Providers and Collaboration

Robert Daun APRN MSN PMHNP-BC

Robert Daun MSN, RN, APRN, PMHNP-BC, is a board certified psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner. He is certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to treat and manage the mental health needs of clients of any age.

Robert enjoys connecting with people and getting to know their unique life stories. Being present and listening to those he cares for has helped him to develop a whole-person/whole-life approach to his care. He believes this is an essential part of the pursuit of mental and physical health and wellness. Finding joy in being a part of an individual's journey toward wellness has led Robert on the path that finally brought him to become a PMHNP. He also has the larger goal of considering the big picture of treatment and wellness affecting the community he serves as a whole and intends to direct other program initiatives toward that goal.

As a rule, Robert's ideal goal is to have clients on the least number of medications with the lowest dose to effectively manage symptoms of their mental illness. This can range from, no medications and focus on sleep habits and coping mechanisms, to managing treatment with multiple medications. The goal is to find what is most effective for each individual. This is why considering whole-person care and other lifestyle aspects such as sleep routines and quality, diet and nutritional needs, exercise/activity, is an integral part of his approach to care.

Robert has spent most of the past decade working in hospital medicine. He graduated with his RN at Anoka-Ramsey Community College in 2012. He began working as an RN at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in the float pool, working on all of the more than 21 different units there. He fell in love with cardiology, intravascular procedural intervention, and mental health during his five years in the float pool. Also during that time he graduated with his Bachelor's of Science nursing degree from Capella University. In 2017, needing a change of pace, he began working in the emergency department at Abbott and completed his graduate studies as a PMHNP at Walden University while there. Now in 2021 he is opening his own practice at North Country Psychiatry to serve the needs of the Northfield, MN and surrounding community.

Collaborating Providers

Robert Daun is the sole provider at North Country Psychiatry LLC, but as the old saying goes “two heads are better than one”. We believe working together with other providers empowers our practice with the addition of other perspectives, knowledge, experience, wisdom, standardization, and oversight to the work we do.

Below are some of the other providers that I collaborate closely with - Dr. Walker and Julie Spencer PMHNP-BC are not employed by North Country Psychiatry LLC and appointments cannot be scheduled with them through this business.

Julie Spencer APRN MN PMHNP-BC

Julie Spencer RN, MN, PMHNP-BC, is a board certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP-BC) who owns and operates our collaborator Sparrow Psychiatry LLC. She is certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to treat and manage mental health needs of clients of any age.

Julie’s enjoyment for connecting with people with the goal of easing suffering and promoting mental/physical/spiritual health have directed her pursuit of becoming a psychiatric mental health care provider.

She has a passion for approaching the care of her clients holistically. When assessing the needs of her clients, consideration is given to the many factors that can influence one’s mental health: brain chemistry, sleep quality, nutritional status, physical/emotional/spiritual health, stress, coping strategies, home life, etc.

Julie graduated with an undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree in aquatic biology with an emphasis in fisheries from Bemidji State University. Julie received a master's degree in Nursing in 2009 from the University of Minnesota and was licensed as a Registered Nurse in 2010.

She spent 6 years working as a pediatric oncology nurse at City of Hope before pursuing advanced education in psychiatric mental health. She earned her Post-Master’s Certificate in psychiatric mental health from Azusa Pacific University in 2017.

Julie is continuing her education by pursuing a certification in biblical counseling through the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF).

Dr. Richard Walker MD FASAM

Dr. Richard Walker is a board certified MD specializing in psychiatric care as well as a Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. He owns and operates Psychopharmacology Consultant LLC and is an active collaborator with North Country Psychiatry LLC.

Richard has a vast history working in medicine including work in primary medical practice, psychiatry and addiction medicine. He gained his certificate of completion from the University of Minnesota, Duluth school of medicine in 1981 followed by a year in the Rural Physician’s Associate Program. Following this he completed his M.D. through the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis School of Medicine in 1983. He served as a Lieutenant in the US Navy, serving as a general medical officer and inpatient psychiatrist at the Naval Hospital in Oakland and between 1984 and 1988 completed rotations at the U of M hospitals in psychiatry, a chemical dependency fellowship, and finishing up with a community administrative psychiatry fellowship in Brainerd, MN.

He has a great deal of experience working in various roles focused in psychiatry and addiction medicine all over the Twin Cities metropolitan area, northern rural MN, and parts of western SD. His knowledge, expertise and work history is too rich to go into full detail on this page.

His interests include the politics of healthcare administration and delivery, ADHD treatment, seasonal affective disorder, substance use/dependency disorders, dual disability (persons with both mental illness and chemical dependency), affective disorders, psychopharmacology, women’s issues in biologic psychiatry, and persons with multiple diagnoses.

We are happy and proud to have Dr. Walker as part of our collaborative circle.