Platform is now live!

Some new changes in this enhanced version of the HOPE Platform include:

- The HOPE Platform living on the same website as all of our other resources - no more clicking between two sites!
- Structural changes for easier navigation
- Easier, clearer access to therapies, topics, resources and screeners
- Progress bars to track and bookmark progress while completing therapy courses

The HOPE Platform was initially designed and continues to be a research-based resource to support women’s mental health throughout life. It fills a gap and a need for self-guided care, whether that is due to long wait times for professional help, support needed in-between therapy appointments, a desire to manage mental health on one’s own, or something else, HOPE is here for you and/or your clients.

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Calgary, AB

Website

https://www.drdawnmentalhealth4women.com/

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