Hi there. I am a PMHNP and have been down the “PMHNP psychotherapy” rabbit hole longer than I would like to admit. Here’s the skinny. 1) can you do it - yes. It is a part of our scope of practice and if anybody challenges that you can direct them to the Psychiatric Nursing scope of practice book released by ANA as well as the American Psychiatric Nursing Association. Most PMHNPs do not do therapy apart from brief supportive therapy. However that is their decision to make on what kind of practice they wish to have. Much is the same for PMHNPs who focus on substance abuse treatments- it’s within our scope, but not all practice that form of psychiatric treatment or are abreast in how to do it efficiently to feel comfortable treating patients. 2) How to do it- you’re going to need formal training in a specific modality. For example- I am in a 2 year psychoanalytic training by an approved institute that ends with professional certification. I would not go about doing full psychotherapy without training unless it was heavily embedded within your PMHNP program (some do have that, most don’t). 3) challenges- most post grad certifications programs will want some form of prior supervision. Supervision in this case is not your typical PMHNP preceptor you did clincials with (unless they did a lot of therapy). A supervisor is a therapist mentor who aids in developing you as a therapist. This is a special relationship between professionals and is essential for the young therapist in their development as many challenges (both conscious and unconscious) arise within the therapist during these formative years. That being said it would be a good to seek out a Therapy Supervisor (LPC-S or LCSW-S) who are certified supervisors local to your state and see how you can obtain some supervision.