How Annelise Nentwick built a psychiatric practice where patients aren’t rushed or unheard.
Annelise was under pressure to see as many patients as possible every day. With Kinstead, she launched Arrowhead Mental Health & Wellness in Frederick, Maryland, on a schedule she sets herself. In her first five months she completed roughly 300 visits, her patients averaged nearly five visits each, and Arrowhead became her full-time practice.
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Annelise Nentwick knows every patient is more than their diagnosis.
Annelise Nentwick is a board-certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. She earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice in psychiatric mental health at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, after a master’s in nursing at Johns Hopkins. Before that, she worked as a psychiatric nurse in Western Maryland.
She founded Arrowhead Mental Health & Wellness to give patients the power to take control of their health, without the pressure, the rush, or the feeling of being unheard. She sees children, teens, and adults, with particular focus on ADHD, LGBTQ+ care, and child and adolescent mental health. Within months, Arrowhead became her full-time practice.
“I wanted to remove as many barriers as possible between myself and my clients, while also maintaining a more sustainable work-life balance,” she says. She manages her own schedule, and can take the extra time a client needs “to ask questions, to express their concerns, to share with me about their lives, and so that we can truly work together to structure their care plan.”
Every individual experiences symptoms differently, and no two people experience a disorder in the exact same way.
Annelise NentwickDNP, PMHNP, CRNP · Founder & Owner, Arrowhead Mental Health & WellnessWhat she set out to change.
“I was feeling so much pressure to see as many clients as possible every day,” Annelise says. She built Arrowhead around the opposite idea: mental health care should be shaped around the person, not the schedule.
Volume over people
Pressure to see as many clients as possible every day, in visits too tight to think, ask, or explain.
The pressure
Decisions about medication and treatment that feel pushed, not chosen together.
Feeling unheard
Walking out sure the clinician never quite understood what you described.
One-size-fits-all treatment
Symptoms treated by the label, when no two people experience a disorder the same way.
An unsustainable pace
A schedule set by someone else, with no room for the clinician’s work-life balance or a client who needs more time.
She wanted to remove the barriers between herself and her clients.
Arrowhead Mental Health & Wellness — together towards your mental wellness.
A full-time psychiatric practice in downtown Frederick, Maryland, seeing children, adolescents, and adults in person and by telehealth. Medication management and psychotherapy, with insurance accepted.
From opening to ~300 visits in her first five months.
She signed with Kinstead in March and saw her first patients in May. Bookings climbed every month after, in a nearly straight line up.
- March 2026Signed with KinsteadCredentialing and payer enrollment begin.
- May 2026First patientsArrowhead opens, in network, with the first visits booked.
- Week 5About 40 completed visitsJune brings about 50 bookings in its first full month.
- Week 10About 100 completed visitsA steady pace of roughly 60 bookings a month.
- Week 15About 170 completed visitsPatients return again and again.
- October 2026~300 completed visits70+ bookings in October alone.
In network with Medicare, Medicaid, and the major commercial plans.
Annelise brought the clinical expertise. Kinstead handled the operational path.
Annelise owns Arrowhead Mental Health & Wellness — always. Kinstead handles the back-office layer of launching and growing it, which is what made it possible for her to go full-time.
Credentialing & enrollment
Eight payers taken from application to active, including Medicare and Maryland Medicaid.
Billing & back office
Claims and revenue cycle handled behind the scenes.
Launch planning
A clear path from signed agreement to first patient.
Website & setup
Practice presence and the tools to run it, ready to go.
Scheduling support
Scheduling that works for in-person and virtual days alike.
Marketing & growth support
Support growing the panel, from referrals within the Kinstead network to online directories.
Technology
The infrastructure to run a practice, maintained for her.
Weekly support
Ongoing problem-solving, week after week.
All the folks at Kinstead, especially Taylor and Parth, have been so amazing in guiding me and supporting me through the entire process.
Annelise NentwickDNP, PMHNP, CRNP · Founder & Owner, Arrowhead Mental Health & WellnessWhat care feels like at Arrowhead.
Patients describe the same things Annelise set out to give them: time, attention, and follow-through. “My clients really appreciate the flexibility that I can offer them,” she says.
I enjoy my sessions with Annelise. She is always open to help and listen to my concern. I appreciate her thoughtfulness and expertise.
Extremely intelligent, impeccable follow-up, always listens to what you have to say and has the ability to let you choose the right ideas/concepts.
Cannot say enough good things. She is incredibly kind, patient, and genuinely present during every session.
What this means if you’re thinking about it.
Patients who know you are a strong start.
About 40% of Annelise’s new patients were people who already knew her. The other 60% found her through other channels.
Referrals from other NPs are the next-biggest channel.
About 30% of her new patients were referred in by other Kinstead-affiliated NPs. Online directories added roughly 10% more.
Psychiatry is a relationship, not a single visit.
Patients average nearly five visits each. Those who already knew her average more than six.
Virtual and in-person can work side by side.
Arrowhead runs mostly virtual days, with in-person visits at her Frederick office on Tuesdays and Fridays. Bookings climbed every month of her first five.
You can make it your full-time practice.
Signed in March, first patients in May, and within months Arrowhead became Annelise’s full-time work, with the operational layer handled for her. “I know I am so much happier,” she says.
There is no perfect moment.
Her advice to NPs who are unsure: you won’t know you’re ready until you start, so start now.
“You’ll never truly know if you’re ready or know exactly when the right time is, so why not do it now?”
Ready to build a practice around the care you want to give?
Kinstead helps nurse practitioners launch and grow insurance-based private practices.
Founder story shared with Annelise Nentwick, DNP, PMHNP, CRNP. Arrowhead Mental Health & Wellness is independently owned and operated by Annelise Nentwick. Kinstead provides operational support; it does not own or control the practice.