Anessa Holman has been a nurse for 23 years. With the recent launch of Future Forward Behavioral Health last month, she is excited to offer the community much-needed behavioral health services during an unprecedented time.
“I came from an in-patient psychiatric setting. I am starting fresh here,” Holman said.
In response to the pandemic, the need for mental health services is at an all-time high according to Holman, who said she will do whatever it takes to make a breakthrough with a patient.
“It’s been very hard on the kids — depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts,” she said. “Kids have felt isolated. I have wanted to do this clinic for well over a decade. There is a great need for these services now.”
Holman is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner who offers medication management, psychotherapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy.
“Calls are steady and the schedule is filling up. It’s exciting,” Holman said.
Holman is currently working with patients from ages 6 to 24. She feels that 18 years old is not the best time to transition into a new psychiatric provider, considering that many at that age are moving out on their own for the first time.
“Why stop at 18? You have the kids in college and some experiencing developmental delays. Many need extra time to transition into seeing someone else,” Holman said.
Part of what makes Holman’s practice unique is the way she views medication, which she considers to be just a small portion of the treatment plan. She refers to it as a bridge so that other therapies can work.
“Medications have their place but I am not a huge proponent of medication alone,” she said. “Most of the time it is just a temporary thing for kids as part of their treatment, like a Baind-Aid. Some kids come here and simply do therapy.”
One of her favorite aspects of working with children is their resilience and having the ability to bounce back.
“There is something about knowing what good treatment can do for children. It can change the whole trajectory of their life. The thought of being able to be a facilitator in setting a kid on a better path or happier, more fulfilling path is what I love,” Holman said.
Holman hopes to eventually see her space utilized for art therapy and fill multiple offices with therapists and other nurse practitioners.
“The building I am in is too big for me right now,” she said. “There’s an open space in the loft upstairs and I’d love to hold art clinics there. Jamie DeWitt of Studio 105 has agreed to make my waiting room into a mini art gallery. Within the next month, it will be filled with art.”
Future Forward Behavioral Health has been a goal and dream for Holman for a long time, and she is adamant about how her practice will operate.
“My goal is not to fix kids, that’s not what I do, kids aren’t broken; they don’t need fixing. I’m not willing to take shortcuts. I’m stubborn and it serves me well in this endeavor,” she said. “Everything they need they already possess. They have to be shown how to access the gifts that they already have.”
Future Forward Behavioral Health is located at 1020 Halifax Drive, Suite 102. For more information, visit their Facebook Page or call 270-713-0799.
