Hi! I am a Board Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner PMHNP) based in Covington, Georgia. I received my Masters from Walden University, Minnesota and have been practicing for the past 3 years as Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner and over 10 years as Registered Nurse. I have assessed, diagnosed, and treated the mental health needs of children, adolescents and adults struggling with mental health disorders to help and encourage them be the best versions of themselves.

What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?

In our first session together, we will start with a brief introduction, then we will discuss why you think you need to come to therapy. We will discuss your symptoms and how long you have had them. We will also discuss if you had treatment in the past and whether it was helpful. I will ask about your family, job and what you do that helps you relax. This initial conversation is important in developing the appropriate approach to treatment and help me create a tailored plan for us to work through in follow up session. We will also dive into the specific challenges you are facing. Before the session is done, I will describe to you the plan for treatment. You will have the opportunity to ask any questions that you may have. We will also discuss if you have any medical or physical conditions and or any past mental health issues.

Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.

There are many important qualities of a Psychiatric Mental health Nurse Practitioner(PMHNP), but my 3 greatest strengths as a PMHNP are honesty, respect, and patience. Having worked with all age ranges of clients for the past 3 years as a Psychiatric Mental health Nurse Practitioner and as a Registered nurse for over 10 years in multiple different disciplines such as ICU, outpatient clinic, inpatient clinic, hospitals and clinical experiences. This helped to mold me to learn the intricacies of how to comprehensively manage clients for a wide range of patient populations. As a provider you must be honest to develop a trusting relationship with your clients. Respect is essential because clients must feel that they are respected as an individual. This will help form a patient-practitioner relationship, which can positively improve the client's mental health. My third strength is patience. It takes patience for a client to start to trust you and form that therapeutic relationship. It also takes patience to start to see improvement with initiation of medication and medication changes as the response to these medications are often not immediate and can take weeks to notice changes. As a Practitioner understanding that healing might be gradual, intermittent and not necessarily linear. With my extensive background I have gained psychiatric experience in outpatient and inpatient clinics doing medication management, diagnosing, evaluating, assessments, collaborating with other clinicians, individual therapy sessions, and interdisciplinary treatment team. Finally, I have also worked with Non- Intensive Outpatient(NIOP) clients, and Intensive Family-Based Program(IFI).

Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.

The clients that I am best positioned to serve are clients with mental health issues and life stressors. I provide comprehensive care to individuals and families. I form strong therapeutic relationships with individuals across the lifespan- becoming familiar with their stories and challenges to transform their lives in a productive way. I promote well-being through prevention and education, as well as assessment, diagnosis, care, and treatment of mental health substance use disorders. I want my clients to have the aspirations, desires, and a vision that will allow them to grow and thrive in their respective communities. I like to focus on assisting clients to have gratifying, meaningful lives and being apart of a community and giving them a purpose.

About Donna Cross