ABOUT NICOLA
PERSONAL BACKGROUND
I grew up as a third-culture kid (TCK), was an international student, and have lived as an expat all my life until a couple of years ago I moved to my passport country - Germany- for the first time in my life. I have two amazing adult children who are also TCK’s, and our trilingual family holds three passports between us. I’ve had the privilege of living in Morocco, the UK, France (two different cities), the USA (two different states) and Indonesia. Along the way, my family and I have confronted many issues - chronic illness, LGBTQ+ identity questions, learning differences and neurodiversity, mental health challenges - but also so many extraordinary experiences and so much joy and growth! I know first-hand both how incredible and how challenging an international lifestyle can be and what issues this can bring to relationships, parenting, your professional life…. and how it can throw an added twist into our personal search for meaning and identity.
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
My professional background began with a BSc Hons Psychology from the University of Bristol, followed by a Masters in Psychology (with specialisation in Clinical and Developmental Psychology) from the University of Sussex. My first professional experiences were heavily focused on academic research, but I quickly realised that I craved the direct human connections that we work with in the therapeutic context. At the time, I was especially interested in trauma-informed work with children, adolescents and their caregivers, and so after gaining further experience at the Maudsely Hospital in London, training as a counselor and working for the Childline charity, I completed my training as a play therapist (University of Roehampton, UK) followed by certification in Child Psychotherapy and Play Therapy by the IBECPT (International Board of Examiners of Certified Child and Play Therapists).
As a result of moving so often, I also had the opportunity to reinvent myself professionally in various ways and try out different jobs - I’ve been a language instructor, a specialist mental health interpreter for refugees, a psychology college professor. Yet, through it all, my work as a therapist has remained the constant thread connecting each experience. While living in France, I built a thriving in-person therapy practice, where I continued adapting those play therapy techniques, which are grounded in the humanistic, person-centred counselling tradition, to my more specialised work with adolescent and adult expats. Fast forward two more international moves and a pandemic later, I realised that offering therapy online is a wonderful opportunity to be more accessible for my highly mobile, international clients.
For me, this work is a personal passion, and I take every opportunity to advance my professional growth. I’ve completed further training in Filial Therapy, Internal Family Systems, Narrative Therapy, Sand Tray and Jungian Therapy, as well as specific training for online counsellors, amongst others. Most recently, I’ve engaged in professional training to build on my lived experience of what it means to be a LGBTQ+ supportive and neurodivergent family to better address the needs of all communities in my practise with support and affirmation.
MY APPROACH
My approach to counselling is first and foremost a compassionate and collaborative one. My practice is rooted in the humanistic tradition: I believe in meeting you where you are, with acceptance, without expectations, with empathy and with warmth. My personal style is down-to-earth, friendly, can be quite direct, yet never confrontational, always aimed at gently guiding you toward achieving your personal goals. Though I have a strong theoretical background in psychology, and many different tools in my therapeutic toolbox, ultimately, I take an integrative approach to counselling. I believe the best outcomes can be achieved when we work together; not following therapeutic dogma, but by simply giving you the space to feel and be yourself. You are a multidimensional person, and therapy should reflect that. Like life, therapy is not a linear process, and you might need different approaches at different times.
My approach to therapy is the same as my approach to life: openness, joy, curiosity and empathy.