Messan Lawson
Hi, I'm Messan Lawson, a board-certified Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP-BC), licensed in Connecticut. I work with adults, 18 and over, entirely by secure video, anywhere in the state, in English or in French.
Anxiety, depression, mood disorder, anger management, spirituality, mindfulness are few of the many areas I can assist with by providing medication management as well as therapy.
I provide psychiatric evaluation and medication management for anxiety, depression, ADHD, trauma and PTSD, OCD, bipolar disorder, and the sleep and mood difficulties that often come with them. I prescribe to the minimum effective dose. We start carefully, change one thing at a time, and judge the result by how you actually feel and function, not only by a symptom score. You'll always know why a medication is on your list, what it's expected to do, and when we'll reassess it. For those who want it, faith and spirituality are welcome in the work. Never required, always your call.
First session
You can expect to be treated fairly with compassion as we work together as a team. First session is our introduction session and uncovering the reasons you are seeking treatment at this time. We will go over your history related to mental health treatment and address the scores of your tests as well as the responses provided on your intake paperwork.
Strengths
I listen first, and I take the time it takes. Most people arrive having been rushed somewhere before, so the first thing I do is get the whole picture: what you've already tried, what worked, what didn't, and what you actually want your life to look like. Then I prescribe conservatively. The goal is the smallest dose that restores how you function, not the highest you can tolerate, and I adapt the regimen to you rather than to a protocol. And I'll tell you when medication isn't the answer. Sometimes what's needed is therapy, or sleep, or something no prescription can reach. Saying so plainly is part of the job.
Ideal clients
I work with professional or non professional to find balance in their work and life by adequately adjusting their medication and providing support. I work with adult populations and also teenagers.
Treatment methods
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
I've worked within DBT frameworks in specialized settings, and I draw on them in practice: emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. For people whose difficulty is less about what they feel than about what happens next, these skills often matter as much as the prescription.
Trauma-Informed Care
Most people carry something, and it shapes how they arrive in a psychiatric appointment. Trauma-informed care means the pace belongs to you: you're never required to narrate what happened in order to be treated, and an appointment that leaves you shaken is a failed one, not a thorough one.
Motivational Interviewing
I don't argue people into change. Motivational interviewing means working with your own reasons rather than against them, which matters most when a decision is genuinely difficult: starting a medication, stopping one, or changing something in your life that no prescription reaches.
Location
Virtual sessions