“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths…

Beautiful people do not just happen.” -Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

 

A seemingly simple act of kindness can be a profoundly healing thing. Sonja’s diverse nursing background has shown her that we are all one step, one accident, one situation away from something impacting our mental health. This sense of how unique we all are is what informs and motivates Sonja’s practice. She loves people’s stories: learning about their culture, background and journey in a way that illuminates the “why” of who they are.

 

This passion led Sonja to return to her education and earn her second Master’s in Nursing, this time as a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, which allows her to put these strengths to use directly where they will be most effective—mental healthcare. She demonstrates this by reaching those who are most in need of care, such as children, adolescents, peri/postnatal patients, and substance use populations. Sonja uses an empathetic approach to provide holistic, individualized treatment for her patients. Her passion and expertise is in helping young people, including children and adolescents.

 

She is able to provide diagnostic assessments, medication management, and psychotherapy for all ages. She believes in working together as a team—that it is important for patients to bring ideas and suggestions they believe can help improve or impact their mental health. Sonja’s role in her patient’s mental health is a part of a larger picture of who they are, and Sonja works with people to help care for that entire person. She doesn’t simply offer psychiatric services, she offers people encouragement, kindness and support.

 

Sonja started her private practice so she can put her approach of relentless kindness to work. Hospitals and large systems stigmatize the very thing people look to them to treat. Mental health issues may not be as visible as physical issues, but they are just as important. Mental illness does not discriminate, so neither should a mental healthcare provider. In her private practice Sonja is working to change those underlying beliefs about mental health, finding the gold dust in each patient and becoming their teammate on their journey toward wellness.