Hi, I’m Nikki! I am a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker who graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work. My passion has been working with children, adolescents and families, to overcome the adversities of life. For the past fifteen years I have provided therapeutic services in settings such as schools, homes, in-patient facilities for children, and most recently, a non profit Children’s Advocacy Center. I am Nationally Certified in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and for the past eleven years, my career specialty has been focused on supporting survivors of trauma, as they move through their healing process and grow personally.

I am a licensed mental health counselor with experience working on a range of concerns including anxiety, trauma, identity, and relationships. An area of special focus for me is supporting adult and teen clients navigating, and healing through, life transitions. My approach to counseling is guided by curiosity, how it is to walk through life as you. Drawing largely from emotion-focused, experiential, and mindfulness-based approaches, I strive to engage all aspects of each client’s self. This includes thoughts, emotions and felt experiences, personal beliefs, and relationships to other people and to the world. I also am trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). Together, we collaborate to identify and expand upon what is uniquely healthy and healing for each client.

Welcome. From a person-centered perspective, I work holistically in collaboration with my clients. Together, we may explore your personal story, gain insight into your struggle, identify the causes and conditions for your healing and wellbeing, and/or chart a new path toward desired change. As the observing guide, I help you build your own capacity for self-observation. By listening without judgment to your experience, I help you foster your own sense of self-compassion. I am a psychotherapist who values the safety and sanctity inherent to the therapeutic relationship; one where you are met with genuineness and acceptance. With trauma-informed sensitivity, I draw my techniques from evidence-based relational psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive behavioral, stress response, somatic and mindfulness theories. The therapeutic work often aims to regulate emotions, build coping capacity, improve functioning, and, ultimately, heighten self-awareness and deepen self-understanding, I have experience working with adults on an individual basis, both short term solution-focused and long term relationship-based, to help with life transitions and issues such as: anxiety, depression, chronic pain, PTSD, grief, addiction, stress management, college/early adulthood adjustment, parenting, caregiving, and relationships.

I am a licensed clinical social worker with experience working with adolescents and adults, on issues such as anxiety, trauma, depression, as well as other emotional difficulties that many of us confront in our life. I received my BA from Columbia University and my MSW from Fordham University. I believe that to live a fulfilling life, a person needs to be able to recognize and express their own needs so that they can make the necessary adjustments or communicate those needs to others. The primary instrument in my work is the relationship with the client, building trust and mutual regard in a safe environment that allows the client to be able to express themself. I place an emphasis on helping the client develop a stronger awareness of their emotional life, as it plays out in their mind and body. I draw from Coherence therapy, EFT, ACT and IPNB to help the client increase their real sense of empowerment.