Therapist — Newport Beach · Fullerton · Online throughout CA

Underneath the noise, there’s a version of you waiting to be known.

You may be doing everything you know how to do. Thinking it through. Trying to understand what you feel and why. Making changes that seem right. And still, the same questions, feelings, or relationship patterns return. Understanding that something happens doesn’t always change it, or how it feels. Therapy can offer a different kind of understanding, one that is felt and embodied, not only figured out. I offer psychodynamic therapy for people who want to explore, not just explain, what may be keeping them from the relationships and life they long for.

Request a free consultation →

Anxiety Identity Relationships Attachment Life Transitions Self-Expression Grief & Loss Shame

What the work moves toward

Depth

Clarity

Connection

Freedom

Doing fine by most measures.
Still, something feels off.

You’re managing. You’re showing up. From the outside, things probably look fine, maybe even good. But underneath, something’s been off for a while. The same patterns keep showing up, no matter how many times you talk it through with yourself. You want something more: a life that feels aligned from the inside, not only one that looks good from the outside. Many of the people I work with come to therapy when their best attempts to change on their own aren’t working.

Sound familiar?

Anxiety hums in the background, no matter what you accomplish.

Relationships, romantic or otherwise, keep hitting the same wall.

Career success feels hollow, and you’re questioning what actually matters.

It’s difficult to connect in the way you’re craving, or to express yourself, your needs, or what you really want.

Past experiences still shape you in ways you can’t quite see clearly.

You feel a disconnection from yourself that’s hard to understand.

Where we can focus

What brings people here

For those seeking a deeper understanding of themselves and their emotional lives, in person in Newport Beach and Fullerton, or online throughout California.

Relationships & attachment

You long for closeness but find yourself protecting against it. You have insight into your patterns, yet still feel caught in them. We can become curious about what connection has meant in your life and what happens when you begin to want and need someone.

Therapy for relationships →

Anxiety, perfectionism & self-worth

The worry doesn’t always match what is happening outside. You may work hard to feel secure, capable, or enough, only to find the goalposts moving again. We can explore what your anxiety is responding to, not simply how to quiet it.

Therapy for anxiety →

Faith & spiritual life

Faith can be a source of meaning, belonging, conflict, or pain, and sometimes all of these at once. Whether you’d like your Christian faith to be part of therapy, are questioning what you were taught, or need room to look at a painful religious history, there is space here for the whole of your experience.

Faith-integrated therapy →

Individual therapy Couples therapy

Depth-oriented work assumes that the thing driving you is generally not the thing you would name if asked.

My approach

We won’t just talk about the problem. We’ll get curious about what it’s saying.

The work we do together is depth-oriented, which means taking seriously the idea that symptoms and recurring patterns often have a history and a meaning. Instead of hurrying toward an explanation or a solution, we slow down and look at why. Where do these feelings and patterns come from? What do your reactions actually mean? What are you living out that you don’t realize? The goal is to help you notice the patterns that may be holding you back, understand how they affect your relationships and choices, and free you to inhabit your life in a way that feels truer to who you are and the life you want.

How I work →

About

Hi, I’m Nikole.

AMFT 150080 · Supervised by Dr. Michele Willingham, PSY 15849

I’m an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist with a background in design and advanced, ongoing training in depth-oriented psychotherapy. I believe getting to know yourself, really know yourself, is one of the most worthwhile things you’ll ever do. By connecting more deeply with your story, your emotions, and the people around you, you can begin to live with a greater sense of authenticity, agency, and meaning.

Before becoming a therapist, I spent more than fifteen years working creatively with people and organizations. My approach is warm, collaborative, and engaged. I listen carefully and think with you. It’s important to me that we spend the time it takes to get to know you, and to help you get to know yourself. Together, we’ll make connections, find out what flourishing looks like for you, and build a deeper relationship to yourself and what truly matters.

About Nikole →

Next steps

Your place to begin.

Starting therapy can feel vulnerable, especially if you’re used to working things out on your own. We can begin with a free 15-minute consultation to talk about what brings you here, answer practical questions, and see whether working together might be a good fit.