Kathryn Kieran, MSN, PMHNP-BC

Kathryn completed a BA in History at Brandeis University and her MSN at the MGH Institute of Health Professions (now Mass General Brigham University) in the dual track, where she was inducted into the Sigma International Honors Society of Nursing. She obtained certifications as an Adult NP and Psychiatric Mental Health NP. She directed nursing operations at the Hill Center at McLean, a program for people with histories of psychological trauma, for 10 years. She has also worked at McLean’s Geriatric Outpatient Clinic and in the associated research programs on mood disorders and dementia, as well as general Outpatient Psychiatry and in the Consultation Liaison service at Salem Hospital. Teaching at the University as a Term Lecturer 2021-2022 solidified a growing interest in teaching, and she now serves as an Instructor in the School of Nursing teaching Mental Health nursing.

Kathryn has longstanding interests in how psychological trauma affects the mind, body, relationships and functioning of individuals and groups. Honoring different ways of knowing, while upholding rigorous scientific methods and centering evidence-based treatment, is a hallmark of her research, clinical, and teaching work. She has research and clinical interests in shared decision-making, patient-centered care, de-prescribing, trauma informed care, and trauma-spectrum disorders throughout the lifespan. Recent work has focused on myth as a form of narrative in treating psychological trauma, and evaluation in healthcare education. Her updated chapter on Trauma-Informed Medication Education was published in January 2026 in Psychotherapy for the Advanced Practice Nurse, 4th Edition.