Meet Lorrina

Lorrina Whalen's path to psychiatric care wasn't a straight line — it started in addiction treatment, where she discovered just how much she cared for patients working through withdrawal and fighting to reclaim their lives. That experience changed her, too: understanding her patients' struggles helped her find compassion and healing in her own life. It's what drove her to learn everything she could about mental illness, so she could show up for people who needed understanding as much as treatment.

Today, as a Board-Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP-BC), Lorrina brings that same conviction to every patient: that people are not their diagnoses, and that real care means seeing the whole person.

Lorrina served 20 years in the United States Air Force before transitioning into full-time psychiatric care — experience that shapes how she practices today. But her connection to military life started even earlier: she grew up in a military family herself, moving frequently from base to base as a child.

That dual perspective, a veteran who also grew up as a military kid, gives her a firsthand understanding of how military life can affect mental health at every stage: the discipline and structure it builds, the toll deployments and transitions take on service members, and the quieter impact of frequent moves, changing schools, and long separations on the spouses and children who move through that life alongside them. For military-connected patients and families, that shared understanding often matters as much as clinical expertise.

She earned her Master of Science in Nursing, with a specialization in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing, from Walden University, graduating Summa Cum Laude and earning induction into the Golden Key Honor Society. She is board-certified by the ANCC as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.

Lorrina believes the best outcomes happen when the whole care team is involved — physicians, therapists, and sometimes family. She regularly collaborates with and refers to therapists who specialize in the modalities that best fit each patient's needs.

When she's not caring for patients, Lorrina's favorite place to be is with her family — playing games, talking, and laughing together. She also enjoys reading, long walks, theatre, and live music.