Psyche = “Mind, Body, Soul”

My journey to becoming an integrative Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner started out probably during one of my first patient encounters (when I was an LNA many years ago). It was an exciting time for me as I had just entered the world of “medicine”. I wanted to learn everything.

I remember sitting quietly with a man who came onto the hospital cardiology unit where I was working. He had begun to develop difficulty with his breathing. He was very scared and asked me to stay with him. His breathing got better after about an hour, and he warmly grasped my hand in his and thanked me. I remember I was surprised—because I hadn’t “done” anything, I had not intervened nor had anyone else. I had simply stayed with him.

Even though at the time I was very interested in exciting medical procedures, the mysteries of medical monitoring, and the complexities of diagnosis and treatment, instead I learned what turned out to be a most influential message. I found out, sitting quietly with this man who did not know me, that the very presence of an attentive human being can make the biggest difference in someone’s life.

This scene has played out over and over again in my healthcare career—as a paramedic, as a cardiac technician, and as a nurse—I found that the “being with” people was what seemed to make the biggest difference in their health and wellbeing.

I came to understand it is our presence and the unseen psyche that have so much to do with health and healing

While I later learned all about diseases, diagnosis and treatment, I never forgot the importance of attending to the psyche. It was, in fact, this lesson that drew my to becoming a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner as well as into many years of exploration into energy healing, aromatherapy, herbs, spiritualilty, music therapy, movement and the role of nature in health. As I progressed from being an LNA, to a Paramedic, to a Nurse, to a Nurse-Midwife and finally to a Psych NP, I also pursued alternative modes of healing because it was through these methods that I knew I could provide holistic care. At OptiMind, my goal is to provide that care to you—as a partner in addressing your psyche and you as a whole person.