unPAUSED with Dr. Mary Claire Haver
From Hysteria to Medical Gaslighting and the Path Forward with Dr. Elizabeth Comen
13 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Chapter 2: How does medical gaslighting affect women's healthcare today?
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These doctor-patient relationships reflect our culture and our society. And women notoriously apologize. And we have absorbed tremendous shame about our bodies. It isn't just people with, you know, poor access to healthcare. This is some of the most powerful, incredible, royalty, literally, people that we've seen.
Chapter 3: What historical figures contributed to the medical misogyny in healthcare?
And it is this common thread, no matter where you're from, no matter what you do, no matter how much money you have, no matter what your resources are, I guarantee you almost all women in a doctor's office will apologize for something of about their body. And I think that it's terrible.
The views and opinions expressed on Unpaused are those of the talent and guests alone and are provided for informational and entertainment purposes only. No part of this podcast or any related materials are intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. So let me set the stage for you.
I am head down, deep into research for my own book, The New Perimenopause, and I come across a clip on social media where I saw our next guest, Dr. Elizabeth Komen, being interviewed about her book, It's All in Her Head. And what I heard her say in this clip left me literally speechless.
Hearing another physician speak with such clarity about her own story and her patient's stories and about the systemic marginalization of the female experience in medicine was absolutely earth shattering. I immediately ordered the book.
Chapter 4: Why are women often misdiagnosed with anxiety instead of receiving proper care?
When I started reading Dr. Komen's book, I was stunned. She didn't just tell the stories of her patient. She lays bare the history that has shaped medicine itself. The biases, the blind spots, the outright misogyny that still haunt exam rooms today. And what struck me the most is that she wasn't just talking about the past.
She showed us how the very structure of modern medicine, the way it was built brick by brick, still perpetuates those same patterns. I'll be honest. It took me over a decade of practice to realize just how deeply this is embedded in the system. For so long, I thought the gaps were individual, a doctor who didn't listen here, a misdiagnosis there.
But the longer I practiced, especially in the space of menopause and women's health, the more I saw that this wasn't about a few bad apples or a rare oversight.
Chapter 5: What systemic gaps exist in women's health research and funding?
This was structural. It was baked into how we were trained, how research is conducted, how curricula are written, how the guidelines are weaponized, and how women are too often dismissed, minimized, or told their symptoms are all in their head. That's what makes her message so powerful. Dr. Komen names what so many women have felt but couldn't quite articulate—
She connects the dots between history, medical culture, and the lived experiences of patients today. And in doing so, she validates what millions of women know in their bones, that the system is failing them and has been for generations. Today, I am beyond honored to have Dr. Elizabeth Komen here with me.
We're going to talk about her groundbreaking book, It's All in Her Head, what it reveals about medicine's past and present, and what it will take to build a future where women's health is valued, respected, and truly seen. I'm Dr. Mary Claire Haver, a board-certified obstetrician, gynecologist, and certified menopause practitioner.
I'm also an adjunct professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Texas Medical Branch.
Chapter 6: How does the legacy of dismissing women's health impact current practices?
Welcome to Unpaused, the podcast where we cut through the silence and talk about what it really takes for women to thrive in the second half of life. All right. So Dr. Elizabeth Komen, welcome to Unpaused. Thank you so much for having me. I am thrilled to be here. I am so happy you're here. You are one of my top, top, top 10 guests that I wanted on because I'm obsessed with your book. Thank you.
And every time I see you on social media or on the New York, you know, reading about you in the New York Times or you on a morning show, I'm like, there she is. That's my girl.
Chapter 7: What cultural shifts are happening in women's healthcare now?
I can't wait to meet her. So let's go backwards.
Talk to me about where are you from? I am from Brookline, Massachusetts, which is a suburb of Boston. Very nerdy, liberal, granola kind of town. And did you always know you want to be a doctor?
I wanted to be a dancer when I was younger. That's the truth. Me too.
Really?
Chapter 8: How can women advocate for themselves in medical settings?
We're an actress.
Okay.
Yeah. In high school, I was like drama, literally like placed in drama competitions on a national level. I was traveling all over. I was in plays. I was in a movie. Yeah. Yeah. Wait, I didn't know this about you. This is amazing. Okay. And then Taylor Hackford, a director back in the day, screamed his head off at me and made me realize maybe this wasn't my path. Yeah.
And I decided to switch my major to geology of all things. And my undergrad is in geology.
Wow. Well, you're always uncovering things. Yeah. And you're our rock. I also loved science. And my mom is a therapist. My dad is a lawyer. So I kind of grew up in this very questioning household. And I wanted to be an authority in something. And I ended up majoring in the history of science in college.
Okay.
That makes sense with your book. Yes. And so I was really fascinated by not only scientific discovery in the present, but the context within which science and medicine happens. The history, the culture, the stories that we've been told ourselves, and how that plays into discovery and advances. because we know it doesn't happen in a vacuum. Undergrad degree, and then you get right into med school.
Did you take time off? No, I was always a very type A person. Now I don't know what type I am, but I'm all over the place. But I was definitely very focused. In fact, when I was in college, I had worked with breast cancer patients at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, helping them with wigs and breast prostheses as part of a look good, feel better program.
The same time my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer and I started talking to these experts and I ended up working in a lab looking into the estrogen receptor and breast cancer. And I was so fascinated by the biology, but yet I always wanted to get off on the floor where the patients were. And I never really wavered in that interest. Okay. So then where'd you go to med school?
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