Find your path to MPowerment
Compassionate guidance for life's significant transitions
Professional Development & Wellbeing
For diverse clinicians, professionals, and academic communities seeking purpose-driven success with life balance.
Peri~Menopause & Reproductive Health
For those navigating perimenopause, early menopause, primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), and related experiences.
Are you tired of not feeling like yourself?
Maybe you feel like your emotions swing wider.
Maybe your body randomly runs hot and cold.
Maybe your brain takes an unscheduled vacation right when you need it most.
You’re not broken. You’re in transition.
You don’t have to manage this alone. Compassionate + personalized MPowered Peri~Menopause® care is here…
Note: "Peri~Menopause" is my inclusive term for all reproductive transitions, encompassing POI, early menopause, surgical menopause, perimenopause, menopause, and related experiences.
Honoring Your Unique Transition
Perimenopause and menopause represent a profound rite of passage in a woman's life—a journey that is deeply personal and uniquely yours. This transition deserves to be met with education, support, and care specifically tailored to your individual needs and experiences.
Understanding Your Experience
The symptoms of perimenopause can manifest in countless ways—silent and subtle for some, dramatically disruptive for others. Developing awareness of how these changes affect your body, mind, and emotional wellbeing is the first step toward navigating this transition with confidence.
As a health and rehabilitation psychologist, I've spent several years developing expertise in how perimenopause and menopause affect mental health and wellbeing. While our work together is coaching rather than therapy, my psychological training background provides a specialized foundation for recognizing the full spectrum of your experience and responding with tailored support and resources.
The Power of Education
Holistic education is the cornerstone of empowerment during this transition. Understanding what to expect allows you to:
Identify symptoms early, before they significantly impact your quality of life
Make informed health decisions based on your unique needs and circumstances
Advocate effectively for yourself in healthcare settings
Implement lifestyle strategies that support your changing body
Connect physical symptoms to emotional experiences with greater clarity
Partnership on Your Journey
The learning curve during perimenopause can be steep—but you don't have to navigate it alone. Together, we'll create a personalized approach that supports your ability to honor your whole self and transforms this transition from a challenge to an opportunity for deeper self-knowledge and empowerment.
I am here to walk alongside you, combining evidence-based information with compassionate support tailored to your specific situation. Whatever brought you here today, I'm glad you've arrived—this is where your MPowered journey begins.
How I Support Your Journey
My passion lies in empowering women through life's transitions with personalized, holistic support. Working together, we will:
Begin with Understanding
I meet you exactly where you are, seeing your unique situation through your lens to address both immediate challenges and ongoing concerns. Every journey is different, and yours deserves to be fully seen and understood.
Create Space for Authenticity
Together, we establish a safe space where you can show up as your complete self and be heard accurately—perhaps for the first time. This foundation of trust allows for honest exploration and meaningful growth.
Navigate Healthcare with Confidence
I guide you in identifying helpful questions and preparing for doctor appointments with confidence. You'll learn some practical skills to more effectively advocate for your needs and wants within healthcare systems that often minimize women's concerns.
Develop Your Personal Toolkit
We'll curate a comprehensive toolkit of lifestyle practices, self-care strategies, and practical resources that support a holistic approach to this sacred journey. These personalized tools will evolve with you as your needs change.
Honor Your Whole Self
Your journey doesn't happen in isolation. We'll explore ways to honor your intersecting identities as you navigate this transition—whether as a mother, partner, professional, caregiver, volunteer, creative person, or the many other roles you fulfill.
Find Your Balance
Together, we'll discover pathways to achieve life balance while you continue to "do it all"—as so many of us do. We'll identify sustainable approaches that honor your many responsibilities while making it more possible to prioritize your wellbeing.
My approach is collaborative, respectful, and focused on empowering you to navigate this important life transition with confidence and grace.
Embracing Our Intersecting Identities
We are all so much more than any single label. I believe in honoring the beautiful complexity that makes each of us whole—and I invite you to do the same on your journey.
Meet Dr. Starlyn Hawes
I stand before you as:
A woman with meaningful connections: Daughter. Sister. Wife. Mom to children with paws, fingers, and toes.
