Meet Ashleigh
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
Certified Functional, Holistic, Integrative Medicine Practitioner
Certified Equine Assisted Practitioner
Ashleigh McDonnell, PMHNP-BC, FIM-P, is the Founder and Owner of Wild Ember Psychiatry & Therapy. With more than a decade of experience in behavioral health, Ashleigh is passionate about helping individuals and families navigate life’s challenges with compassionate, evidence based care.
She believes that mental health treatment should be collaborative, individualized, and focused on the whole person—not just a diagnosis. Her goal is to create a safe and supportive environment where clients feel heard, understood, and empowered in their journey toward healing and growth.
Clinical Experience & Leadership
​
Ashleigh brings a unique blend of clinical expertise, leadership experience, and a deep commitment to expanding access to quality mental health care. With more than a decade of experience in behavioral health, she has served in a variety of clinical and executive leadership roles spanning outpatient psychiatry, crisis services, community mental health, and healthcare operations.
Prior to founding Wild Ember, Ashleigh held executive leadership positions overseeing psychiatric and nursing services for multidisciplinary behavioral health organizations throughout Arizona. Her work has included developing clinical programs, leading clinical service teams, implementing evidence based practices within organizations, improving access to care, and creating systems designed to support both clients and clinicians. Throughout her career, she has remained passionate about bridging the gap between high quality clinical care and the real world needs of individuals and families seeking support.
Today, in addition to providing direct patient care, Ashleigh continues to lead the strategic growth and clinical direction of the practice while mentoring clinicians and helping shape innovative approaches to mental health treatment. Her leadership is guided by a commitment to serving children, adults, families, veterans, first responders, and individuals seeking a more comprehensive and personalized approach to behavioral health care.
Areas of Focus
Ashleigh provides psychiatric evaluations, medication management, and integrative treatment planning. While she works with a broad range of mental health concerns, her primary areas of focus include trauma, PTSD, anxiety disorders, ADHD, mood disorders, behavioral concerns, and the intersection of mental and physical health.
She has a particular passion for working with law enforcement officers, first responders, and veterans. Ashleigh understands the unique demands, cumulative stress, and occupational injuries that can occur in professions centered around service to others. She is committed to helping first responders navigate the impact of trauma exposure, burnout, operational stress, and the challenges that can arise both professionally and personally throughout their careers.
Ashleigh is also passionate about supporting veterans as they transition through different stages of their post-service journey. In addition to providing mental health treatment, she assists veterans with mental health disability evaluations, including Nexus letters and Disability Benefits Questionnaires (DBQs) when clinically appropriate. Her goal is to ensure veterans receive thorough, evidence based evaluations while supporting them in accessing the care and benefits they have earned through their service.
​
Education, Training & Certifications
Ashleigh earned her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) with a specialization as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner from Eastern Kentucky University.
She is committed to lifelong learning and advanced training beyond traditional psychiatric education. Her additional education and certifications include:
• Certified Equine-Assisted Practitioner through the Icarus Model with Skye Therapy Solutions
• Functional & Integrative Medicine Professional (FIM-P) Certification through the Institute for Functional Medicine for Nurses
• Graduate of Dr. James Greenblatt’s Psychiatry Redefined Fellowship, focusing on integrative and functional approaches to psychiatric care
• Advanced training through Dr. Kate Salama’s Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Program
Through ongoing education, Ashleigh continues to expand her knowledge in psychiatry, functional medicine, trauma-informed care, and whole-person wellness to provide clients with comprehensive, evidence-informed treatment options.
Integrative & Functional Mental Health
Ashleigh believes that mental health and physical health are deeply connected. While evidence-based psychiatric care remains the foundation of treatment, she also recognizes that factors such as sleep, nutrition, hormones, inflammation, stress, gut health, and lifestyle habits can significantly impact emotional well-being.
​
Her approach combines traditional psychiatric evaluation and medication management with a broader exploration of the factors that may be contributing to symptoms. By looking beyond the diagnosis alone, Ashleigh works collaboratively with clients to develop treatment plans that support both mental wellness and overall health.
​
She is passionate about helping clients better understand the connection between mind and body and empowering them with practical, sustainable strategies that support longterm resilience and well-being.
​
Equine-Assisted Therapy
In addition to traditional psychiatric care, Ashleigh offers equine-assisted therapy experiences for select clients. As an Icarus-trained equine-assisted practitioner, she incorporates horses as partners in the therapeutic process to help clients develop self-awareness, emotional regulation, confidence, communication skills, and deeper insight into patterns of thinking and behavior.
Equine-assisted therapy is not about riding or horsemanship. Rather, it provides opportunities for experiential learning and growth through interactions with horses in a safe and supportive environment. Horses are highly attuned to human emotion and nonverbal communication, making them powerful partners in helping individuals explore challenges, build resilience, and strengthen connections with themselves and others.
Equine-assisted services may be appropriate for adolescents, adults, veterans, first responders, and individuals seeking a more experiential approach to healing and personal growth.
