Life and Work with Anne Rossell PMHNP

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anne Rossell PMHNP.

Anne, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I always knew I wanted to help people. I started volunteering with children when I was 12 years old as part of a community services club I joined at my school in Philadelphia, PA. I went on to receive my first degree in business from Temple University because I wanted to start community youth centers for children and adolescents. After working in the industry for several years I knew I wanted to switch into a field where I could better help people. I started the long journey to switch my major into nursing. After doing years of prerequisites I attended Drexel University to switch my degree from Business into Nursing. I then worked in an inpatient psychiatric hospital outside of Philadelphia. This experience was extremely eye opening as I saw the constant over medication of children and adolescents and that some children were growing up in hospitals as they had nowhere else to live. I knew I wanted to have autonomy over my clients, so I decided to go back to school to get my masters in nursing and become a Nurse practitioner.

I attended Northeastern University in Boston and worked at several placements in order to receive my degree. I worked on units at Mclean Hospital, and for a facility Wayside Youth and Family Support Network. I saw and worked in many aspects of the psychiatric field: inpatient, outpatient, partial hospitalization, therapeutic schools, and residential placements. I started working in the field as a Psychiatric NP and I knew all of my education, life experience, and desire to help was finally all fitting together like an elaborate puzzle. I the experience of my peers, my continued studies in genetics, vitamin deficiencies, and Ayurveda to develop a practice model I not only really believe in but have seen help so many people. My first goal of treating any client is to get to know their story, give them hope that things will get better, and give them the best treatment available. At my practice, we treat anyone from someone looking for medication management, to someone looking for a more holistic option to manage their stress and anxiety. Working with people in this field isn’t just my job, it’s what I love and my life passion.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The field of medicine can sometimes seem to favor older males with MD degrees. I am younger, female, and an NP. I have had a couple people request that they didn’t want to see me, they wanted to see the “doctor” feeling like they were getting a lesser treatment if they saw an NP. I would tell them to meet with me if you still feel like you need to go see the MD no problem. They never went to go see the MD. I know that I am a good provider. I love what I do, and I know I am really good at it. I will never take the advice of someone telling me that I am less than because of my gender, age or degree.

The best advice I can give anyone is to know yourself, know that you’re amazing, and don’t let anyone treat you differently. I have encountered many people in my life and career that is “can’t” people. “You can’t go back to school, it’s too hard”, “you can’t start your own business”, “you can’t move across the country”, well guess what? I did it! So, I guess I can.

Please tell us about Healix Integrative Psychiatry.
I am a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. The role of a psychiatric nurse practitioner is similar to a psychiatrist. We both prescribe, are trained in therapeutic disciplines, and offer direct patient care.

The field of psychiatry usually relies on what we call qualitative data. What people report, their experiences, their symptoms. Historically, there has been a lot of guess work in psychiatry. It’s not like if you have a broken bone we can do a scan see where the break is and cast it. We listen to symptoms offer therapy and prescribe medication.

In order to treat my clients, I like to have as much information as possible. We run genetic tests on almost every client (don’t worry it’s covered by insurance) to see A. if there is a variant that could be contributing to symptoms, and B. to see how your body process different medications as the pass through the liver. We also test for vitamin deficiencies and hormonal imbalances which could also be contributing to symptoms depending on the client. This gives us a better idea of what is going on so we can develop a more personalized treatment regimen with fewer side effects.

The thing we do at my practice which I feel really sets us apart is that we have an Ayurvedic practitioner on staff. Ayurveda meaning “science of life” is the sister science to yoga and has been practiced for thousands of years. The use of spices and herbs to treat the body and mind is something that I love, and something my clients have really benefitted from. Depending on the client we can set up an appointment with Naomi our Ayurvedic practitioner who can come up with a regimen of herbs and spices to help treat our clients in a more holistic way. This can be done in combination with pharmaceuticals or separately depending on client preference. We also have an in-house Ayurvedic pharmacy where we can make up clients personalized blends.

Who have you been inspired by?
I love Oprah. I would love to meet her one day. I love that through a daytime talk show she taught people how to love themselves and love others. She used her platform to encourage and inspire in a time where her competitors were having people fight each other on stage.

I also love Ester Hicks and the concept of the law of attraction. If you can think it, you can have it. Good or bad, so we should all be advised to think good thoughts.

More personally I also really admire my mother and my sister. They both helped me achieve the goal of not only going back to school but starting my own practice. They believed in me at points where I didn’t believe in myself and allowed me to see myself as they see me which give me strength. They never let me give up, and for that, I will always be thankful to them.

Contact Info:

• Address: 3201 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 301
  Santa Monica, CA 90403
• Website: www.healixmethod.com
• Phone: 310.873.3705
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: healixmethod
• Facebook: healixmethod

Image Credit:
Anne Rossell

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