Rate My Professor Maria Pawlak

Stacey A. Pawlak, PhD, is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Psychology & Quantitative Foundations at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. With over 30 years as a psychotherapist, she helped establish the Women’s Wellness & Counseling Service (WWC), a multidisciplinary perinatal mental health clinic, in 2007 and has served as its Director since 2017. The WWC provides specialized psychotherapy, medication management, education, and research for women navigating reproductive challenges, including infertility, perinatal loss, pregnancy and postpartum periods, and OB/GYN concerns. Since 2009, Dr. Pawlak has also been the Health Psychologist at the UI Health Care Center for Advanced Reproductive Care, offering consultations on third-party reproduction and infertility counseling. She delivers evidence-based therapies such as Interpersonal Psychotherapy, for which she is a certified therapist, educator, and trainer, via in-person sessions at the UIHC main campus and North Dodge clinic, as well as telehealth. Her clinical focus includes anxiety disorders, depression, mood disorders, perinatal loss, and infertility.

Dr. Pawlak earned her PhD from the University of Memphis and BA from the University of Michigan. She mentors reproductive health trainees, supervises medical and doctoral students, residents, and fellows, and educates leaders nationally and globally. Her research interests center on maternal mental health and infertility, with publications including 'A Multidisciplinary Pelvic Pain Clinic: Integrated Health Services Model' (Journal of Women’s Health, 2023), analyzing mood, pain, and trauma in chronic pelvic pain patients; and contributions to studies on behavioral health initiatives for perinatal loss, NICU care, IVF group treatment, and antepartum hospitalization. She serves as an ad hoc reviewer for research journals and holds leadership roles as Treasurer for Postpartum Support International-Iowa, Web Manager for National Alliance on Mental Illness-Linn County, and Ethics Committee member for the Iowa Psychological Association. Active in organizations like the International Marcé Society, RESOLVE, American Society for Reproductive Medicine Mental Health Professional Group, and International Society for Interpersonal Psychotherapy, Dr. Pawlak significantly impacts perinatal psychology and women’s reproductive mental health.