by Claire Ellerbrock, DNP, PMHNP | Oct 28, 2025 | Prescribing tips for treating mental disorders
Common Challenges with SSRIs Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are among the most commonly prescribed antidepressants in mental health care. Despite their widespread use, patients often struggle with SSRI side effects, especially early in treatment. One...
by Claire Ellerbrock, DNP, PMHNP | Oct 23, 2025 | Diagnosis/Assessment tips for treating mental disorders
Why Bipolar Disorder Is Often Misunderstood Bipolar disorder is often misunderstood, both by the general public and even by some patients themselves. It’s common for people to casually use the term “bipolar” to describe mood swings, but the actual bipolar disorder...
by Claire Ellerbrock, DNP, PMHNP | Oct 21, 2025 | Diagnosis/Assessment tips for treating mental disorders
Imagine a patient presents to you with: depressed mood, low energy, disrupted sleep, and a loss of interest in activities they used to enjoy. What’s your next move? A. Start an antidepressantB. Reassess in 4 weeksC. Start a mood stabilizerD. Consider bipolar as a...
by Claire Ellerbrock, DNP, PMHNP | Oct 16, 2025 | Prescribing tips for treating mental disorders
One of my favorite things to share as a psych NP is a good prescribing tip. Most prescribing content out there tends to be either too basic, pulled straight from textbooks, or not particularly useful for real-world clinical practice. That’s why I’m excited to pass...
by Claire Ellerbrock, DNP, PMHNP | Oct 9, 2025 | Transition into Practice Tips & Resources
One of the more stressful aspects of being a nurse practitioner that I certainly didn’t feel prepared for during my MSN program was managing patient medication requests. Especially when patients demand specific medications or try to dictate the course of treatment....