PMHNP clinical sites that fit Post's rules
Post University sends PMHNP students to mental and behavioral health sites whose patients span the lifespan, each one approved by the Clinical Coordinator and covered by an affiliation agreement. Inside that rule, the five preceptorships lean toward different patients, from children and teenagers to older adults, so the right site changes from course to course.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Post program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
Post's rule for PMHNP sites
Post's 2025-26 catalog gives the three NP tracks different site rules. FNP and AGPCNP students complete every clinical hour in primary care, as the primary care sites page explains. PMHNP students look instead for psychiatric and behavioral health settings open to patients of all ages.
You select both the site and the preceptor, and the Clinical Coordinator approves both. Each site also needs an affiliation agreement with Post, requested through the Affiliation Agreement Tracker and fully executed before you start; a contract that already exists with a facility still leaves your own placement subject to approval. The approval path from start to finish is on the placement process page.
Post's public sources stop there. They give no list of approved site types and say nothing about telehealth. For anything outside the obvious, such as a program that sees most patients by video, ask the Clinical Coordinator before you commit a preceptor.
Five courses, five site questions
The lifespan rule covers the whole program, but each preceptorship has its own emphasis in Post's sources. Match the site to the course, not just to the track.
| Course | Patients or setting in Post's sources | Sites to consider |
|---|---|---|
| N 561 | Lifespan mental health (the PMHNP site rule); follows an assessment course | Outpatient psychiatric practice, community mental health center |
| N 563 | Child and adolescent, per the 2024 schedule title (likely focus, not catalog wording) | Child and adolescent psychiatry clinic, youth programs |
| N 565 | Adults and older adults; primary care and acute mental health care (2021-22 description) | Behavioral health inside primary care, inpatient or crisis psychiatry |
| N 567 | Adolescents experiencing substance misuse, in a variety of settings (2021-22 description) | Adolescent substance use programs, youth intensive outpatient or residential care |
| N 569 | Integration course; description not retrieved | A broad outpatient psychiatric caseload |
The course pages go deeper, for example N 563 on finding young patients, N 565 on acute units and older adults, and N 567 on adolescent substance misuse.
Private practice, community programs and hospitals
A private psychiatric practice is usually the simplest site to set up. One owner can decide, the affiliation agreement has a single signer, and the preceptor controls the schedule. The constraint is volume: a solo clinician has to see enough of the right patients to fill your weekly hours.
Community mental health centers tend to have broad caseloads across ages and diagnoses, which suits N 561 and N 569, and some run youth or substance use programs that fit N 563 or N 567. Larger centers may route student requests through a training or education office, so ask who handles agreements.
Some hospitals and health systems publish their own process. In Connecticut, Trinity Health Of New England wants an active school affiliation agreement first and health forms at least four weeks before a learner starts; UConn Health asks schools to arrange a clinical affiliation agreement with the host department; and Community Health Center, Inc., the federally qualified health center based in Middletown, wants the request to come from the student's school rather than the student. These are each organization's own published steps, not Post partnerships, and each one lengthens the timeline.
Vetting a psychiatric site before you submit it
Check each of these before the site goes to the Clinical Coordinator
- The ages and diagnoses the site actually treats, matched to the course you want it for
- Enough volume for your weekly hours: near 17 a week in a 135-hour course, near 11 in the 90-hour
N 567(computed over an 8-week term) - A preceptor who clears Post's NP bar: unencumbered license, national certification in the population focus, graduate preparation, a year or more of experience; an MD or DO also qualifies
- Someone with authority to sign an affiliation agreement, and the site's own onboarding lead time
- Whether the site is your employer, and if so, a preceptor who is not your direct supervisor
- The state: one Post approves for NP clinicals, and one your RN license covers
- How visits happen, in person or by video, and whether the Coordinator accepts that mix
Working where you already work can be the quickest route to a psychiatric site; clinicals at your workplace covers the conditions.
Your state draws the map
Post confines NP clinical training to its approved specialization states, and only those where your license is active and unencumbered. Training outside your home state requires a specialization approval obtained beforehand. CastleBranch's RN license entry may be a compact license, yet the site's state must still be on Post's approved list.
Two notes are specific to the PMHNP. California's row in Post's current NP disclosure names only the FNP and AGPCNP, so the PMHNP is not listed there. Maryland and Utah, which the 2023 version limited to the FNP and AGPCNP, now list all three tracks. If you live near a state line, check Post's NP disclosure by state before you look for a site across it. And if you hold a multistate license through the Nurse Licensure Compact, confirm with the Clinical Coordinator that it covers the site's state before you call a single preceptor there.
How we build a PMHNP site plan
We plan PMHNP sites as a set of five, not one term at a time. For each preceptorship we search the settings that fit its patients, within driving distance, in states where your license is valid: broad outpatient psychiatry for the first and last courses, youth programs for the child and adolescent term, adult and older-adult settings for the third, and adolescent substance use care for the specialty course.
At each site we verify credentials, assemble the CV and license documents, obtain the signed agreement letter and put the affiliation agreement request in early, then track any hospital onboarding dates against Post's Week 1. Where one site can serve two courses, we plan it that way. Tell us your term plan through the contact form.
Questions Post students ask
Can PMHNP clinical hours at Post be done by telehealth?
Post's public sources do not address telehealth precepting for the PMHNP. The question comes up because psychiatric follow-ups can happen by video, but only the Clinical Coordinator can say whether a telehealth-heavy placement is acceptable and how the hours would be counted. Get that answer before a preceptor signs the agreement letter.
Is a primary care practice ever a valid PMHNP site?
Sometimes. The 2021-22 description of N 565 names primary care settings, so a practice where a psychiatric NP or psychiatrist treats behavioral health patients can suit that course. A general family practice with no psychiatric clinician is another matter, because Post ties PMHNP hours to psychiatric and behavioral care. The Clinical Coordinator decides.
Can I use the same site for more than one PMHNP course?
Post's published rules are silent on reuse, and a shared site means one agreement serves several terms. The catch is fit: each course leans toward a different group of patients, so a site works twice only if its caseload suits both. Each course is approved separately by the Clinical Coordinator, with its own Week 1 file.
Can my PMHNP site be in a neighboring state?
Three conditions apply: Post must list that state as approved for NP clinicals, your license must be active and unencumbered there, and your specialization must approve out-of-state clinical work in advance. A compact license can help with the license part. Post's NP disclosure lists which states are open.
Can a psychiatrist be my PMHNP preceptor?
Yes. Post's catalog lets an MD or DO precept NP students. Its guidance still favors nurse practitioners: an NP for two clinical courses at minimum, and for all of them ideally. Across five PMHNP preceptorships, that leaves room to mix psychiatrists and NPs, provided NPs cover at least two terms.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Post University's own catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your course faculty and the Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
Post asks you to select your own preceptor. We make the search the easy part.
Tell us your Post track, your city and your next preceptorship course. We line up preceptors who fit the course, collect the license report, certification and CV the Clinical Coordinator reviews, and start the affiliation agreement early so your Week 1 packet is complete before the term opens.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP and AGPCNP, mental and behavioral health for PMHNP, doctoral nurse leaders for DNP hours
- Preceptor agreement letter, license report, certification and CV ready for Post's approval
- Every preceptorship planned together, close to home in a state where you hold your license and Post's disclosure says yes
Start your placement plan
Track, city and next preceptorship course is all we need to begin.