A community catalyst: Friend. Networker. Community builder. Bridge builder. Change agent.
A professional with purpose: Clinical Psychologist specializing in Health and Rehabilitation psychology. Coach. Consultant. Board member.
But these titles only scratch the surface of who I am—just as your roles only begin to tell your story.
My Mission: MPowering Transformative Journeys
My work centers on two passionate commitments:
For Women Navigating Hormonal Transitions
I am dedicated to MPowering those experiencing primary ovarian insufficiency, primary ovarian failure, perimenopause, early menopause, and menopause. Together, we'll work to create a path that honors your complete self—all your intersecting identities—while finding balance and reclaiming the quality of life and wellbeing you deserve.
For Diverse Professionals and Institutions
I am committed to MPowering Melanated Clinicians and High Achieving Diverse Professionals to build legacies grounded in passion + power + purpose while maintaining life balance. This extends to working with universities to equip their students with these same capabilities.
Note: While my work is informed by my experience as a woman of color and focuses on serving diverse communities, my practice welcomes everyone seeking support on their journey. Please see my FAQs on my services overview page for more information about my inclusive approach.
The thread connecting all my work is the belief that we are at our most powerful when we embrace all aspects of who we are—and that's the journey I'm here to support.
MPowered Coaching + Consultation Disclaimer:
My coaching and consulting services are separate from my clinical psychology practice. In this space, healthcare and therapy will not occur. I can be your therapist OR your coach—but not both.
If coaching reveals that therapy might be helpful, we'll talk about it openly. In some cases, you might be able to continue coaching with me alongside therapy with someone else. If therapy would be beneficial for you, thoughtful referrals will be made to help you connect with that support.
More information about my therapy practice: Mindfully Balancing Wellness
“I WOULD REFER CLIENTS TO DR. HAWES' CARE WITH GREAT CONFIDENCE THAT THEY WILL BE IN SKILLED AND COMPASSIONATE HANDS.”
“Dr. Hawes is the rare clinician who combines expert and evidence-based care with a keen appreciation for the humanistic and patient-centered facets of care. In addition to being well-versed in treatment of depression and anxiety, she has advanced skills in treating patients coping with injury/illness, adjustment to life transitions, health care provider work efficiency/stress/burnout, managing uncertainty, and grief/existential issues. As a female provider of color, she is especially attuned to the needs of clients from underrepresented and diverse backgrounds whose mental health concerns are often compounded by a multitude of complex psychosocial and relational stressors. I would refer clients to Dr. Hawes' care with great confidence that they will be in skilled and compassionate hands."
-Yasmin A., PhD
Licensed Clinical Psychologist; Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Supportive Oncology Program
“DR. HAWES IS A WOMAN OF GREAT CHARACTER AND MORAL FIBER. SHE HAS A DEEP REGARD FOR THE WHOLENESS AND HAPPINESS OF ALL INDIVIDUALS SHE TREATS.”
“I had the privilege of supervising Dr. Starlyn Hawes during her doctoral training at the University of Missouri Kansas City. Dr. Hawes has always been one of my best students. I am proud to see her continue to make positive strides in her community by bringing more options for overall health and wellness. Dr. Hawes is a woman of great character and moral fiber. She has a deep regard for the wholeness and happiness of all individuals she treats. She is someone who can definitely add to the psychological and behavioral health of anyone seeking to improve in these areas."
-Ravidran S., PsyD
Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Medical Staff Well-Being Director, Bariatric and Chronic Pain Specialist
“DR. HAWES IS ONE OF THE MOST THOUGHTFUL AND INSIGHTFUL CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGISTS I HAVE HAD THE PLEASURE OF WORKING WITH.”
“In addition to being highly technically skilled in evidence-based clinical practice, Dr. Hawes is very sensitive to her clients’ needs and tailors her approach to meet people wherever they are at. Dr. Hawes is one of the colleagues I turn to first to learn about the latest developments in clinical practice in Washington State and how to best advocate for our clients and the communities we serve."
- Susan C., PhD
Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Harm Reduction and Community Based Participatory Research Specialist
Let’s work together
Interested in working together? Virtual appointments are available nationwide. Fill out some info and we will be in touch shortly! It will be great to hear from you!
