Pooja Lakshmin
Psychiatrist and author
Pooja Lakshmin is a board-certified psychiatrist who focuses on women's mental health. She wrote Real Self-Care, a book that challenges the wellness trends of juice cleanses and bubble baths.
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About Pooja Lakshmin
Dr Pooja Lakshmin is a board-certified psychiatrist who also holds a faculty post as a clinical assistant professor at George Washington University. She keeps a private practice where she treats women dealing with burnout, perfectionism and disillusionment, as well as conditions such as depression and anxiety. She also contributes to The New York Times. In 2020 she founded Gemma, a physician-led education platform on women's mental health, built around impact and equity. Her book Real Self-Care grew partly from her own experience with extreme wellness, and it offers an alternative to juice cleanses, gratitude lists and bubble baths. Its aim is to help readers care for themselves in a real way and, in turn, change a culture she sees as broken. Lakshmin studied at the University of Pennsylvania and earned her MD at Jefferson Medical College. She completed her psychiatry residency training at Stanford University and George Washington University. She lives in Austin, Texas.