"Women's Mental Health Advocacy" Interview with Ashley Junghans-Rutelonis, PhD, LP"Women's Mental Health Advocacy" Interview with Ashley Junghans-Rutelonis, PhD, LP
Behavioral Health Integration
Psychologist Ashley Junghans-Rutelonis talks with host Jacob Minnig about the realities of doctoral training in psychology and why she chose to focus on women’s mental health. Their conversation highlights gender disparities, emotional labour and the pressure on women to do everything perfectly, while stressing the importance of support, fit in therapy and realistic career choices.
47:09•27 Sept 2022
Women’s Mental Health, Superwoman Pressure and Choosing the Right Path
Episode Overview
- Choosing a PhD or PsyD should be based on the work you actually want to do, given the heavy financial and personal cost of doctoral training.
- A master’s degree can be fully sufficient for high-quality clinical work, with fewer loans and a quicker route into practice.
- Many women feel stuck between demanding jobs, family roles and their own values, leading to chronic stress, anxiety and exhaustion.
- Gender disparities in pay, promotion and emotional labour remain common, even in fields with many female clinicians and male leaders.
- Therapists, especially men, can better support women by asking about their experiences, respecting comfort levels and prioritising good therapeutic fit.
“Women are working their butts off.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation between host Jacob Minnig and psychologist Dr Ashley Junghans-Rutelonis shines a light on the overlap between women’s mental health, professional burnout and the wider culture that shapes both. A big chunk of the chat is aimed at students and clinicians wondering whether to go for a PhD, PsyD or stay at master’s level.
Ashley shares her own path through eight years of intensive training, residency and postdoc, and doesn’t sugar-coat the cost: time, money and stress. She suggests slowing down and asking, “What do you actually want to do?” rather than chasing extra letters for their own sake. From there, the focus shifts to women’s mental health advocacy.
Ashley explains how working with mothers of medically fragile children – while also parenting her own child with a congenital heart condition – pushed her towards specialising in women’s wellbeing. She notes that many women come to her saying they have a “good life” but feel exhausted, anxious and stuck, torn between high career goals, family responsibilities and their own values.
Ashley and Jacob talk frankly about gender disparities in pay, promotion and leadership, the “superwoman” pressure to do everything perfectly, and the emotional labour women still carry at home and at work. As Ashley puts it, “Women are working their butts off,” often without the support or recognition they deserve.
They also touch on practical issues for therapists: how male clinicians can better support female clients, why fit between client and therapist matters so much, and how remote care and legislation like PSYPACT can help women access specialists in women’s mental health.
If you’re in recovery, work in mental health, or you’re simply worn out from trying to do it all, this episode gives language to struggles many women quietly carry and offers reassurance that it’s more than okay to ask for help and change direction. What expectations might you be ready to put down?
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