Rooted PMHNP Mentorship

One of the questions I get asked by PMHNPs who are ready to go out on their own is where do I even start with the paperwork side of things, because nobody really walks you through this part during your training, so I put together the categories I always tell my mentees to have in place before they see their first patient.

Save this list for later!📝

-Client Onboarding: practice policies and consent to treatment, telehealth consent, and release of information.

-Financial and Insurance: financial responsibility agreement, credit card authorization, superbill template, good faith estimate, sliding scale policy/agreement (if applicable), and insurance billing forms.

-Legal and Compliance: HIPAA business associate agreement, collaborative practice agreement if your state requires one (and any other documents that are required for supervision in your state), and a controlled substance and prescribing policy disclosure.

-Communication and Referral: lab order form, referral letter and a termination or discharge letter.

-Clinical Forms: adult intake form, psychiatric diagnostic evaluation template, mental status exam template, medication management progress note template and rating scales.

This isn't every document you'll ever need, but it's the foundation I'd want in place before opening your doors.

When I first became an amputee, I spent a lot of energy wondering how patients would see me.

Would they notice my prosthetic? Would they think differently of me? Should I try to hide it?

Over time, I realized I didn't want to hide any part of my story, because it's shaped who I am, and I think it helps me show up with even more empathy for the people I care for.

Now... onto the fun part.

✨ Shirt: TikTok Shop
✨ Skirt:
✨ Prosthetic:
✨ Shoes:
✨ Bag:

If you see patients in person, I'd love to know... what's your go-to outfit for clinic days? 💚

If you've been curious about Strong Roots or you've been wondering whether it's the right next step for you, I completely get it. Joining a mentorship is a big decision, and I know most people want to make sure it's the right fit before they commit.

The truth is, there are a lot of ways to learn how to start a private practice. You can piece things together from Google, podcasts, Facebook groups, and YouTube, or you can have someone walk alongside you who's already been through it. Neither approach is wrong, but they're very different experiences.

Strong Roots isn't a course you buy and forget about on a Sunday afternoon. It's a mentorship, which means you get live coaching with me every other week, a roadmap built specifically for PMHNPs, a community of people building their practices alongside you, and support as you work through the questions and roadblocks that inevitably come up.

If you're wondering whether Strong Roots would be a good fit for where you are, send me a DM with the word ROOTED and I will send you info on how to get started 🌱

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the stories I want my mentees to start telling themselves when they’re in the middle of building something new. There are a few beliefs I keep encouraging them to lean into, ones that feel a little uncomfortable at first but are so necessary: finally charging what you’re actually worth instead of what feels safe, and trusting that you don’t need a room full of people nodding along before you make a decision about your own practice.

There’s also this quieter shift I love watching my mentees make, where they start trusting their own clinical judgment more than they compare it to what everyone else seems to be doing, and they choose to keep their caseload smaller because impact was never really about how many people you can see in a week. If I’m being honest with them, none of this locks into place overnight, and there will still be weeks the old thinking creeps back in, but I’d rather they keep practicing these beliefs than keep shrinking to fit the ones they outgrew a long time ago.

If any part of this feels like it was written for you today, save it for the next time the doubt creeps back in. 🌱

One of the questions I get asked most is whether you should build a cash pay practice or take insurance, and my answer is always the same: it depends. There are benefits and challenges to both models, and the right choice really comes down to your goals, the patients you want to serve, and the kind of practice you want to build.

I've met providers who absolutely love working with insurance because it allows them to reach the population they feel called to serve, and I've met others who thrive with a cash pay model because it gives them more flexibility and fits the life they're trying to create. Neither approach is better than the other. They're simply different, and what works for someone else may not be what works for you.

Before making that decision, it's worth taking the time to understand what each model actually looks like day to day so you're choosing based on your own priorities instead of someone else's opinion. That's a conversation we have often inside my mentorship because my goal has never been to teach you how to build my practice. It's to help you build a practice that feels aligned with you. 🌱

You are already exceptional at the clinical side of this work, the diagnosing, the medication management, the way you hold space for patients through some of the hardest chapters of their lives, and none of that has ever been the question, but somewhere along the way nobody handed you a manual for the business side of building a practice around that skill, and between figuring out your rates, understanding credentialing, and trying to build something sustainable instead of just something busy, the dream of owning your own practice can start to feel a lot more overwhelming than freeing.

That's exactly why I do what I do.

If you're a PMHNP who's ready to stop guessing your way through this and finally build a private practice that actually supports the life you want, follow along, because you're in the right place.