Pilar Guzmán is the editorial director of Oprah Daily, where she leads the brand’s coverage of health, wellness, relationships and living well at midlife. She is one of the editors behind Oprah Daily’s The Book of Menopause: Real Talk, Real Science, Real Strategies for Your Next Chapter, which has an introduction by Oprah Winfrey and an opening chapter by Pilar on why “women’s health is hormonal health.” Before Oprah Daily, Pilar was editor in chief of Condé Nast Traveler and Martha Stewart Living, and she was the founding editor of Cookie. Her work focuses on
bringing women clear, science-backed information and challenging the silence and stigma around women’s health.

Pilar and Dr. Judith have worked together for years, from Oprah Daily’s support of Dr. Judith’s book High Functioning to this year’s collaboration on creativity and mental health. Most recently, Pilar and the Oprah Daily editors visited Dr. Judith’s lab to learn about her psychedelic and women’s health research. Dr. Judith was one of the contributing experts to The Book Of Menopause. Dr. Judith was also one of the experts featured on The Menopause Special with
Oprah in 2023.

In this episode, Dr. Judith and Pilar discuss:
 Why “I just don’t feel like myself” is one of the most common signs of perimenopause
 How anxiety, depression, rage and brain fog can be symptoms of perimenopause and menopause
 Why perimenopause, not postmenopause, is the highest-risk window for depression
 How the 2002 Women’s Health Initiative study shaped decades of fear around hormone therapy
 Why so many women are dismissed by their doctors, and how to advocate for yourself
 How menopause can strain marriages, friendships and work, and what partners can do to help
 “Menopause apathy,” losing the urge to people-please, and finding a new sense of self
 Why many women say postmenopause is the happiest chapter of their lives
 How to overcome High Functioning Depression as a woman in midlife.
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Oprah Daily: oprahdaily.com

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Dr. Chris Pernell is a public health physician and the Director of the NAACP Center for Health Equity. She works on health justice, community advocacy, and preventing disease across whole populations. She earned her bachelor's degree cum laude from Princeton University, her MD from Duke University School of Medicine, and her MPH from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. She completed her residency in General Preventive Medicine at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Before joining the NAACP, Dr. Pernell was the first Chief Strategic Integration and Health Equity Officer at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey.

She also founded The Esther Group, a firm that advises on public health and health equity strategy. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and a Fellow and Regent-at-Large of the American College of Preventive Medicine. She also serves on the health equity committee of the New Jersey Reparations Council.

Her honors include the New Jersey Public Health Association's Dr. Ezra Mundy Hunt Award and the American College of Preventive Medicine's Ron Davis Special Recognition Award. The NAACP New Jersey State Conference also named her one of its & 100 Black People Who Changed the World. She is a frequent media voice on public health and health equity.

In this episode, Dr. Judith and Dr. Pernell discuss:
 Racial inequity in medicine and how it shows up in patient care
 Why Black patients &; pain and symptoms are still too often dismissed
 How academic medicine recruits Black physicians, then pushes them out
 Mentorship, promotion, and who gets told they don't belong
 The emotional toll of racism on Black healthcare workers
 What health justice could look like, and the NAACP's role in getting there
 Navigating High-Functioning Depression as a Black professional

Connect with Dr. Chris Pernell:
https://www.drchrispernell.com/about.php

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Disclaimer: You may want to consider your individual mental health needs with a licensed medical professional. This page is not medical advice.

Aseanté Renee, LMSW, helps people create lives they don’t need to escape. As a licensed therapist, international speaker, and Founder/Chief Wellness Officer of The Axon Group, an industry leading transformative coaching firm, she focuses on pathways to sustainable growth and healing because no one has time to keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. In practice, she is an executive and performance coach with over two decades of experience in trauma informed care and social justice reform. Much of her expertise lives at the intersection of healing, wellness, leadership, and career advancement. She is also the founder of the Susu House, a nonprofit that elevates healing equity and access while eliminating financial barriers to people of the global majority through sponsored retreats, workshops, trainings, and community events. Because money shouldn’t be a hindrance to healing.

Some of her other work includes onsite performance coaching for executives pitching at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, a Shipt (a subsidiary of Target) Youth Cohort partnership with Issa Rae, and an ongoing partnership with The Loveland Foundation to provide Healing Circles for their therapists. Other partnerships include Yitty, Lizzo’s line at Fabletics, for their “Ask A Therapist” IG Campaign for Mental Health Awareness month, a monthly Dope Black Women Wellness Salon Series, Sister CEO Retreats, and her 4-week The Recovering Perfectionist workshop series.

She launched the Retiring Superwoman Executives Cohort, to support Black women in leadership on HOW to set better boundaries, reduce perfectionism, delegate, rest, and step back from the Glass Cliff. Aseanté is also the author of The Perfect Lie: A Reset Guide for Recovering Perfectionists.

