With advanced education, clinical training, and legal authority to practise beyond the level of a Registered Nurse; Nurse Practitioners work autonomously and in collaboration with other healthcare providers. 

I promote health and manage care that enables independence, in areas that may be difficult for a person to address alone in their community - as a mental health nurse. 

I can provide care for you as the lead healthcare provider in partnership with you and your family. Or, you can combine my private primary care-based practice services with the care provided by other healthcare providers; however, written consent is required and you will need to be part of planning for this to happen. 

Talking therapy/counselling/psychotherapy provides an opportunity to explore who we are and how to make sense of our experiences and relationships in the world we live. 

This can be an effective way to examine mental distress, emotional difficulty, pain related to stress, mood-related disorders, and the lasting effects of trauma. 

Therapy is not usually a quick fix; it makes no promises of instant recovery and it takes time, but the insight gained and outcomes can be very rewarding.

I can offer this, online or in person, as part of a planned episode of care following an assessment.

Supervision can be seen as a forum for reflection and learning, in which an interactive dialogue takes place between at least two people. The dialogue "shapes a process of review, reflection, debriefing, critique and replenishment for professional practitioners" (Davys & Beddoe, 2010, p. 21).

While some nurses have the opportunity for reflection and debriefing through an employee assistance programme (EAP) when experiencing difficulty or after an incident, this is not the ongoing, proactive approach supervision is intended to be. 

It may be useful to consider Professional supervision as a process that does not necessarily involve reflection on clinical practice but on professional behaviour, interactions with others and outcomes; keeping up with developments in the profession; identifying professional training and continuing development needs; and ensuring the practitioner is working within professional codes of conduct and boundaries. Clinical supervision is primarily focused on learning to develop and improve practice and ensuring safe practice (Cassedy, 2010). Clinical supervision also provides an opportunity to discuss individual cases in depth. 

This can be arranged and provided for those in the nursing profession.

Cassedy. P. (2010). First steps in clinical supervision: A guide for healthcare professionals. Berkshire, England: Open University Press.

Davys, A., & Beddoe, L. (2010). Best practice in professional supervision: A guide for the helping professions. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Therapeutic interventions for mental health/psychiatric conditions can include the need for medication, often in combination with talking therapy. I can discuss this as an option with you on an in-person basis.

These medications are designed for specific conditions and it is important to take them as they are directed. 

There are six main types of medication that treat different mental health disorders:

• Anxiolytics – often used to treat anxiety disorders

• Antidepressants – used to treat depression, anxiety and some types of personality disorders

• Antipsychotics – used to treat schizophrenia and sometimes bipolar disorder and to help restore your brain's chemical balance

• Mood stabilisers – often used to treat people with bipolar disorder

• Depressants – used to help people become or stay calm

• Stimulants – used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Some medications work in a few hours, and some take weeks or months to become effective. If appropriate, any treatment used will vary for each person, depending on their individual presentation. 

Adverse drug events (ADEs) associated with medicines used in mental health do occur; most are minor and transient but some of these pose a more serious risk. ADEs for any of these types of medication can include: headaches, dizziness, nausea, weight gain, dry mouth, cramps (including muscle spasm), constipation, loss of sex drive, and sleep problems. Talk to me if you are experiencing any of these.

It is important to remember that medications do not cure mental health conditions. They can assist in management of symptoms of mental health disorder, but if you stop taking them your symptoms may return. Suddenly stopping medication can trigger complications or even be dangerous. Talk to me if you are considering this.