Nicole Hollinsworth, MSW, LICSW

I believe that every individual has an innate capacity to find their own empowering inner voice and to heal themselves. To help facilitate the desired change, I enjoy teaming with clients in ways that help them utilize their own interests.  This might be through writing, music, art, drama, play, or other avenues of interest.

As a therapist, I am committed to meeting you where you are, to listening and responding to what you need, and to helping you find more balance, authenticity and presence in your life.  I want to help you discover new insights about yourself as well as find techniques and strategies to manage daily stresses.

I come from a lineage of women dedicated to the field of social service.  From the time I was a small child, service was in my blood.  My great grandmother, grandmother and mother all had careers in helping professions, and social justice was a core value in my family.  Although I knew from a young age that I wanted to work in the fields of social work and the arts, it took me some time to determine how this would manifest itself.

My decision to become a therapist was cemented by my experience as a case manager, when I was working with families from New Orleans who had been traumatized by Hurricane Katrina, and then further traumatized by their subsequent relocation to Texas.   It was an honor to experience the resilience of a community that had been left behind after enduring unimaginable loss.  In response to these experiences, I witnessed people rebuild their lives from the ground up, start businesses, create new community away from home, and develop alliances in order to advocate for their needs.   This was a pivotal and profound period in my life.  It taught me how to join with families, and together discover ways to manage stress and integrate new coping strategies.

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a Master’s Degree in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago.  My clinical background includes several years of facilitating therapeutic and social skills groups, completing mental health assessments, and providing therapy to children, adolescents, adults and their families. I have worked in clinical, community mental health, and public school settings.  My areas of interest and specialty include working with behavioral problems, depression, anxiety, trauma including PTSD, phobias, social skills deficits, life transitions, and relationship problems.

My experience within the school system includes coordinating services between families and school staff members, facilitating social skills and cultural identity groups, advocating for the needs of students in special education, and developing literacy programs for English Language Learner (ELL) families.  Additionally, I have facilitated therapeutic groups and provided crisis management to a classroom of students qualifying as Emotionally and Behaviorally Disordered.  My clinical and school experiences have provided me with opportunities to work in multidisciplinary teams, which has broadened my counseling skills and strengthened my collaborative approach.

I have had training in Family Systems, Attachment Theory, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Trauma-informed therapies, Play Therapy, Mindfulness, and Psychodynamic Theory, and use these all to inform my approach in therapy.  Additionally, I have specialized training and skills to provide parents with support and strategies that are grounded in relationship building and positive discipline.  I continually draw from the evidence based theories that I have learned as they relate to the needs, wishes, values, cultural identities, developmental stages, and goals of my clients.

I believe that all of us need to find ways to nourish ourselves.  Life can be depleting, at times, for most people.  For me- it helps to continually go back and refill the well. That comes in the form of writing, drama, art, yoga, and my own journey through individual therapy.  All of these have played a huge role in helping me to grow, increase the laughter in my life, and become more resilient.  I hope to share and partner with you to find ways to do the things that fill you back up, and cope with the things that inevitably come and shake it all up.
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