Episode 157

Published June 16, 2026

This conversation between Dr. Sonya Jensen and host Dr. Jaclyn Smeaton covers the science of how stress disrupts female hormone health and the emotions women carry that perpetuate that disruption. They discuss the physiological mechanisms of chronic stress and how hormone testing can tell patients their stress story.

This episode also highlights:

• How chronic stress and sustained cortisol production can lead to suppressed progesterone
• The downstream effects of resentment and unexpressed emotion
• How a patient’s emotional history connects to their symptoms
• The cortisol/cortisone ratio and what it can tell practitioners and patients about fatigue, low motivation, anxiety, and burnout
• Using the Cortisol Awakening Response on the DUTCH Plus as a clinical conversation tool

Key Moments

0:50 Episode Introduction

3:02 Journey to Naturopathic Medicine

5:53 The Impact of Stress on Women's Health

9:01 Understanding Hormonal Changes and Emotional Health

12:07 The Stories We Carry: Unpacking Emotional Patterns

18:04 Physiological Effects of Chronic Stress

20:52 Cortisol and Hormonal Interactions

24:14 Neural Connections and Female Hormonal Health

27:11 Recognizing Subtle Signs of Stress

30:00 The Role of Practitioners in Women's Health

32:41 DUTCH Courses: Perimenopause Management

34:08 Understanding Stress and Hormones in the DUTCH Test

37:10 Cortisol Awakening Response and Its Implications

40:16 Cortisol Clearance Rate and Its Impact on Health

43:21 The HER Method: Healing the Nervous System

49:06 Resentment: A Sign of Unresolved Emotions

52:25 Integrating Science and Human Experience in Healing

About our speaker

Dr. Sonya Jensen is a Naturopathic Physician, international speaker, and author whose work sits at the intersection of hormonal health, emotional healing, and ancestral wisdom. Rooted in a background of cell biology and naturopathic medicine, she has built a practice that integrates trauma-informed care, herbal medicine, nutrition, hormone therapy, and nervous system support to address the deeper patterns driving hormonal imbalance in women. She is the founder of the HER Method and the HER Community, both created to help women decode what their bodies are communicating through stress, emotion, and generational experience. Her new book, Heal Your Hormones, Reclaim Yourself, brings that same whole-body framework to women ready to move beyond symptom management and into lasting recovery. 

Show Notes

Learn more about Dr. Sonya Jensen and follow her on Instagram @drsonyajensen! 

Check out Dr. Sonya’s book, Heal Your Hormones, Reclaim Yourself.

Read the ovarian aging study mentioned in this episode.

Become a DUTCH Provider to get access to comprehensive patient reports, peer-reviewed and validated research, and expert clinical support.

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