Pleased to meet you!
Here's a little about my work
My name is Cristal Sampson. I am the sole owner and healthcare provider at Spirit Clinic. I started Spirit Clinic with the aim to provide high-quality collaborative care to people in active pursuit of a life well-lived. I accomplish this aim through careful attention to my patient's lives and through continually working toward my own personal wellness and ever-growing education in the fields of psychiatry, psychology, health, and counseling.
I work as a board certified Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP-BC) specializing in treating those diagnosed with, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), mood disorders including bipolar, depressive, and anxious mood disorders; post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and survivors of abuse; and psychotic disorders from children to late adolescence to older adulthood.
As a PMHNP-BC, I earned a Master's of Science in Nursing from Yale University. Prior, I studied at Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY) earning a Baccalaureate of Arts in Neuroscience: Biology concentration and in Psychology.
I have many years of experience in research and nursing. I have conducted research in neurobehavioral mechanisms of food intake. I have also published research at NYU Langone Health in the field of alcoholism and drug abuse, particularly looking the phenomenon coined 'spiritual awakening' and its role in long-term abstinence from drugs and alcohol.
I have a diverse background in psychiatric nursing that includes working as a registered nurse on a dual-diagnosis inpatient unit at Yale-New Haven Hospital, a large urban teaching hospital in the city of New Haven, where I cared for people with serious mental illness (SMI) often also battling houselessness and substance and alcohol abuse. I have also worked as an admissions nurse at Silverhill Hospital, a private psychiatric hospital with long-term residential programs nestled in the affluent neighborhood of New Canaan, where I assessed and managed the initial care of the acutely mentally ill.
Most recently, I worked in a large nonprofit community mental health center New York City and in school-based health centers across Fairfield county in Connecticut treating middle schoolers and high schoolers.
I started my career as a nurse practitioner in the working class/working-poor rural town of Cottonwood, Arizona treating people with diagnoses ranging from Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intermittent Explosive Disorder, Paranoid Schizophrenia, Bipolar I and II, Complex PTSD, Dissociative Disorder, Dependent Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Delusional Disorder, Amphetamine Use Disorder, Alcohol Use Disorder, Opioid Use Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Dysthymic Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Adult ADHD, and many more. There I cared for people in acute crisis; people who have recently discharged from inpatient psychiatric hospitalization; and all matters in-between appropriate to my scope of practice.
With my varied background in psychiatric nursing, I've found what is common among us all is the need for our pain to be acknowledged and handled with care. Hearing your pain with loving attention is what I know my life's purpose to be. If you will, allow me to honor your story with respect, professionalism, and compassion.