PhD, RN, FNAP
Melissa M. Gomes, PhD, RN, FNAP, is an Associate Professor at Hampton University School of Nursing and Board Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.
Dr. Gomes received her baccalaureate nursing degree in 1995 from the Howard University, School of Nursing. She received her master’s in nursing degree in 2000 from the University of Pennsylvania, where she specialized in Adolescent Health Promotion/Health Leadership. She received her PhD in nursing from the Hampton University with a focus in relational aggression and depression prevention. She also completed two years of additional research training as a Postdoctoral fellow in Vulnerable Women and Children at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in 2010 and completed two years of additional clinical training as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner in 2012 from the University of Virginia.
Dr. Gomes has a unique perspective in that she is a Researcher and a Clinician. Her life’s work has been instrumental in providing high quality care to persons suffering from unmet mental health needs. As a Minority, woman owned, community based, mental health practice owner, she has been on the cutting edge of nurse led interventions. She has been an out of the box thinker who has been able to push against the grain to meet patient/population mental health treatment demands. She founded Transitions Empowerment Associates in 2013, an outpatient mental health practice and Empowerment Through Healing Ourselves (ETHOS) in 2012 which has been on the forefront of change amid the high suspension crisis rates among adolescent with mental health challenges. Notably, she has the ability to examine circumstances from a variety of lenses as she is on the front line of patient care daily; helping many patients who have come to her feeling as if they had little power to change their experience.
Dr. Gomes’ interactions with a large diverse set of patients have made her keenly aware of the antecedents to the development of mental illness and the strategies which are needed to help promote treatment adherence. Notably, many of her patients have remarked at the personability of her treatment methods and the importance of their level of comfort in her approach to their mental health needs.
Dr. Gomes believes, “With proper treatment; mental wellness can be achieved, and healthier lives can be lived.” Her treatment success is guided by the desire to help patients gain the strength to garner their personal resources toward sustained behavioral change. She enjoys treating children, adolescents’ teens and adults who are hurting and need clarity, and direction.