I am a Board Certified Child/Adolescent & Adult Family Psychiatric & Addictions Advanced Practice Nurse specializing in individual, couples and family therapy as well as psychopharmacology and psychotropic medication management.
With over 30 years’ experience as a Psychiatric & Addictions Advanced Practice Nurse & Nurse Therapist, I founded APNSolutions, LLC in 2011 as an Advanced Practice Nurse managed private practice located in Southern Jersey. In 2020, the Year of the Nurse, I was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, a humbling honor bestowed upon only 2500 of the World’s 28 million nurses. I am an honors graduate of Duke University, the University of Pennsylvania & Drexel University, where I completed my doctoral degree with a focus on Premenstrual Symptom Exacerbation in Women with Psychiatric Co-morbidities. Through APNSolutions, I practice as Family Psychiatric & Addictions Advanced Practice Nurse working with patients across the lifespan, who experience disruptions in their lives due to psychiatric symptoms and substance use disorders. I continue to collaborate with physicians, therapists and other practitioners throughout the region and maintain my expertise in complicated diagnostics, treatment resistant symptomatology and psychopharmacology/medication management as well as the “talk” therapies for patients with psychiatric and substance use disorders.
I maintain a faculty position as an Advanced Senior Lecturer in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program at the University of Pennsylvania-School of Nursing, where I taught Advanced Psychopharmacology Across the Lifespan for over 13 years. I serve as a Clinical Preceptor for Psychiatric Advanced Practice Nursing Students from many colleges and universities across the country. I thoroughly enjoy sharing my knowledge and expertise with students, especially related to the role of the Psychiatric & Addictions Advanced Practice Nurse and the field of Psychopharmacology. I am the Co-Chair of the Addictions Council of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association.
In addition to being a prominent clinician and educator, I am widely published in peer-reviewed journals, nursing blogs, nursing texts and other print media. I have presented at Local, Regional, and National professional conferences to various audiences comprised of patients and family members, nurses, educators and mental health professionals from other disciplines, speaking on the topics of:
- Psychopharmacology
- Substance Use Disorders
- Pharmacogenetics
- Women’s Mental Health Issues
- Child & Adolescent Mental Health
- Treatment Resistant Symptoms
- Attention Deficit Disorders
- Sleep Disorders
- Over Diagnosing & Over Medicating
- Psychotropic Medication Side Effects
- Over-the-Counter & Prescription Substance Abuse
- Among Many Other Topics
I consider myself a dynamic, solution-focused clinician. My therapeutic approach is to support my patients in defining the symptoms that are interfering with their lives and to offer feedback and treatments to help those patients effectively address their personal life challenges. I integrate therapies and psychopharmacology with complementary methodologies and techniques to offer a highly personalized approach tailored to each patient’s individual needs. With compassion and understanding, I guide each individual to help them build on their strengths to obtain the optimal level of physical and emotional well-being that they are committed to achieving.
Education
I completed my Research Dissertation based Doctoral Degree in Nursing Practice (DrNP) through Drexel University, where I achieved the highest honors. I earned my Bachelor’s Degrees with honors from both Duke University & the University of Pennsylvania and also obtained my Master’s Degree in Child & Family Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, I have earned Post-Master’s Certification from the University of South Alabama as a Family Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. My designation as a Master Clinician in Psychopharmacology was earned through Stephen Stahl’s NeuroScience Educational Institute in Carlsbad, CA; and I have been prescribing and managing psychotropic medications since early 1993. I am a Licensed & Certified as a Psychiatric Advanced Practice Nurse in both PA & NJ and have earned National Certifications as a Clinical Specialist in Child, Adolescent & Adult Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing as well as Certification as a Family Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and as a Certified Addictions Registered Nurse in Advanced Practice.
Awards
- 2020 Inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing
- 2017 Inducted as Fellow in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners
- 2016 Honorable Mention for Dissertation Graduate Research Excellence-Drexel University
- 2015 Outstanding Preceptor Award-Drexel University
- 2015 Psychiatric Nurse of the Year-Society of Psychiatric Advanced Practice Nurses
- 2009 NJ Biz 50 Fastest Growing Companies-Center for Family Guidance
- 2005 Brunner Alumni Award for Innovative Practice-University of Pennsylvania
- 2002 NJ Biz New Jersey’s Finest-Center for Family Guidance
- 2001 Award for Excellence as Clinical Specialist-Forum of Nurses in Advanced Practice
- 2000 Child/Adolescent Psychiatric Nurse of the Year-Int’l Society of Psychiatric Nurses
- 2000 Excellence in Service Award-Gloucester County Special Services School District
- 1989 Sigma Theta Tau Int’l Nursing Honor Society
Professional Activities and Memberships
- Co-Chair Addictions Council-American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA)
- Expert Panel-Integrating Treatment for Individuals with Co-Morbid Psychiatric & Substance Use Disorders-Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
- President Emeritus (x 2)-Society of Psychiatric Advanced Practice Nurses (SPAPN)
- Opioid Education Faculty Work Group-APNA
- Past President-NJ Chapter of the APNA
- Contemporary Forums Psychiatric Nursing Conference Planning Committee
- Genomind Preferred Provider & Speakers Bureau
- Meeting the Need Steering Committee on Opioid Use Disorder-Alkermes
- Speakers Bureaus-Otsuka & Alkermes
- Steering Committee Addictions & Child/Adolescent Councils-APNA
- Steering Committee LACE Implementation-APNA
- International Nurses Society on Addictions
- International Society of Psychiatric Nurses
- Association of Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Nurses of ISPN
- New Jersey State Nurses Association
- American Nurses Association
- Forum for Nurses in Advanced Practice of NJSNA
- National Association of Female Executives
