Pacific Springs Behavioral Health

Name: Pacific Springs Behavioral Health
Address: 5331 S Macadam Ave Ste 258 PMB 1063 Portland

Kasey McCracken, MPH, DNP, PMHNP-BC Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner

Pacific Springs Behavioral Health

Kasey McCracken, MPH, DNP, PMHNP-BC Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner

What to Expect

Welcome!

My small private practice focuses on insomnia and strategies to improve sleep.

Getting started: Before our first appointment, you’ll complete an online assessment to capture information related to your sleep. We will go through this together during a one-hour evaluation that will help us develop a treatment plan. Following the evaluation, if we agree that you would benefit from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), we will plan for a series of bi-weekly sessions. If CBT-I is not a fit for you, we can discuss referrals to other providers or consider a series of sessions using other strategies to address your concerns.

A note about medications: As a psychiatric nurse practitioner, I have extensive experience prescribing and managing medications. While this is not the primary focus of my current practice, we will discuss your medications and how they may be affecting your sleep, and we’ll work together to develop a plan that balances the risks and benefits of medications. Because our work together will likely be time-limited, it is important for you to continue working with your primary care or psychiatric provider for on-going prescriptions.

Some Logistics: My practice is exclusively telehealth for patients in Oregon and Washington. At present, I am not in-network with insurance, but I can provide a superbill for you to submit to your insurer. Typically, insurers reimburse patients at least 50% of the cost of the visit after the patient has met their annual deductible.

About Insomnia & CBT-I

Everyone experiences a bad night’s sleep from time to time, and many people also develop ongoing insomnia during a period of stress. Almost a third of people with this type of acute insomnia will go on to develop chronic insomnia, meaning they continue to have problems sleeping at least 3 nights a week after the original stressor has improved (thankfully, even people who have chronic insomnia occasionally get a good night's sleep!). Unfortunately, chronic insomnia rarely improves on its own, as the patterns that reinforce poor sleep tend to perpetuate it.

CBT-I is recommended as the first-line treatment for chronic insomnia by a number of organizations, including the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). Research conducted over the past several decades has shown that insomnia symptoms improve after patients participate in CBT-I and that these improvements last for up two years.

AASM Overview of CBT-I

So, the good news is that CBT-I can be very effective at treating insomnia. The less-good-news is that it really does take a lot of work and things typically get harder (for a little while) before they get better. To be effective CBT-I requires a willingness to closely monitor your sleep and to adhere to guidance about when (and where) you sleep. This all means that it’s important to consider the timing of treatment (avoiding times when it might be hard to be maintain consistency) and to have a good therapeutic partner to work with you throughout the process.

About Me

Kasey McCracken, MPH, DNP, PMHNP-BC

Board Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner

After completing my training at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), I spent seven years as an outpatient mental health provider at the Portland VA where I served veterans with a wide range of diagnoses (primarily providing medication consultation). I was then the behavioral health provider for a residential community for formerly houseless adults, where I supported patients through both psychotherapeutic strategies (e.g. DBT and ACT) and medication management.

Throughout my time as a psychiatric nurse practitioner, I have been struck by the relationship between sleep and mental health, across disorders, and the importance of addressing sleep to improve functioning and overall well-being.

This led me to seek additional training in assessing and treating sleep concerns, and in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), the modality that is the current focus of my practice. I truly appreciate the privilege of collaborating with patients to identify strategies to best address their mental health and sleep concerns.

In addition to my clinical practice, I have a faculty appointment at the OHSU School of Nursing where I provide clinical training for psychiatric nurse practitioner students, teach coursework in population health and quality improvement, and work to improve care for individuals with severe mental illness and substance use concerns in long-term care residential settings.

Contact Me

I am happy schedule a 10-minute phone appointment so you can see if my practice is a good fit for you. Please use the link below to let me know a few days/times that work well for a brief call and I will respond by email to coordinate.

Pacific Springs Behavioral Health, LLC

5331 S Macadam Ave Ste 258 PMB 1063 Portland, OR 97239-3871

Ph: (503) 563-2298 | Email: kmccracken@pacificspringsbh.com

Pacific Springs Behavioral Health

Pacific Springs Behavioral Health

What to Expect

About Insomnia & CBT-I

About Me

Contact Me

Pacific Springs Behavioral Health, LLC

Reach out to learn more!

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