our mission

To help Mental Health Nurse Practitioners stress less, avoid burnout, and treat mental disorders with confidence.

Welcome to

Stress Free Psych NP

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Stress Free Psych NP is an online educational platform where mental health providers – psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioners, family nurse practitioners, and other providers treating mental health – can come to learn the real-world skills they didn’t get in school. 

We’re committed to bridging the gaps, seeking ongoing education, and raising the standard of care for our patients.

It hasn’t been easy, but we’re here because we care deeply about the work we do. We deserve the same dedication from the system that we give to our patients every single day. 

Join us on this journey to become stress-free, confident, and empowered mental health providers.

Nurse Practitioner Claire on a bike
Nurse Practitioner Claire Researching

As NPs, we know the journey can be filled with uncertainty, stress, and self-doubt.

You’ve invested time, money, and heart into this career, only to find that the training you received doesn’t always match the realities of patient care.

It’s frustrating to feel underprepared despite your best efforts, especially when the system that trained you wasn’t built to give you all the tools you needed.

We recognize the weight of being responsible for complex patient cases with limited support, the pressure to “figure it out” in real-time, and the mental load of doing this work without the resources we deserve.

The truth is, we’re doing the heavy lifting—often alone and under-resourced. But it’s time for our profession to be supported with consistent, robust training and for NPs to be recognized as essential members of the healthcare team.

meet Claire

Claire Ellerbrock

DNP, APRN, PMHNP

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Claire in flower shop

My name is Claire, and I’m a psychiatric nurse practitioner. I created Stress Free Psych NP because I didn’t feel prepared for practice out of school. Over time, I quickly burned out with the volume and complexity of patients I saw. I needed less stress in practice, and unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one – NPs experience too much stress on the job, and I’m on a quest for there to be many more stress-free NPs!

My Experience

I’ve been fortunate to have had a range of clinical experiences. I’ve  spent time in community mental health, private practice, addiction PHP settings, and with a tribal clinic serving an American Indian population. 

I received my DNP from Kent State University, MSN from Case Western Reserve University, and BA in Psychology from Washington University in St Louis.

Claire DNP Graduation, Nurse Practitioner
forest trail in Connecticut
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When I’m not helping NPs stress less, I work in a community health setting, providing mental health care to marginalized and underserved populations. I’m a travel enthusiast and Friends show aficionado. I prefer tea over coffee (weird, I know) and am known to never pass up a free cookie!

Rocky Mountain National Park

Giving Back

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I created Stress Free Psych NP, an online educational resource, because I didn’t feel prepared for practice out of school.

Over time, I quickly burned out with the volume and complexity of patients I saw. I needed less stress in practice and unfortunately I wasn’t the only one – NPs experience too much stress on the job and I’m on a quest for there to be many more stress free NPs!

 You can have less stress too – Learn to diagnose and treat important mental disorders with minimal time, uncertainty, or doubt in this free 90-minute Webinar:

Master Mental Health Training