Hello!

Hi,

I’m Nicole. I’m a psychotherapist living in Wollongong, south of Sydney, Australia. I live by the ocean, and I like to go for runs, consume nauseating amounts of podcasts on all manner of things (serial killers, childhood trauma survivors, finances, self-improvement, etc.), swim in the sea, hike in the bush, cook, eat, read, go to live music, be with my family and friends, and watch Netflix.

I’m trained as a Clinical Psychologist. I completed a PhD in this area, which means I’m qualified in psychological assessments, diagnosis, case formulation, and treatment (i.e., psychotherapy) for mental health issues and complex psychological disorders. The PhD bit also means I was also trained in how to conduct rigorous research, and my thesis (304 pages of it, to be precise) was on minor cognitive difficulties as a marker of risk for psychosis.

I feel pretty certain that I’ve made a good career choice. I feel this must be one of the best jobs in the world. It’s a bloody privilege to be with people at their most vulnerable, and to hear about thoughts, desires, and traumas they’ve never uttered aloud to another soul. Of course all this can be pretty tough to weather, but therapists work hard to look after themselves (and each other) to ensure they can hold our clients’ emotions and help them make sense of things.

I mention all the technical details of my training and qualifications because, whilst they gave me so much, they’re only the foundations to what I’m learning in my work and life. Here, I plan to share some insights from psychology’s evidence base and the clinical experience of therapists far more experienced and talented than myself. However, I also hope that by describing some of my own observations, I might be able to help some others feel a bit less alone on their never-ending journey towards a life examined and well-lived.