About Me + My Treatment Philosophy
Amanda “Mandy” Bliss (she/her)
MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC
Several things!
- I was a family nurse practitioner (FNP) for many years before transitioning to mental health care. The breadth and depth of knowledge I’ve acquired my 17 years as an FNP enhances the care I provide to my mental health and menopausal hormone clients. My background helps me understand my clients’ head-to-toe health – and we all know we can’t separate mental health from physical health!
- I view mental health through a trauma-informed lens. I take a holistic, evidence-based approach in caring for my clients. Not ever symptom folks come in with is a mental health issue. Not every diagnosis needs a mental health medication (or a prescription, for that matter). We work on sleep hygiene, supplements with evidence to help support their symptoms, setting goals and accountability, and integrating psychotherapy.
- I’m deeply curious – a perpetual student, and one who will “go down the rabbit hole.” Psychedelic and plant medicine harm reduction? I’ve learned that. Non-psychiatric medications to treat mental health symptoms? I’ve learned that. Hormone care to treat the symptoms of menopause and perimenopause? I’ve learned that. When investigating care options for my clients. I love the opportunity to say, “I don’t know the answer to that question, but I can find out.”
- I give my clients choices – I know my science and research really well. But my clients are the experts on themselves. I believe my clients, I learn about their backgrounds, and encourage what’s called “collaborative decision making.” This means we work together to determine treatment options that are safe, evidence-based, more likely to be successful, and most aligned with the client’s goals.
In the most recent job prior to starting Bliss Progressive Psychiatry, I served for two years as the Lead Clinician at Serenity Health, a specialty mental health practice in Louisville. Among my primary responsibilities in this role was thoroughly assessing patients to determine whether IV ketamine treatment (or intra-nasal esketamine treatment) was safe and appropriate for them, collaborating with their referring providers, therapists, and families during their treatment, and overseeing and following up on their response to treatment.
I have independently undertaken specialized, intensive training in ketamine use in mental health, including ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) here, with Jennifer Montjoy, PhD, whose dissertation, “Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP): Clinical outcomes and self-transcendence in depression and chronic PTSD,” can be found here.
Additionally, I attended an intensive training for trauma-informed psychedelic care with Elemental Psychedelics in Fort Collins, Colorado.
I completed a certificate program in Psychedelic Therapy and Integration (PTI) with Fluence in December 2023.
In January of 2025, I earned MAPS/Lykos certification for MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD.
In May 2025 I participated in a group ketamine-assisted psychotherapy training help by the Living Medicine Institute in Asheville, North Carolina.
During the spring of 2025, I completed a 12 Continuing Education hour, an in-depth, physician-led course to become certified on the safe prescribing of hormone therapy for perimenopausal and menopausal women. This further informs my ability to care for the physical health concerns that are often related to mental health concerns.
Prior to beginning a healthcare career, I was a public middle school teacher, teaching ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) for sudents who had recently immigrated to the United States. My students represented over 15 different countries.
I’ve been a Masters-prepared nurse practitioner since 2007, having attended Emory University as a Helene Fuld Service Learning Fellow for my both Bachelors and Masters in Nursing. I am board-certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center as both a family nurse practitioner and a psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner.
My psychiatric nurse practitioner training included a semester training under the lead psychologist with the Trauma Recovery Program at the Louisville VA, and another semester training with psychiatric nurse practitioners and a psychiatric clinical pharmacologist/addiction specialist at the VA. It was through the dedicated, compassionate, mission-driven preceptors I had at the VA that I realized treating individuals with trauma (both “Big T” and “little t” trauma) was where my passion lay.
I come from a position of “radical acceptance.” As my client, you are okay who you are, as you are, under your current circumstances. I will affirm this time and again, because I believe it to be true. We are all a work in progress. As such:
- You must have all your intake forms and paperwork completed before I will schedule your intake appointment (not for your Discovery Call). Please reach out if you need help with this.
- I expect honesty and transparency about your background, your current situation, and what your stuck points are. So many of us suffer because of shame and secrecy. Shame thrives in shadows – healing comes when we shine light on these areas.
- I expect you to work on your own healing at least as hard as I’m working to help you. I can’t “fix you,” (you’re not broken!) and medication is not the magic cure we all wish it could be. If you’re not willing to work with me to set realistic treatment goals and take steps between visits to work toward those goals, we might not be a good fit.
- I ask you to come to me with an open mind about “treatment.” Treatment looks different for every person – sometimes it involves medication, sometimes it involves therapy, often it involves both. But it always involves trust, mutual respect, and a willingness to stretch, grow, and cultivate change.
- I expect to involve your family (or close friends who are like family) in your care. This may be just once or twice, and always with your permission. My past experiences caring for patients who are in severe emotional distress has taught me that the presence (or absence) of family and the insights they can provide about the client help to inform and enrich the care I am able to offer.
Education
– BA (Biology & Spanish) – Earlham College
– BSN (Undergraduate Nursing) – Emory University
– MSN (Graduate Nursing, Family Nurse Practitioner) – Emory University
– Post-Master’s Certificate (Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner) – University of Cincinnati
