In this episode, Kimberly speaks with Dr. Ellen Vora, holistic psychiatrist, acupuncturist, yoga teacher, and author of The Anatomy of Anxiety, on the eve of her new book, Season of the Witch: A Psychiatrist's Case for Magic. They begin with perception: how Ellen's credentials serve as a platform from which to question conventional medicine, and how loss, not training, is what gave her any authority of her own. Ellen explains why the title came to her in prayer, and why she expects criticism from both ends of the witchy spectrum. Speaking in the wake of the Lindsay Clancy trial, they look at how female life thresholds have been psychiatrized, what an unsupported postpartum mother actually needs, and why a prescription is often the only tool left in the room. Kimberly names the pattern of exceptions becoming rules across birth, fertility, and mental health. They turn to rites of passage and the communities that can sit with big emotions. They then turn to menopause, where Ellen offers her theory that menopausal symptoms borrow the body's postpartum software, and Kimberly describes her own transition as a portal of learning to see in the dark. They close on information overload, wearables and the atrophy of listening, Ellen's choice to join a national conversation on psychiatric medication, and what it means to stay purple.
Bio
Ellen Vora, MD, is a holistic psychiatrist, acupuncturist, and yoga teacher. She received her B.A. in English from Yale University and her M.D. from Columbia University, and she is board-certified in psychiatry and integrative holistic medicine. She takes a functional medicine approach to mental health, considering the whole person and addressing imbalance at the root, with a focus on depression, anxiety, insomnia, women's mental health, and medication withdrawal support. She is the author of The Anatomy of Anxiety: Understanding and Overcoming the Body's Fear Response, and of Season of the Witch: A Psychiatrist's Case for Magic (Random House, October 2026), which offers five practices for reclaiming the full spectrum of our intelligence: embodiment, presence, valuing the yin, being open to mystery, and serving the collective. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.
What She Shares
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Why her medical credentials exist so she can say "that's not the whole story"
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How loss, including losing her parents and pregnancy losses, gave her more authority than any training
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How the title Season of the Witch arrived through prayer, and why it wasn't up for negotiation
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What an unsupported postpartum mother needs, and why a prescription is so often what she gets
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The hidden costs of psychiatric medication: dependence, interdose withdrawal, depersonalization, and akathisia
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Rites of passage as the ground where inner authority and discernment are built
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Her theory of menopause as a medical anomaly, and why symptoms may borrow from the postpartum blueprint
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Learning to see in the dark as the value older women hold for the culture
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Why constant listening to the body outperforms any formula, macro, or wearable
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Taking work decisions to spirit, and being socially blind enough to accept the mission
What You'll Hear
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Kimberly and Ellen as Harper Wave bookmates, and two books with "season" in the title
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Flossing the edge between being responsible to authority and handing people their own
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"Look at me, I'm a witch" versus "look at you, you're a witch"
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Expecting criticism from both the Christian and Wiccan ends of the spectrum
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What people actually mean when they say "mental health"
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The Lindsay Clancy trial and the push for more postpartum screening
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Pain versus suffering, and the unnecessary suffering in how mental health care is applied
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Kimberly on intervention, exceptions becoming rules, and IVF without eroticism
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"Are you in therapy?" as a box to check
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Why we apologize for crying, and what it would mean to pull up a chair instead
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Kimberly's menopause: hot flashes, night waking, and a portal of life review
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The orca grandmother effect and why elders need the maiden and mother energy
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Is there a flaw in the female design, or in the male one?
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Trading algorithms for a "dolphin phone"
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Skipping heavy weights for an Epsom salt bath on the heaviest day of her period
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The RFK Jr. interview, the SSRI roundtable, and Laura Delano's Unshrunk
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Being purple, and why new voices at the policy table give Ellen hope
Resources
Website: https://ellenvora.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellenvoramd/ (@ellenvoramd)
Season of the Witch: A Psychiatrist's Case for Magic (Random House, October 13, 2026): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/776546/season-of-the-witch-by-ellen-vora-md/
The Anatomy of Anxiety: Understanding and Overcoming the Body's Fear Response: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-anatomy-of-anxiety-ellen-vora
Book tour and events: https://ellenvora.com/book-tour/
