“Mental Health requires engagement and movement, and I want to travel that road with my clients.”
So, who am I?
I am a board-certified Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner from Reno, Nevada. What does that mean and what is psychiatry? Psychiatry is the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. Treatment can include many things including medication, lifestyle changes, talk therapy, and emotional support. While I mainly focus on diagnosis and medical treatment, I incorporate therapeutic support, encouragement, discussing and processing your story, and talk therapy into every patient's treatment. I started my own practice to make our time exactly what it needs to be, for you.
My Background
A Reno native, I attended University of Nevada, Reno for both my undergraduate and graduate studies, where I specialized in mental health and psychiatry. I worked for five years as a registered nurse at Veterans Affairs in Reno before deciding to focus on mental health and psychiatry. Since that time, I have worked in outpatient settings, seeing patients of all ages (with a focus on children and adolescents), a crisis unit for acute psychiatric stabilization, and I currently work to provide mental-health consultation in local hospitals on medical units.
About Me
My passion for mental health began during my time abroad while working for a non-profit organization. I found that mental health is a foundational aspect of a healthy life regardless of age, background, or culture. Now having three children of my own, I am passionate about helping children and adolescents to be mentally sound and assisting them in their growth and development. I value having a dynamic lifestyle that includes adventure, archery, board-sports, and ample time with my friends and family.
Services and Philosophy
My practice provides assessment, diagnosis, and guidance in managing mental illness, as well as pharmacologic treatment for mental illness. It is my belief that medication can be a powerful tool in achieving mental wellness, but like all tools it has to be used in the right setting, at the right time, and for the right amount of time. I also believe that therapy is often part of a proper mental-health treatment plan, and I will often suggest that my patients seek out talk therapy from other licensed professionals whether taking medications or not.
Treatment Focuses
Anxiety/anxiety attacks
Attention Deficit Disorders (ADD/ADHD)
Autism
Behavioral difficulties
Bipolar Disorder
Borderline Personality
Depression
Dissociative Disorders
Emptiness
Impulse Control Disorders
Insomnia
Medication Management
Mood Disorders
Nervous breakdowns
Obsessive Compulsive
Oppositional Defiance
Panic attacks
Post-traumatic Stress
Psychosis
School related problems
Self injurious behavior
Suicidal Ideation