Kimberly R Comparetto, PMHNP

I decided to become a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner after hearing a story on Maine Public Radio in the 1990’s about a team of providers working with homeless people in Portland. I was struck by the dedication and compassion of these people and was impressed by how hard they worked to engage on a human level. They weren’t talking about treatment or medication; just simply giving out sandwiches and coffee as a way to build trust in a population that has perhaps learned that the world is not a safe and trustworthy place to be. I believe that healing occurs within the context of the therapeutic relationship, and, as Carl Rogers states: “In my relationships with persons I have found that it does not help, in the long run, to act as though I were something that I am not.”