Dr. Judy Tietz and Carl McNeely

“I’m thrilled that Carl McNeely has joined Grace Cottage Mental Health Services,” said Dr. Judy Tietz, Grace Cottage’s psychiatrist, who has been putting in some long days over the past few years. “For a very long time, I’ve been hoping that Carl would be able to work here!”

Patients will also undoubtedly be pleased when they meet with Carl. A Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner and an Advance Practice Registered Nurse certified in Adult Mental Health, Carl works with those in late adolescence through adulthood. He believes in a collaborative approach: “I’m not the boss,” said Carl. “The goal is to work together with the folks who come to me and help them overcome what keeps them from enjoying life more, and to get to where they want to be in life. And when it comes to medications, I’m a minimalist - the least amount of medicine is the best amount of medicine.”

A native of rural Absecon, NJ, McNeely spent his adolescence in larger cities. After traveling around the world in the military, and spending the early years of his career in cities like New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco, he decide to return to a more rural lifestyle.

Carl received a BS in Nursing with a concentration in psychology at the University of Delaware. “Afterward, I worked on a surgical teaching unit, pediatric intensive care and burn intensive care units, and the Stanford University Medical-Psychiatric Unit before I decided to go to graduate school at the University of Massachusetts. While I was getting my degree in counseling psychology, I worked at the Brattleboro Retreat, and that’s how I ended up in this area.” Prior to coming to Grace Cottage, Carl worked for eight years at Healthcare and Rehabilitative Services of Southeastern Vermont.

Carl lives in Townshend with his wife, Jeanne, and their daughter, Olivia. In his leisure time, he enjoys “doing anything outdoors”, including gardening, snowshoeing, hunting, and fishing.