What is Psychiatry?

Most people come to a psychiatry provider looking for relief—but just as often, they’re looking for understanding.

As a PMHNP in Vermont & Utah, I specialize not only in Psychiatric Care & Women’s Mental Health, but also in listening and understanding your story.

I’m a double board-certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and Certified Nurse-Midwife, with a clinical focus on women’s mental health, hormonal transitions, and periods of significant life change. I work with people who want thoughtful guidance, careful judgment, and care that makes sense in the context of their lives—not just their symptoms.

Psychiatric NP: Being with vs Doing to

Have you ever watched that TV Show, The Pitt? Early in my career, that was me.

I was eager to do: to diagnose, intervene, and fix.

One of my first clinical lessons, however, had very little to do with action.

As a new nursing assistant on a cardiac unit, I was assigned to sit with a man who was frightened and struggling to breathe. There was no procedure to perform, no decision to make—just time, presence, and attention. Over the course of the hour, his breathing eased. His anxiety lessened. Before I left, he squeezed my hand and thanked me.

What stayed with me after that wasn’t the name of the medicine that helped him—it was the realization that being with someone can be as important as doing something to them.

That understanding has guided my work ever since and eventually led me to becoming a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner after having worked as an RN in Chittenden, Franklin, Lamoille and Washington counties as well as connecting with Vermonters all over the state.

Across roles as a paramedic, cardiac technician, nurse, nurse-midwife, and now psychiatric nurse practitioner, I’ve seen this truth repeat itself: people feel better not only when symptoms are addressed, but when they are understood, grounded, and met with steadiness during uncertainty.

A little more about me

Beyond my clinical roles, I’m also a teacher, writer, and adoptive parent. I value creativity, reflection, and the ways people make meaning in their lives. These perspectives inform how I listen and how I practice. I have had a passion for women’s health for the past 35 years.

I believe good psychiatric care creates enough stability for people to reconnect with themselves—and decide what matters next.

“Nature alone cures…what nursing has to do…is put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon them.”
— Florence Nightingale

This principle continues to guide my work.

Lisa Hardy, APRN, PMHNP-BC, CNM
OptiMind Psychiatry