Credentials

Jennifer Brown is a dually certified Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Nurse Specialist. She received her Bachelors, Masters and Post-Masters degrees in Nursing from the University of Virginia and a Doctorate in Health Services Research from Virginia Commonwealth University. Prior to establishing Seaside Behavioral Health in 2016, Jenny practiced at Independence Therapy Center and held positions as an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at Virginia Commonwealth University and Norfolk State University. She holds an appointment as Consulting Faculty in the School of Nursing at Duke University.

Philosophy and Practice Expertise

Jenny offers a range of services including crisis evaluation, individual/couples/family therapy, diagnostic evaluation and medication prescribing/management. Since 1995 she has experience providing services in public and private environments including acute inpatient, outpatient Community Services Board, emergency room and nursing home settings. She has received federal funding, published and presented numerous occasions on the topic of psychiatric emergency services, recognizing local and national shortfalls and inadequate resources as barriers to quality outcomes and contributors to recidivism. Jenny facilitates patient and family efforts to better understand and navigate the mental health system. Jenny enjoys the diversity of her adolescent and adult patient population; her clients include but are not limited to: active duty and retired military personnel and their families, persons who are disabled by the severity of their mental illness (offering administration of long-acting antipsychotic injections), individuals experiencing work-related/situational stress, adolescents and their families looking for support/guidance related to emotional/maturational/development issues, elderly experiencing cognitive disturbance, newly-separated needing support, grieving widows, and clients with intellectually disabilities or chronic physical conditions. In addition Jenny is an avid proponent of community service – she served over 8 years as the psychiatric provider for the PIN (People in Need) Homeless Ministry Health Clinic and offers support to the local chapter of the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI).

Her approach to psychotherapy is eclectic – primarily a cognitive behavioral approach with strengths-based, problem-solving and interpersonal components. Focus is on helping a client cope with stress, identify and reframe maladaptive thinking, understand and manage illness, parent effectively, engage in health and wellness strategies, develop interpersonal and conflict resolution skills,develop goal setting and time management skills.