JJ Cansler is a Doctorally prepared Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner practicing at Portland Mental Health & Wellness in Portland, OR. She has been working in healthcare since 2002 and in mental health exclusively since 2012. She earned her associate degree in 2011, Bachelor’s in 2017, Master’s in 2019, and Doctorate in 2020. She has experience working in a broad range of settings from a large historic state psychiatric hospital to her cozy private psychiatric practice which operates out of a house, and several settings in between – a private inpatient facility serving active-duty military, an acute substance detox and rehabilitation facility, an outpatient community mental health clinic serving ACT team, crisis services, and inpatient and outpatient substance use programs.

JJ’s approach to mental health is that patients should “come as they are”, and there is no expectation of wellness prior to care. She serves clients of all ages and diagnoses without exclusion including neurocognitive differences, and substance related issues. She has evaluated and managed care for clients as young as two years old for foster and forensic programs, and clients beyond 100 years old including those with various stages and presentations of dementia, and everything in between.

In addition to her work in Oregon, JJ owns and operates a private practice, works in education, and serves in various consultant roles. Her private practice, an HRSA designated clinic in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, employs several healthcare professionals – mental health and family nurse practitioners, licensed social workers, and peer support specialists. Her work in education allows her to teach, mentor, and support future psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners as they complete clinical practicums as part of their graduate studies. Additionally, JJ collaborates and consults with companies providing disease state and drug specific education to students and providers around the nation, specializing in bipolar and other mood disorders.

JJ believes that she has the best job(s) in the world. She is passionate about going the extra mile to ensure equitable care to those who may otherwise have negative experiences in healthcare, and she takes care to share equitable practices and rationales with those she teaches and mentors.

Lastly, JJ teaches that self-care is health care, and makes sure to practice what she teaches and take time off with her family and friends – traveling, exploring new places, driving her Jeep, and binge-watching trash TV.

Clinical supervisor: Becky Berman, PMHNP-BC, MN, MSW