By: Stephanie Kress, APRN, PMHNP-BC, LCSW, NE-PMC, RYT-200
From Attendee to Scholar to New & Emerging Voices Faculty
Saying Yes to Psych Congress
In September 2023, I decided to attend Psych Congress in Nashville. At the time, I was early in my career as a board-certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, and honestly, I had never even heard of the conference. But curiosity and a deep love of learning have always taken me to unfamiliar places. I did not yet know that this experience would become the first step in a journey that would eventually lead me to Psych Congress Elevate and beyond.
Early Career, Expanding Identity, and Unseen Struggles
I completed the bridge program at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in 2022 and began practicing just two months later. I was in the midst of expanding my professional identity, from providing psychotherapy as a licensed clinical social worker to also prescribing psychotropic medications. That transition alone was significant, but it was only part of my story.
I was providing care with a broken heart, trauma-response symptoms quietly seeping through the cracks. Like so many clinicians, I learned how to compartmentalize and how to hold space for others while protecting my professional reputation. In doing so, I unknowingly dehumanized myself, trying to live up to the unrealistic expectation that mental health providers should be endlessly composed and untouched by pain.
That same fall of 2023, I also began a Doctor of Nursing Practice program, balancing multiple life domains at once.
When Education Becomes Healing
I sought help, of course. But it was not until I heard Dr. Craig Chepke and Dr. Rakesh Jain speak at Psych Congress Nashville that healing truly felt possible without sacrificing my identity as a confident, competent, capable clinician.
I watched Craig take the stage during a profoundly difficult time in his life. I saw his tears. I understood his pain. And I felt something rare and powerful: presence over performance. He modeled what it looks like to lead with humanity while delivering evidence-based education on new and emerging, rapid-acting treatment options. He even challenged us to evolve our language to “monoamine-resistant depression.” That moment changed me.
Dr. Jain’s presentation, Where Words Fail, Music Speaks, was equally transformative. He shared, simply and beautifully, that music is our first and our last love language. His authenticity and compassion radiated through every word. I danced while learning about the neurobiology of music, and it was the perfect ending to an already enriching program. By the time it concluded, I knew I had found my tribe.
Finding My People Through Psych Congress Elevate
Sometime later, I saw an invitation on LinkedIn to apply to be a Psych Congress Elevate Scholar. I did not even realize the connection to Psych Congress Nashville or its speakers. I did not fully understand what I was applying for, and I did not expect to be accepted. But something inside me said yes, so I applied.
Being accepted as a Psych Congress Elevate Scholar in Las Vegas in 2024 became a landmark moment in both my personal and professional life. The education and networking were dynamic, interactive, and empowering. Andrew Penn, PMHNP-BC, shared his lived experience with imposter syndrome and challenged us to be seen and heard as leaders in our field. In that moment, I felt a long-dormant dream reignite: to one day speak on a global stage. I committed to pursuing it, even scared.
During that conference, I formed lasting friendships and became part of what I now proudly call the Psych Congress family. Hear more about my experience in this interview I did with the team.
Why I Keep Coming Back
I gained so much knowledge, clinical skills, mentorship, and collaborative relationships that I now attend every conference I can: Psych Congress 2024 in Boston, NP Institute 2025 in Orlando, Psych Congress 2025 in California, Psych Congress Regionals, and Psych Congress Elevate year after year.
Why? Because Psych Congress helps me become a better clinician. And a better human.
I stay current with advancements in psychiatry. I retain mechanisms of action and neurobiology more effectively. I gain diagnostic clarity for complex presentations. I refresh skills I do not use daily, like long-acting injectables. I connect with clinicians from around the world. Most importantly, I bring everything I learn back to my patients, my nursing students as adjunct faculty, and my fellow clinicians.
I also get to witness, up close, what impactful leadership and professional speaking look like in our field and to cultivate those qualities within myself.
From Scholar to Speaker
The connections I have made through Psych Congress Elevate have opened doors I never imagined. In 2025, I was honored to guide a yoga practice for attendees and faculty on the balcony of Octavius Terrace, a beautiful, synergistic experience I will never forget.
And now, as Psych Congress Elevate celebrates its 10-year anniversary this June 2026, I still cannot quite believe this part: I have been accepted as faculty for the New & Emerging Voices program. Pinch me. Not only am I elevating my voice, I am partnering with Dr. Rakesh Jain.
Full stop.
Dr. Jain and his wife, Dr. Saundra Jain, are extraordinary teachers of meaning-making and living embodiments of what it truly means to walk the talk. I am deeply grateful to partner on a topic I care about, not just clinically, but through the lens of lived experience with trauma.
Closing Reflections
I will close with the same poem by Hafiz, Every Movement, that I shared after the yoga session at Elevate last year:
I rarely let the word “No” escape
From my mouth
Because it is so plain to my soul
That God has shouted, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
To every luminous movement in Existence.
You never know where your yes will take you.
Keep moving forward, my friends.
Keep elevating.
iṣṭo ’si me dṛḍham iti,
Stephanie
Event Details
Event: Psych Congress Elevate
Dates: June 3–6, 2026
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Website
Registration
About the Author
Stephanie Kress, APRN, PMHNP-BC, LCSW, NE-PMC, RYT-200 is a compassionate psychiatric mental health provider, nurse leader, yoga instructor, and professional speaker dedicated to safe, equitable, and patient-centered care, as well as clinician well-being. With over 20 years of combined experience in mental health care and philanthropic service, she brings a deeply holistic approach to healing that honors the whole person: mind, body, and spirit. Read more.