Welcome! I’m Chique Henderson

I am a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner who believes that healing begins when people feel truly heard. My approach to psychiatry combines clinical expertise, deep compassion, and a whole-person perspective that looks beyond symptoms to understand the full story of each patient’s life.

My path into mental health care did not begin in a classroom. It began through lived experience.

I started my healthcare career as a Certified Nursing Assistant and caregiver. Working closely with patients in nursing homes and hospitals allowed me to see the healthcare system from the ground level. Later, I became a Licensed Practical Nurse and then a Registered Nurse, working in a psychiatric unit at St. Joseph Hospital. Over the years, I continued advancing my education, earning a Master’s degree in Nursing Education and later completing my Post-Master’s Certificate as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner across the lifespan.

Those experiences shaped not only my clinical skills but also my values. Early in my career, I witnessed something that stayed with me: Many patients were treated quickly, sometimes with little time spent listening to their stories or understanding their families’ concerns, and medications were often prescribed without exploring the deeper context of what patients were experiencing.

I promised myself that if I ever had the opportunity to practice independently, I would do things differently. I would take time. I would listen. And I would treat each patient as a whole person, not simply a diagnosis.

My motivation to become a psychiatric provider is also deeply personal.

I grew up in a Filipino culture where mental health struggles were often dismissed altogether, let alone misunderstood. As a child, I experienced trauma that later led to depression, anxiety, disrupted sleep, and feelings of hopelessness. I often felt emotionally drained and trapped, with no one to talk to who truly understood what I was going through.

At the age of twelve, I made a life-changing decision to leave that environment and start surviving on my own. I worked small jobs, continued school independently, and learned very early what it meant to face life with uncertainty. What carried me through that period was discovering a community that listened and cared. Through faith and community support, I experienced what it felt like to be heard and valued for the first time.

That experience changed the direction of my life.

It showed me that no one deserves to live feeling alone, dismissed, or hopeless. It also showed me the power of compassion and connection in healing emotional pain. Today, those lessons guide every interaction I have with my patients.

My goal is not simply to treat symptoms. My goal is to help people rebuild the parts of themselves they thought were gone.

In my practice, I combine traditional psychiatry with a holistic and integrative approach. Medication can be helpful and sometimes necessary, but it is rarely the whole solution. I focus on understanding the root causes of what someone is experiencing and work with patients to address lifestyle factors, emotional patterns, and underlying stressors that affect mental health.