 How to cope with burnout
 How to face anxiety as a leader in the workplace.
 How to take care of your mental health during stressful work situations.
 How be your authentic self in the workplace
 How to challenge leadership stereotypes.
 How to access culturally competent healthcare.
 How to advocate for your mental health?
 How to talk to your co-workers about boundaries.
 How to Cope with High Functioning Depression.

Aseante Renee Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aseanterenee/
Aseante Renee Website https://www.aseante.com/


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Disclaimer: You may want to consider your individual mental health needs with a licensed medical professional. This page is not medical advice.

Guerdy Abraira has lived life in motion. Born in Haiti, raised in Paris, and rebuilt in
Miami, she learned early that survival meant adapting. From excelling for approval to achieving for worth, she spent years perfecting everything around her while hiding her own pain. A breast cancer diagnosis forced her world to stop, pushing her to finally face herself.

From Trauma to Trophies shares how she transformed chaos into clarity, grief into
gratitude, and motion into meaning. It is not a story about fame or survival, but truth — the kind that breaks you open so you can rebuild stronger.
Guerdy is known for elevating everything she touches as one of Vogue’s top wedding planners and the creator of GUERDYFY. A speaker, TV personality, entrepreneur, and cancer survivor, she lives in Florida with her husband, Russell, and their sons, Miles and Liam.

You watched her shave her head and walk into chemotherapy with the world watching, facing breast cancer with grace, grit, and raw transparency. But that was just one chapter in the layered story of Guerdy Abraira. From being named one of Vogue’s Top Wedding Planners to commanding screens
on The Real Housewives of Miami, Guerdy has long been a symbol of resilience and reinvention. Trauma to Trophies is her most personal unveiling yet. She takes you beyond the glam and the cameras to the complicated, cross-continental journey that shaped her, from Port-au-Prince to Paris to Miami. A life of constant adaptation, cultural shifts, and emotional survival forged a woman who learned to GUERDYFY her pain, turning life’s hardest moments into fuel for her rise.

This isn’t just a memoir. It’s a manifesto. A blueprint. A mirror. Guerdy pulls back the curtain on the emotional scars no one sees, the silent traumas she’s edited herself around, and the unapologetic strength she built in response.
Trauma to Trophies will challenge your assumptions, confront your survival patterns, and invite you to redefine strength on your own terms. Whether you’re rebuilding from a diagnosis, heartbreak, loss, or reinvention, this book dares you to turn yourhttps://drjudithjoseph.com/ own trauma into trophies.

 How to cope with illness.
 How to face anxiety in the face of a cancer diagnosis.
 How to take care of your mental health during stressful life periods.
 How be your authentic self.
 How to challenge beauty norms.
 How to access culturally competent healthcare.
 How to advocate for your health?
 How to talk to your children about illness.
 How to Cope with High Functioning Depression.

Guerdy’s Instagram
Guerdy’s Book From Trauma To Trophies

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 High Functioning Book
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 YouTube
 Anhedonia Quiz

Disclaimer: Consider your individual mental health needs with a licensed medical
professional. This content is not medical advice.

Jumaane D. Williams is the Public Advocate of the City of New York. Previously, he served on the NYC Council representing the 45th District. Jumaane is a first-generation Brooklynite of Grenadian heritage. He graduated from the public school system, overcoming the difficulties of Tourettes and ADHD to earn a Masters Degree from Brooklyn College.

He began his career as a community organizer at the Greater Flatbush Beacon School and later served as the Executive Director of NYS Tenants Neighbors. There, he fought for truly affordable, income-targeted housing across New York City and State.

In the NYC Council, Jumaane championed landmark legislation that fundamentally transformed policing in NYC. Jumaane sponsored the Community Safety Act, reforming the Citys Police Department to address the abuse of Stop, Question & Frisk in communities of color and creating the NYPDs Office of Inspector General to investigate unlawful & unethical behavior. As former Co-Chair of the Council’s Task Force to Combat Gun Violence, he helped create New York’s Crisis Management System, which
funds Cure Violence Groups that work to reduce shootings through a multi-pronged approach. The program fundamentally transformed the city’s approach to gun violence prevention, and as Public Advocate he continues to work for its expansion and improvement today.

Jumaane has led the fight for better policing and safer streets, affordable housing, and transparency and accountability in City government. As Public Advocate, Jumaane continues to be an activist-elected official who brings the voices of everyday New Yorkers to City government and makes New York a truly progressive beacon for all.

Jumanne joins us on The Vault to discuss how he was able to thrive and become an advocate in spite of many challenges. He also discusses the importance of decreasing mental health stigma and the importance of inclusive environments.

