About Nicole Joslin, PMHNP-BC

You've Been the One Who Handles Things. And It's Starting to Cost You.

You're good at managing. Work gets done, obligations get met, and from the outside you look like someone who has it figured out. But there's a version of you that nobody else sees: the one who lies awake replaying the day, who carries a low-level worry that doesn't switch off between meetings, who has been saying "I'm fine" for so long it's started to feel like the only acceptable answer.

Maybe your focus has been slipping in ways that are harder to explain away. Maybe the mood you used to shake has been sitting heavier lately. Maybe you've spent years building workarounds for how your brain works, and you're tired of what that costs.

A Psychiatric Provider Who Takes the Time to Actually Know You

I'm Nicole Joslin, a nurse practitioner since 2003, first in adult primary care and internal medicine, and now in psychiatric-mental health. That combination isn't incidental. It's the reason I approach psychiatric care the way I do.

I built Apex Behavioral Health around longer appointments, a smaller caseload, and decisions made with patients rather than for them. What I offer isn't a quicker path to a prescription. It's a genuine attempt to understand what's actually going on.

I see you as a whole person, not a diagnosis or a med list. That means sleep, stress, relationships, and the strengths you already bring to the table all matter just as much as your symptoms. I'm also neurodiversity-affirming, which means I don't see ADHD, autism, or other brain-based differences as things to be fixed. They're real variations in how people think and process the world, and they deserve understanding and practical support rather than pressure to try harder.

Above all, I want this to be a place where you can be honest without being rushed, judged, or reduced to a label.

15 Years in Primary Care. Then Psychiatry. Here's Why.

Throughout 15 years in adult primary care, I kept noticing the same thing. Patients would come in about their blood pressure or their fatigue, and somewhere near the end of the appointment, almost as an afterthought, they'd mention the quiet "I'm not okay" that was actually the whole point. The anxiety. The exhaustion that sleep wasn't fixing. The sense of being not quite themselves.

The system didn't have time for it.

I went back to school at East Carolina University to specialize in psychiatric-mental health nursing because I wanted to be the provider who had time for that part of the visit. Not as an afterthought. As the whole point.



That history shapes how I practice now. I came to psychiatry already knowing how mental health concerns arrive wearing physical symptoms. That understanding shapes every evaluation I do.

Meet Gia Joslin, Administrative Assistant

Gia is the person who makes sure every patient experience at Apex Behavioral Health starts with the same care the clinical work is built around.



She is currently a student at Elon University, pursuing her bachelor's degree in psychology and theology through their selective honors program, with the goal of becoming a psychotherapist. She brings genuine curiosity about people, a deep interest in existential philosophy, and the kind of organizational precision that keeps everything running smoothly behind the scenes.

What Our Appointments Actually Look Like

From your very first visit, you'll be asked about your preferences and your goals. You'll hear my thinking as we go, so you always know what's being considered and why. You're always part of the decision.

Your first appointment is 90 minutes. That time covers your history, your stressors, and what you actually want to feel differently. Not just what brought you in today. Sleep, relationships, what's been building for years. It all belongs in the conversation.



When medication comes up, you'll understand what it does, what to expect, and what to watch for before anything is prescribed. If you're not sure about medication at all, that's a reasonable place to start.

Who I Work With

I work with adults 18 and older who are managing more than it looks like from the outside, and who are ready for support that actually fits their life.

I work particularly well with:

• Adults who are high-functioning on the outside and quietly exhausted on the inside, who've been managing on willpower for longer than feels sustainable
  
  
• People navigating anxiety, depression, burnout, or mood changes that haven't responded to self-management alone
  
  
• Neurodivergent adults, including those with ADHD or suspected ADHD, who want a provider who understands how their brain actually works, not one who tells them to try harder
  
  
• Adults whose previous psychiatric experiences felt rushed or focused only on medication without explanation
  
  
• Adults managing sleep disruption, OCD, or intrusive thoughts that are starting to affect relationships, work, or daily functioning
  
  

I see patients in person in Apex and via telehealth across North Carolina.

What Patients Often Tell Me Makes the Difference

Many patients who find Apex Behavioral Health have had at least one psychiatric experience that left them feeling processed rather than heard.

What they often describe afterward:

• There was time to say the thing they'd been building up to
  
  
• They left the first appointment understanding what was happening and why, not just with a prescription
  
  
• Their full story was asked about, not just their presenting symptoms
  
  
• Their uncertainty about medication was treated as a reasonable position, not an obstacle
  
  
• They noticed that I remembered their context from previous appointments, not just their chart