Doctorally prepared, Dual-Certified Nurse Practitioner in Psychiatry and Family Health

I am Dr. Valbona Avdija, DNP, PMHNP BC, FNP BC, and the founder of Wellbeing by Valbona NP in Psychiatry and Family Health, PLLC, practicing under the DBA Psychiatry by Valbona NP.

My practice represents the culmination of a professional journey shaped by clinical experience, academic education, and a continuing interest in understanding people. My path did not begin in psychiatry. It developed over many years, with each stage of my education and professional experience leading to the next.

Family Nurse Practitioner: The Foundation of Whole-Person Care

I began my advanced practice career as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP BC). Before becoming an FNP, my nursing background included home care, Intensive Care Unit nursing, Medical Surgical nursing, and float nursing, which gave me experience caring for patients across different areas of healthcare and with very different needs.

As an FNP, I cared extensively for adults age 50 and older. Over the years, I began noticing patterns that made me look beyond the immediate medical problem. Some patients presented with injuries or health problems related to alcohol use. As I learned more about their histories, I sometimes found that alcohol use was connected to untreated anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, or other mental health difficulties.

These experiences showed me how closely physical health, behavior, emotional experiences, and life circumstances can be connected. They also led me to become increasingly interested in what was happening beyond the physical symptoms and to ask deeper questions about the person experiencing them.

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP): Advancing Clinical Expertise. 

After becoming an FNP, I pursued my Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). My doctoral project focused on intellectual disability.

To understand intellectual disability, I first had to understand intellectual ability itself. This led me to study what intellect is, how intellectual ability is measured, how cognitive abilities are evaluated, and how the mind processes information.

The deeper I went into these questions, the more interested I became in understanding the mind itself. My doctoral work allowed me to examine how cognitive abilities, communication, emotional experiences, and social circumstances can influence how people understand information, respond to their environment, and function in their daily lives.

This became an important turning point in my professional development. My interest expanded from understanding the whole person medically to understanding more deeply how the mind works and how mental processes influence human behavior and experience.

Beyond Nursing: Exploring Human Behavior and the Mind

Following my doctoral education, I continued studying areas that gave me additional perspectives on human behavior and communication.

My certifications include Certified Life Coach, Certified Master Life Coach, Certified NLP Practitioner, Certified NLP Master Practitioner, Certified Hypnotist, and Certified Advanced Hypnotist, along with my training in Functional Medicine. I also pursued public speaking training, which expanded my understanding of communication, presentation, audience engagement, and the ways people receive and respond to information.

Each area of study offered something different. Life coaching provided an opportunity to study motivation, goals, accountability, and personal change. NLP expanded my understanding of communication, patterns of thinking, and perception. Hypnosis provided another perspective on attention, suggestion, beliefs, and the mind. Functional Medicine expanded my understanding of the relationship between physical health, lifestyle, and overall well being. Public speaking training gave me another perspective on communication and how the way information is presented can influence how it is understood.

Together with my academic and clinical experience, these areas of study gave me additional opportunities to observe human behavior and the ways people think, communicate, cope, make decisions, and respond to the circumstances of their lives.

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner: Bringing It All Together 

After these experiences, my interest in understanding the mind developed into a clear professional direction. I pursued advanced education as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP BC).

My background as an FNP provided the foundation of understanding physical health and the whole person. My doctoral work introduced me to the deeper study of intellectual ability and the mind. My continued education gave me additional perspectives on communication, behavior, motivation, perception, and human nature. Psychiatry brought these areas of learning into a clinical discipline focused specifically on mental health.

Today, I am the founder of Wellbeing by Valbona NP in Psychiatry and Family Health, PLLC, practicing under the DBA Psychiatry by Valbona NP. My practice brings together the education, clinical experience, and professional journey that have shaped me as a Doctor of Nursing Practice, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, and Family Nurse Practitioner.

This is the journey of becoming the clinician I am today.