ABOUT DR. Unverferth
Dr. Katie is a psychiatrist serving adults throughout Los Angeles from her private practice in Santa Monica. She is an expert in Reproductive Psychiatry and Women’s Mental Health and treats conditions such as premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, postpartum obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), postpartum psychosis, mood changes after infertility or loss, and perimenopausal depression and anxiety. Dr. Katie splits her time between academic medicine and private practice, and is currently the Director of the UCLA Women’s Life Center and the Medical Director of the UCLA Maternal Mental Health Program.
Dr. Katie lectures nationally on topics such as depression in pregnancy, postpartum depression, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). She teaches psychiatry trainees at the David Geffen School of Medicine in Reproductive Psychiatry and Women’s Mental Health, and is an Assistant Clinical Professor at UCLA. She is the Faculty Lead of the UCLA Women’s Mental Health Concentration and co-created the PMDD module of the National Curriculum for Reproductive Psychiatry (NCRP) and the psychiatry arm of the UCLA Comprehensive Menopause Program.
Dr. Katie is a graduate of Duke University where she majored in Chemistry with a Mathematics concentration. She completed research at the Duke Clinical Research Institute with the National Children’s Study. She attended medical school at Georgetown University. While there, she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society and received the Francis L. Clark, Jr. Award for Excellence in Psychiatry.
After graduating from medical school, she went on to complete her Psychiatry Residency at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. While there, she served as the Chief Resident in Reproductive Psychiatry and was elected to the local council of the American Psychiatric Association. She has previously served on the council of the Southern California Psychiatric Association and was given the President’s Award for service on that board.
Dr. Katie has also completed specialized training in Mood and Anxiety Disorders though the Mood Disorders Fellowship at UCLA. She treats other mental health conditions such as generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, major depressive disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, insomnia, and ADHD.
Upcoming Lectures
Neurosteroids: A Novel Treatment for Postpartum Depression
Postpartum Support International Annual Conference – New Orleans, LA | July 2025
Novel Treatments for Postpartum Depression
Santa Clara Medical Center Grand Rounds – Santa Clara, CA | June 2025
Novel Treatments for Postpartum Depression
UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior Grand Rounds – Los Angeles, CA | April 2025
Highlighted Lectures
An Update on Postpartum Depression
National Psychopharmacology Update – Las Vegas, NV | February 2025
Women’s Mental Health
American Medical Women’s Association Women’s Health Conference – Los Angeles, CA | October 2024
Depression in Pregnancy
UCLA-Harbor Psychiatry Grand Rounds – Virtual | February 2023
Perimenopausal Mood and Anxiety Disorders
Your Anxiety Toolkit Podcast – Virtual | March 2023
Premenstrual Exacerbation of Mood Disorders
National Curriculum for Reproductive Psychiatry (NCRP) Fellow Didactic Series – Virtual | May 2022 – May 2023
Depression in Pregnancy
National Psychopharmacology Update – Las Vegas, NV | February 2022
ONgoing lectures
UCLA Women’s Life Center, David Geffen School of Medicine
Los Angeles, CA | 2022 – Present
UCLA Psychiatry Residency Lectures
Los Angeles, CA | 2019 – Present
Publications:
Erin Murphy-Barzilay, Katherine Unverferth and Laura Obler. “Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder” in APA Textbook of Women’s Reproductive Mental Health. American Psychiatric Association. Published 2021.
Erin Murphy Barzilay and Katherine Unverferth. Premenstrual Mood Symptoms. National Curriculum for Reproductive Psychiatry. http://ncrptraining.org/learning-modules/
Jason Chen, Katherine Unverferth and Erick Cheung. Delayed-onset seizure in a mild quetiapine overdose: report of a case and review of the literature. Case Reports in Psychiatry., Vol 2018.
Michael Mariorenzi, Amy Matson and Katherine Unverferth, “Constrictive Pericarditis” in Learning Cardiac Auscultation: From Essentials to Expert Clinical Interpretation. Allen Taylor, M.D., Ed. New York: Springer Science, 2015.
Priscilla Dass-Brailsford Ed.D., Rebecca Tomley Psy.D., Nicholas Talisman and Katherine Unverferth. Understanding Children’s Reactions to the Haitian Earthquake. Traumatology, Vol. 21(1), Mar 2015, 14-21.