Big Dreams?
Meet Nicole.

Work with ADHD/ Executive Functioning Skills

Nicole includes psycho-education in sessions

Nicole’s work with ADHD is thoughtful, structured, and deeply personalized. She helps clients create clear goals and simple systems that make progress feel visible, manageable, and motivating.

For teens navigating the “in-between” — balancing academics, social life, and internal pressure — Nicole focuses on creating a sense of ease and alignment, rather than overwhelm. Her approach blends practical coping strategies with individualized learning techniques, helping each client discover how they function best.

Nicole believes that growth isn’t always loud — small wins matter. By celebrating progress in all forms, she helps clients build confidence, resilience, and a stronger sense of self.

Trauma in relationships and high conflict family dynamics / Narcissistic Abuse‍ ‍

Nicole specializes in working with children and adolescents (ages 5–19) who are navigating high-conflict family dynamics, separation, and emotionally unstable environments. She has extensive experience supporting clients who feel caught in the middle of ongoing tension, inconsistent parenting styles, and complex relational stress.

With over 1,400 hours of focused clinical work in narcissistic abuse cases (ages 5-19), Nicole brings a depth of experience in understanding how these dynamics impact a child’s emotional development, sense of self, and ability to feel safe within relationships.

In families impacted by narcissistic traits or high-conflict patterns, children and teens often experience confusion, emotional overwhelm, loyalty binds, and difficulty trusting their own perceptions. Nicole provides a structured and supportive space where clients can begin to make sense of their experiences, strengthen emotional regulation, and rebuild a sense of stability.

Her work focuses on helping clients:

• Understand and process complex family dynamics in an age-appropriate way

• Develop emotional awareness and regulation skills

• Build confidence in their thoughts, feelings, and boundaries

• Navigate conflicting messages between caregivers

• Reduce anxiety, guilt, and emotional pressure

Nicole approaches this work with care, neutrality, and clinical precision—recognizing the importance of supporting the child without increasing conflict between caregivers. She is highly attuned to the impact that family dynamics have on development and works to ensure each client feels seen, supported, and protected within the therapeutic space.

Her goal is to help children and teens move from feeling overwhelmed and “in the middle” to feeling grounded, empowered, and emotionally secure, even within challenging family systems.

‍ ‍Play Based & Experiential Therapy

Nicole incorporates play-based and experiential therapy when working with younger clients and those who engage best through movement, creativity, and interaction. Children often communicate most authentically through play, and Nicole uses this to better understand their internal world in a way that feels natural, safe, and engaging.

Through the use of games, art, movement, action figures, and dog-assisted therapy, Nicole creates an environment where learning feels approachable and achievable for all ages. These methods allow clients to express thoughts and emotions that may be difficult to articulate verbally, while also building confidence in how they communicate and connect.

Play-based therapy is especially effective for neurodivergent clients, including those with ADHD, as it aligns with how the brain processes attention, engagement, and emotional regulation. Research shows that interactive, movement-based, and reward-driven experiences support:

• Increased attention and task engagement

• Improved emotional regulation

• Stronger memory and skill retention

• Reduced frustration and shutdown

By incorporating these approaches, Nicole is able to meet clients where they are—whether they are highly verbal or more reserved, younger or older, active or reflective. This flexibility supports clients in developing confidence not only in therapy, but in their ability to express themselves across different environments.

Nicole’s approach ensures that therapy is not only effective, but also engaging, empowering, and developmentally aligned, allowing clients to grow through experiences that feel meaningful and accessible.

Art and Expressive Therapy

Nicole integrates art-based and expressive therapy as a powerful tool for helping clients explore emotions, build insight, and deepen their understanding of self. She provides a range of creative materials including canvases, painting supplies, coloring books, mandalas, and other expressive mediums to support this process.

With over 3,000 hours of experience using art-led therapeutic models with children, teens, and young adults, Nicole uses creativity as a bridge for clients who may find it difficult to fully express themselves through words alone. Through painting, playdough, and other expressive arts, clients are able to safely explore emotions such as anger, sadness, joy, and more complex, deeply rooted feelings.

Nicole also incorporates music and relaxation techniques into art-based work, creating a calming and immersive experience that supports emotional regulation and reflection.

Art in therapy allows clients to:

• Externalize internal experiences in a tangible way

• Increase emotional awareness and self-expression

• Process complex feelings without pressure to verbalize

• Build confidence in sharing and communication

Nicole thoughtfully tailors art interventions based on age and developmental needs. Examples include:

For children:

• Emotion identification through colors and drawing

• Playdough storytelling to explore daily experiences

• “Safe vs. unsafe feelings” visual mapping

For teens:

• Identity exploration collages

• “Inside vs. outside self” artwork

• Visual journaling for emotional processing

For young adults:

• Narrative-based painting to reflect personal experiences

• Mandala work for grounding and mindfulness

• Music-integrated art for emotional release and insight

Nicole’s approach ensures that art is not just creative—but intentional, therapeutic, and deeply impactful, helping clients feel more connected to themselves in a way that is both accessible and meaningful.

Nicole works closely with Dr.Gregory Allen and believes in the importance of using a preventive approach that can potentially save a teen from spiraling into addiction. The preventive approach Nicole uses, has been taught from Dr. Gregory Allen. Nicole proceeds with encouraging the client to…

1. Rid themselves and their surrounding environment of the substance. This can include alcohol in a liquor cabinet, removing proximity and closeness in friend groups that use substances or removing nicotine completely from the home. This removes the URGE to comply with using.

2. Nicole will then help the client switch the focus and reason to why sobriety is important to the client . If a parent is pushing sobriety, an important milestone to reach is that the client eventually recognizes THEY want to remain sober.

3. If a client is casually using, Nicole will collaboratively form a plan that encourages and promotes sobriety day to day. Once accomplished, the new goal becomes how to remain sober for 6 months- +.

4. After a year, the focus of therapy changes. It begins to focus on WHY the use began, and how we can integrate purpose and passion into our life instead of the substance or habit.