My name is Jessica. My goal is to walk alongside you through your mental health journey. Visits with me should be relaxed. You will feel welcomed and accepted. My sessions feel nothing like a typical sterile healthcare visit. I like to learn as much as I can about my patients. Our mental health is the product of our biological health, our social health, and our psychological patterning. There is seldom a single factor contributing to wellness or disease. In short, we will discuss as much about your life as possible.

I am an animal lover with many pets, both cats and dogs. I also have a growing human family with a husband and son. I like to make my patients laugh at times during visits- truly laughter is the best medicine! I believe in radical acceptance: all spiritual beliefs, sexual orientation, gender expression, lifestyle, age, occupation, ethnicity, culture, or race will be fully accepted and validated/celebrated under my care.

About my education and background:

I received two Masters of Science in Nursing degrees from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. I achieved an accelerated nursing pathway degree (AMNP) from UAB combining both a BSN RN and a transitional care MSN degree, and went on to earn another Masters degree from UAB where I specialized in Advanced Practice Nursing as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner across the lifespan. I am an American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Board-Certified Nurse Practitioner. I also hold a certification as a Perinatal Mental Health provider, trained specifically in treating mental health in birthing persons before, during, and after pregnancy and parenting life changes. Before my career as a practitioner and prescriber, I worked at UAB hospital’s Center for Psychiatric Medicine as a bedside RN managing patients with a variety of diagnoses, working in long term psychiatric care and adolescent psychiatry units, as well as PRN work across and the acute psychosis/Psych ICU care unit, psychiatric emergency unit, and addiction psychiatry unit. Before becoming a nurse , I earned a bachelors degree focused in experimental/research Psychology from the University of Alabama in Huntsville where I was a member of the Psychology and Law laboratory studying the accuracy of eyewitness identification and contributing to the work of such organizations as the Innocence project. I also worked for several years in psychological research at UAB prior to becoming a nurse. The research grants I was involved in examined cognition and memory for those living with HIV , assessing long term cognitive effects of medication, treatments, lifestyle, and mood factors for those living with HIV.

My name is Jessica. My goal is to walk alongside you through your mental health journey. Visits w... Read More