Meet Ann-Marie Fenn, ARNP, LCSW, CNM: A Whole-Person Approach to Mental Health Care
Florida Acupuncture and Counseling, Inc. | Gainesville, FL
August 2026
Mental health care is rarely about just one symptom, one diagnosis, or one treatment. At Florida Acupuncture and Counseling, our approach is centered on caring for the whole person—mind, body, and spirit.
That philosophy is deeply reflected in Ann-Marie Fenn, ARNP, LCSW, CNM, whose diverse professional background brings together nursing, midwifery, clinical social work, mental health care, and psychiatric medication management.
We sat down with Ann-Marie to learn more about her journey, her philosophy of care, psychiatric medication management, counseling, common mental health concerns, and why she believes connection and whole-person care are so important.
Getting to Know Ann-Marie Fenn
Q What inspired you to become both a psychiatric nurse practitioner and a clinical social worker?
A: “What brought me to this point was the whole person. I became a nurse many years ago and worked at a Catholic hospital with the nuns, so I really was inspired about true healing. And true healing is mind, body, spirit. It’s not just one organ, one part, one eye, one uterus; It’s the whole person. And unless you can take that whole assessment, like what this whole person’s deal is, you really can’t help them. So that’s why I became a nurse. Then, I became a midwife, I delivered babies. And then, I actually started a PhD program out in California, but they sold the school and the program to the Chicago School of Professional Psychology and it was about the perinatal. Peri means around, natal means pregnancy. I wanted to bring more to my clients than just to listen to the baby’s heart rate, measure their belly, put them on a scale, take their blood pressure– I wanted the mind, the body, and the spirit. That’s why I encompass psych and healing, caring for others in the medical field and psychology together.”
Q: How do your two professions complement each other?
A: “As a midwife, you are always adapting to the mom, and she is in control of her body and we respect that place. Midwife means that I’m not above,I’m not below, and I’m not the one in the white coat. I tell them to do what their body tells them; I’m with her. With psychology, I feel that we are with the client also. They have their answers, so I just try to bring that out in them.”
Q: What do you enjoy most about working with clients?
A: “Being with them, sitting in a room with them. I do telehealth, and I love my clients on telehealth, but I really like being in a room. I can see you, I can see how your legs cross, I can see how your arm folds, I can see your head tilt this way or that way.I believe in the energy fields, that we have energy between each other. So that’s why I love being with it, being present.”
Q: What do you do outside of work to maintain your own wellness?
A: “I go to the gym across the street; the women’s gym. I do yoga, I do gardening, and I spend time with my family; the grandchildren, my sons, my partner. We have an RV, we camp, and we love being grounded in the earth.”
Q: What advice would you give someone interested in a mental health career?
A: “Be self aware. It’s like going to the doctor, going for a checkup. You check in, check out once or twice a year. So I think that you need to start with your own self awareness and then you need to shadow, watch, and be exposed to all kinds of healing modalities. Not everybody needs therapy; you can go to yoga and meditation.”
Understanding Psychiatric Medication Management
Q: What is psychiatric medication management?
A: “There are people who, after being assessed and after therapy, the biology of people have to be assessed first. They need to have a complete work up with their primary care physician and know that there’s something. Hypothyroidism can cause depression, certain medical diseases can cause depression, so we don’t want to miss that. Some people need chemical additives. Conservative treatment is always the best. I believe people need less medication than they think. So psychiatric medication management is up to the patient and the provider, then we make the diagnosis and carry on from there.”
Q: When should someone consider seeing a psychiatric nurse practitioner?
A: “It’s not just a psychiatric nurse practitioner, it’s a person who can help them figure out whats going on with them. They need to seek some therapy; from that point, that person can guide them to what they need. Psychiatric nursing is not where you should start– you should start with therapy, a whole person assessment.”
Q: Do all people with anxiety or depression need medication?
A: “No, and I would say that most of them do not. They need to be in a supportive group, they need to be with peers that love them, care for them, and they need to be seen, heard, and valued, and know that things are going to be okay; that they don’t need to walk alone.”
Q: How do you decide whether medication is appropriate?
A: “By doing that complete assessment; a good family history or overall history. It’s called a biopsychosocial-spiritual-ecological assessment. I like to see them two or three times before I make that call.”
Q: How often do clients typically meet with you?
A: “It depends on the client, but typically once a week. People usually don’t come with their problems, but their solutions to therapy. It takes a long time to get to the root of the problem. We continue until we get to the root instead of putting bandaids on things.”
Q: What are some common misconceptions about psychiatric medications?
A: “That it’s one pill for all, that this will fix everything, that everybody needs it. Those are some of the top I have.”
Q: Can medication and counseling work together?
A: “I think that they can work beautifully together when somebody has a real diagnosis of a major depressive disorder. Some may need medication to give them a jump start and then be in therapy for six months. Then, we start weaning off because we’ve gotten to the root of the problem.”
Q: How do you monitor medication safety and side effects?
A: “By bringing the client back in, by consulting with my collaborative physician, by documentation, reading about the drug, by listening to my client.”
Anxiety, Depression, PTSD, ADHD, and Bipolar Disorder
Q: What are common signs of anxiety?
“Well, there is social anxiety, neurotic anxiety, etc. For example, ‘I don’t want to raise my hand’, ‘I don’t want to read in front of the class’, etc. These are anxious kinds of issues and we need to explore what happens.”
Q: What are common signs of depression?
A: “Feeling hopelessness, not sleeping, not eating, not wanting to be a part of something, mood swings, and fearfulness.”
Q: What is PTSD?
A: “Well, it’s because an event happened in their life and how they responded to that event.”
Q: What is ADHD?
