Beaufort Memorial Sea Island Psychiatry Adds Nurse Practitioner

Katie Durden, a board-certified and fellowship-trained psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner with a doctorate in her specialty, has joined the clinical team at Beaufort Memorial Sea Island Psychiatry.

She brings to the practice experience in the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of conditions affecting mental, emotional and behavioral health and is skilled in the use of supportive psychotherapy and other nonpharmacological and pharmacological therapies to manage such mood disorders as anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder. She has a particular interest in helping patients overcome the effects of past trauma on both mind and body.

Durden comes to Sea Island Psychiatry from Primary Care & Hope Clinic in Murfreesboro, Tenn., where she was a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner. A Georgia native, she learned early the value of counseling from her mother, whose CarePartners of Georgia practice in Swainsboro provides outpatient mental health services to children and adults.

Previously, Durden served as a field nurse at the practice as well as a geriatric psychiatric nurse at Emanuel Medical Center, also in Swainsboro.

She earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, cum laude, from Georgia Southern University in Statesboro and a Doctor of Nursing Practice with a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner concentration from Augusta University in Augusta, Ga., then completed a fellowship in her specialty from Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in Nashville.

At Beaufort Memorial Sea Island Psychiatry, Durden joins board-certified psychiatrists Drs. Wynn Hill and Scott Walmer; board-certified nurse practitioners Maggie Benton and Haille Riddle; and licensed clinical social worker Patricia Rickenbaker. Located in Beaufort Medical Plaza, 989 Ribaut Road, Suite 330, Beaufort, the practice offers a full range of general adult mental health care. In addition to outpatient appointments, its clinical team provides services to patients at Beaufort Memorial Hospital. A provider referral is required for an appointment with Durden or any of the practice providers. For more information, please call 843-522-5600.