Meet Leonarda Gaige, PMHNP-BC

I founded My Journey Compass Health with the belief that psychiatric care should feel thoughtful, collaborative, and emotionally safe. Over the years, both personal and professional experiences taught me how often people continue functioning while quietly carrying stress, burnout, grief, trauma, emotional overwhelm, or major life transitions — without truly having the time, support, or emotional safety to process what they are carrying.

My goal is to create an environment where people feel heard without judgment, supported without being rushed, and treated as whole individuals rather than diagnoses or a checklist alone. Whether in community clinics, correctional settings, hospice care, or crisis intervention, I've learned that people don't just need treatment — they need trust, therapeutic alliance, and safety throughout the process.

My education and clinical training include a Master of Science in Nursing focused in Family Nursing from the University of South Florida (2019), a Post-Master's Certificate in Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner from Florida State University (2024), and an Associate of Science in Nursing from Polk State College (2014).

I am dual board-certified through the ANCC as both a Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. Beyond my education and clinical training, I bring patience, cultural humility, emotional attunement, and the understanding that healing rarely follows a perfect timeline. People deserve care that feels thoughtful, grounded, respectful, and human.

I'm a mother, a woman of faith, and someone shaped by diverse life experiences, different cultures, and meaningful human connections over the years. When I'm not working, I enjoy travelling, volunteering, hiking, nature walks, quiet moments of reflection and gratitude, and spending time reconnecting with the things that help me feel grounded and present.

Those experiences deepened my understanding of how our stories, relationships, stressors, and environments shape the way we move through life and relate to ourselves and others. I believe our life experiences shape how we see ourselves, how we relate to others, and how we move through the world. I value understanding how each person's past experiences connect to their present challenges, strengths, relationships, and goals moving forward.