A: “You have different forms like they can’t stay on task, they can’t make good decisions, they can’t finish a project, they can’t listen in, or they wanna move around.”
Q: What is bipolar disorder?
A: “Well, there’s several forms of bipolar disorder, but it’s typical mood swings up and down.”
Q: How can stress affect both physical and mental health?
A: “If you look it up, stress is the number one killer for Americans. I think people just get used to having stress in their life. It’s when you reach the maximum point of coping, and you can’t cope beyond that. When everything that’s happening in your life is beyond what you can handle, the stress level is up. Again, it’s different for everybody.”
Q: When should someone seek professional help?
A: “Whenever they think they should. Definitely when you’re having issues with possible suicide.”
Bringing Counseling and Medication Management Together
Q: Why is it beneficial to have medication management and counseling in the same practice?
A: “Sometimes, depression is so great that you are lacking certain chemicals in the brain. Some receptors aren’t picking up, and once you give them medication, they feel more balanced and centered and start to talk more. They come back because they want to, and not so sad that they can’t come to therapy.”
Q: How do you collaborate with counselors to help clients?
A: “I believe in independent collaboration. I bring my uniqueness, personality, etc. So we sit and we talk. As a midwife, you collaborate with others because holding back and not reaching out is unsafe.”
Lifestyle and Mental Health
Q: What role do lifestyle changes play in mental health treatment?
A: “Everything. You are who you hang with. My mother used to tell me even if you don’t do what your friends do, it shows that you condone what they are doing. Anybody who’s doing drugs hangs out with people who are doing drugs. The first thing you gotta do is get them away from that scene, that lifestyle. Then, we have something to work with.”
Q: Can sleep, nutrition, and exercise improve mental health?
A: “That’s everything. Your first medicine is your nutrition. That is often where I start. The processed foods have got to go.”
Supporting Teen Mental Health
Q: Why are so many teens experiencing anxiety today?
A: “That’s a very complex subject. I would have to talk to a lot of teenagers. I think they need connection, they need to feel connected and belong where they are. There’s a difference between fitting in versus belonging. Belonging means that you’re true to yourself, while fitting in means you’re trying to be somebody that you’re not.”
Q: How can students manage school stress?
A: “I know the public health department allows teens as young as age thirteen to get care without a parent or any authorization.”
Q: How can parents support their teen’s mental health?
A: “By accepting them, by loving them, by caring for them, and not trying to be their best friend or remake themselves in them and allowing them to be themselves. They have to be the best role model that they can be.”
Q: Is it okay to ask for help even when you aren’t in crisis?
A: “Yes. That is called a check-in. I just wanna make sure I’m trying to prevent the crisis. I believe your programs will do a lot of prevention. Don’t wait to fix something after it’s already been traumatized, let’s do the prevention as we grow up.”
Q: What would you tell a teen who is nervous about taking medication?
A: “We would talk extensively, and they would have a complete informed consent that they can refuse. That is the first thing that I would teach everybody. Doing some counseling plus education is where you start.”
Why Florida Acupuncture and Counseling?
Q: What made you choose Florida Acupuncture and Counseling?
A: “They are on a mission, and it’s something you can just feel. I looked at the advertisement for a part time counselor and I kept thinking about it because I just wanted to come back into the workforce this way into an office, not just telehealth. And instantly, the energy here is just so positive.”
Q: What makes our approach different from other practices?
A: “I think they just offer so many complimentary, holistic, whole person alternatives to just straight talk therapy. Just the combination of therapies is so progressive.”
Q: Who do you enjoy helping the most?
A: “Every single person. Every single time we can help somebody, that’s my personal mission. It’s my personal mission to be there to help.”
Q: What services work well alongside medication management?
A: “Therapy, exercise, a nutritionist, acupuncture, any walking, and support groups.”
Q: If someone is nervous about reaching out for mental health care, what would you like them to know?
A: “It just takes the first step. The first step is to just reach out. It’s fear that’s holding you back. You have nothing to lose by reaching out, but you have everything to gain.”
A Few Final Questions with Ann-Marie
Q: What is your dream vacation?
A: “I’d want to see the ocean, read a book, put my feet up, and see the sunset and sunrise all in one destination.”
Q: If you could instantly learn one new skill, what would it be?
A: “The really good skill of asking the most important question to make the client look at things a little differently.”
Q: What is one piece of advice everyone should hear?
A: “Everybody should treat each other like they want to be treated. Go out in the world and be kind, not just nice. Be self aware as well.”
Whole-Person Mental Health Care at Florida Acupuncture and Counseling
Ann-Marie’s approach reflects an important part of the philosophy at Florida Acupuncture and Counseling: mental health does not exist separately from the rest of our lives.
Physical health, relationships, lifestyle, stress, environment, nutrition, emotional well-being, and our sense of connection can all play a role in how we feel.
By bringing mental health counseling and psychiatric services together with complementary services such as acupuncture and massage therapy, our goal is to provide patients and clients with options for a more integrated approach to wellness.
If you are considering counseling, psychiatric medication management, or simply want someone to help you determine the next step, contact Florida Acupuncture and Counseling to learn more or schedule an appointment with Ann-Marie Fenn.
Research Acknowledgment
This interview was conducted by Giselle Kenneally, a summer intern with Florida Acupuncture & Counseling through the TeensWork Alachua program.
We are grateful to Kinsley for her dedication and thoughtful contributions, and we extend our sincere thanks to TeensWork Alachua for connecting local students with meaningful workplace learning opportunities. Through paid internships, mentorship, and career-readiness training, TeensWork Alachua helps prepare the next generation of professionals while strengthening our local community. We are honored to be a participating worksite and appreciate the opportunity to support young talent as they grow and develop.