 How to thrive whilst living with Tourette Syndrome.
 How to become a mental health advocate.
 How to advocate for your mental health.
 The importance of inclusive environments.
 What are myths around Tourette Syndrome and Tic disorder.
 How to Cope with High Functioning Depression.

Follow Jumaane Williams
Jumaane Williams Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/jumaane.williams/?hl=en

Jumaane Williams Website
https://advocate.nyc.gov/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=linktree&utm_campaign=visit+our+website

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Disclaimer: You may want to consider your individual mental health needs with a licensed medical professional. This page is not medical advice.

Dan Wakeford is one of the world's leading experts in celebrity and entertainment media. Over a career spanning nearly three decades, he has served as editor-in-chief of some of the industry's most influential brands, including People and Us Weekly, working with everyone from Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Aniston to Prince William, President Obama, and President Biden.

Today, Dan is the founder of Celebrity Intelligence, a newsletter and platform that uncovers meaningful insights from the worlds of celebrity, entertainment, and popular culture.

An award-winning editor and media executive, Dan has built and transformed iconic brands by growing audiences, expanding revenue, and creating culturally relevant content. As editor-in-chief of Us Weekly, he led a successful brand refresh that modernized the publication, expanded its reach, and strengthened its authority in celebrity reporting.

Previously, as editor-in-chief of People and Editorial Director of Entertainment Weekly, Dan oversaw editorial operations, strategy, and growth across both brands. Under his leadership, People reached more than 118 million consumers each month, generated billions of weekly impressions, expanded into television, podcasts, video, and Apple News+, and became one of the most successful media brands in the industry.

Alongside his commercial success, Dan has championed purpose-driven journalism, leading coverage on issues including public health, domestic violence, racism, climate change, and LGBTQ+ advocacy. He also prioritized diversity and representation both in content and newsroom leadership.

His work has earned numerous honors, including Folio, GLAAD, Didi Hirsch, and Adweek awards. Widely respected throughout the entertainment industry, Dan has secured unprecedented access to some of the world's most influential public figures and helped shape cultural conversations for decades.

Dan joins us on The Vault to discuss why celebrities, influencers, and public figures have such a profound impact on society. We explore parasocial relationships, the responsibilities that come with fame, and how public discussions around mental health can influence policy, awareness, and cultural attitudes. He also shares the vision behind Celebrity Intelligence and how he is bringing a smarter, more thoughtful lens to celebrity culture.

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Disclaimer: You may want to consider your individual mental health needs with a licensed medical professional. This page is not medical advice.

Catherine Birndorf, MD, is a Reproductive Psychiatrist, the Co-Founder, CEO, and Medical Director of The Motherhood Center of New York. Dr. Birndorf is the Founding Director of the Payne Whitney Women’s Program at Weill Cornell Medicine – New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

In addition, she is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Obstetrics & Gynecology. A graduate of Smith College, Dr. Birndorf attended Brown University Medical School and did her Psychiatry Residency at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. A past Postpartum Support International board member, Dr. Birndorf now serves on the President’s Advisory Council. For ten years, Dr. Birndorf was a regular mental health columnist for Self Magazine and has appeared on numerous television programs, including The Today
Show, Good Morning America, MSNBC, and CNN. Dr. Birndorf recently consulted on a special postpartum episode of Law & Order. Dr. Birndorf’s first book, The Nine Rooms of Happiness, was an NYTimes bestseller published in 2010. Her most recent book, published by Simon &
Schuster in 2019, is entitled What No One Tells You: A Guide to Your Emotions from Pregnancyto Motherhood.

Dr. Birndorf joins us on The Vault to dispel myths around antidepressant use during and after pregnancy, to discuss how hormones play a role in our mental health and wellbeing and to discuss the unique challenges and treatments for women’s mental health. She also discusses how men may struggle during the postpartum period and how those trying to become pregnant have their own unique challenges with regard to
mental health.

 How to diagnosis postpartum depression.
 How men struggle in the postpartum period
 Infertility and mental health.
 How treat postpartum depression.
 What causes postpartum depression?
 Can I take antidepressants during pregnancy?
 How to diagnosis OCD in pregnancy?
 How to cope with burnout as a Physician.
 How to Cope with High Functioning Depression.

Follow Dr. Birndorf and Learn more about The Motherhood Center.
Dr. Cathrine Birndorf Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drcatherinebirndorf/
The Motherhood Center https://themotherhoodcenter.com/

Dr. Catherine Birndorf’s Books:
The Nine Rooms Of Happiness
What No One Tells You: A Guide to Your Emotions From Pregnancy to Motherhood and Beyond.

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Disclaimer: You may want to consider your individual mental health needs with a licensed medical professional. This page is not medical advice.