Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Epperson.
Hi Kimberly, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Being originally from Newport News, Virginia, I remember my summers as a young teenager not quite legal to obtain a working permit wanting to do something with meaning. At the age of 14 years old, while school was out for the summer, I volunteered as a candy striper in a nursing home, combing the elderly women resident’s hair, painting their nails, filling up ice pitchers for residents to increase fluid intake, reading to them their favorite books or listening to them tell me their wonderful stories of the past. I also attended many activities with them, such as Bingo and helping the staff decorate for a variety of holiday celebrations. I even went on field trips to help assist with traveling safely. It was at that nursing home where the seed was planted with a purpose for taking care of people.
With that seed planted, my family moved to Houston, Texas in the ’80s to become closer to other family members, which included my maternal grandmother who I became extremely close to who worked as an LVN at the old Veteran’s Hospital in the 1970s.
I used to listen to her tell me stories about nurses she worked with at the VA while she was ironing her all-white nursing dresses, shirts, and pants for work. I used to help her buff and shine her all-white SAS nursing shoes with white shoe polish. I remember her telling me, “There is no reason for a nurse to present herself with wrinkled clothes and dirty shoes around her peers and patients!” That image of her never left me and has been implanted in me still to this day long after she passed away when I was 19 years old.
That seed began to manifest in me so greatly that I worked odds and ends jobs and paid my tuition at San Jacinto Community College in Houston, Texas in 2003, enrolling and graduating from their LVN (Licensed Vocational Nurse) nursing program.
It was as an LVN that I was introduced to mental health. I worked at IntraCare Hospital in Houston, Texas helping other LVNs, Registered Nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists (some of the top) to take care of mentally ill patients that ranged from 6 years old and up. I gained experience working with children, adolescent boys, and girls, and adults suffering from various mental illnesses. It was there that a lovely angel (a registered nurse), placed another seed in me telling me how important it is to continue my education, and thanked me for a job well done working alongside her taking care of the mentally ill population on our inpatient locked unit.
From there, that seed manifested and grew where I received a job at the Veterans Hospital in Houston, Texas taking care of our nation’s heroes suffering from mental illness. With the thought of that seed, I went back to school and became a Registered Nurse with an associate degree. I then realized that GOD had a plan for me that I could have never imagined. From there, I went back to school to become a Registered Nurse with a baccalaureate degree. That seed kept growing with GOD pushing me higher as I went back to school again and became what I am today as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Board Certified master’s Prepared.
Looking at the large number of mental health cases that increased post-COVID, including watching the increase of school shootings and how our younger generation is suffering in silence with mental illness, this encouraged me to open up my own mental health private practice, Epperson’s Behavioral Healthcare, within my community. My clinic is designed for mental health services that involves medication management and supportive therapy but also represents togetherness, love, and peace. Doing this has allowed me to not only help break the stigma of mental illness in my community but help to increase awareness and access to good quality mental health care from a place that sees you as a whole person.
Taking care of over 300 mentally ill patients in the Houston area has increased my knowledge on how to better tackle the mental health crisis in the community, including initiating other resources to help benefit coming soon to my clinic that will involve meditation, Yoga, therapy, and group therapy.
Mental health is truly my passion! I believe mental illness does not define you, and I feel that God has truly given me a gift to help my community of mental illness get back on track with life. Increasing their quality of life is truly my mission which is well deserved for them as well.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Has it been a smooth road? Absolutely not! I faced many struggles along the way starting my own private practice. I literally left a 13-year job at the Veteran’s Affairs Hospital, a stable job, a government job or what some may say a “good good government job” biweekly paychecks, good benefits, and I walked away to start my own practice.
It was my faith in God and my passion to help the community that made me make the decision to start my own business and work full-time for my practice.
I went through many trials and tribulations never being a business owner before learning as I go by participating in many Facebook NP Groups and learning from others in my position and doing it all on my own. It was scary, and there were times I wanted to throw in the towel, but God, my inner self, desires, and love for what I do would not allow me.
As you know, we’re big fans of Epperson’s Behavioral Healthcare. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
I started Epperson’s Behavioral Healthcare in March 2022, designed to help increase access to quality mental healthcare by a nurse practitioner who truly cares and has a deep passion for what she does.
As a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, board-certified (PMHNP-BC), I assess, diagnose and treat individuals ages 13 and up with mental health disorders. I treat patients through medication management and supportive therapy either in person or virtual. Currently, I am seeing patients throughout the state of Texas accepting a variety of insurances which includes self-pay as well. I specialize in mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, ADHD, bipolar disorders, OCD, schizophrenia, and many more.
At Epperson’s Behavioral Healthcare, you will experience great customer service from staff and a provider who truly cares for you and your mental health. We offer a comfortable, aromatherapy atmosphere with peace, tranquility, and even snacks if you’re hungry and/or thirsty.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My favorite childhood memory was living in Virginia while school was out in the summertime. I think I was around 12 years old. In Virginia in the ’70s, I was living in a small community where everyone knew each other. My friends and I, with the inspiration of “The Little Rascals,” made a clubhouse in the woods where we would act like teachers, students, have club meetings, and at nighttime, we would be in the woods with jars catching fireflies. At nighttime, surrounded by fireflies was so much fun and amazing to see, plus they were harmless. It would be so many of them; they would light up the woods.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.eppersonsbehaviorhealth.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eppersonsbehavioralhealth/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082942463720
Image Credits
Jessica Bowers Photography
Ineffable Artistry by Irie-Makeup
