Foundations of my Practice
For those who value depth, training, and experience
Amber Pena Posey, APRN
I did not arrive at this work through a single path.
It has been shaped through years of formal training, clinical practice, and my own lived experience of navigating deep personal transitions .
Both matter.
And all chosen with endless curiosity.
The Path That Formed Me
Before stepping into this expanded body of work, I built and ran a thriving psychotherapy and integrative psychiatric practice.
It was entirely referral-based.
No website. No marketing. No social media presence.
Just the work itself.
I was deeply committed to my clients and to the fields of integrative medicine and psychotherapy. Creating that practice was a dream realized.
And over time, I began to feel the edges of that structure tighten.
Not because the work wasn’t meaningful—
but because my own growth was no longer fully held within it.
Like many of the women I now work with, I found myself at a threshold.
One where what had once fit… no longer did.
In that crossing, I experimented with many models of work. I learned what worked and what didn’t. I have woven that experience together for my current season.
Lived Experience
Alongside my professional path, I have moved through my own cycles of expansion, contraction, and deep personal change.
What is often called “crisis” I have always understand as something else entirely—a necessary descent into truth.
These experiences shaped not only how I live, but how I sit with others.
They taught me:
- that growth is not linear nor tied to any timeline
- that insight alone is not enough
- that real change requires both inner honesty and lived integration
How I Hold the Work Now
Today, my work is no longer confined to a single discipline. Though I have always customized my work, it has outgrown the prior constraints.
I always viewed therapy as a deep exploration of humanity and choice. I bring that view along to this work.
My work draws from the foundations that have always allowed for a life to unfold:
- clinical knowledge and training
- collaborative, trusted relationship
- developmental, depth psychology
- holistic health and well-being science
- contemplative inquiry
- somatic awareness
- creative and nature-based exploration
I do not believe in one method.
I believe in meeting you where you are, and working with what is true.
A Final Note
If you are here, you may not be looking for more information.
You may be looking for someone who can meet you in a moment of change, uncertainty, or quiet knowing.
My background matters.
But it is only one part of what I bring.
Training & Clinical Experience
My background includes:
- A bachelor’s degree in English Literature, setting the stage for my love of storytelling and the journey of human experience
- A second bachelor’s degree in Nursing, beginning in 2005
- Graduate degrees in both Family and Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner clinical tracks
- All degrees from the University of Florida
- Board-licensure as a Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
- Clinical experience in family practice, integrative medicine, psychiatry and psychotherapy since 2006
I still maintain regular continuing education, training and self study in diverse and multi-cultural psychotherapy, psychology, sociology, medicine and the arts. This knowledge base, along with experiential and embodied approaches, and wisdom traditions is how I aim to support the unfolding of the human experience.
My clinical focus has included:
- Eating disorders and body image issues in adults and adolescents
- Anxiety and perfectionism
- ADHD, gifted, neurodivergent
- Women’s mental health across life transitions
- Weight loss and metabolic health, with an emphasis on intuitive eating and body-positive support
- A trauma-informed and developmental understanding is foundational to my work
- Mentorship and supervision for clinicians (medical, therapy, nutrition)
I have also trained in:
- Integrative and functional medicine (IFM, Univ. of AZ)
- Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PSI)
- Psychodynamic and depth-oriented therapy (ongoing supervision since 2009)
- Expressive Arts/Eco-art Therapy (supervision 2015-2025)
- Clarissa Pinkola Estes’ Women Who Run With Wolves facilitator training
- Compassion-Based Resilience Training (CBRT)
- Mindful Self Compassion (MSC)
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
- Pilates
- Positive Psychology Mental Fitness training (PQ)
Beyond the Clinical Model
While my work is grounded in years of clinical experience, it has never been limited to it.
I have long been drawn to the deeper layers of human experience—identity, meaning, freedom, embodiment, creativity, and truth.
Over time, I expanded into more integrative and bespoke work with women navigating:
- burnout
- identity shifts
- life and career transitions
- entrepreneurship
- authentic leadership
- the tension between outward success and inner truth
This work included elements often not held within traditional medical or therapeutic models.
And eventually, it became clear:
The modern models of medicine, therapy, executive coaching and strategic consultation, were not sufficient for the depth of transformation my clients were seeking.
