show up as your full self and be seen.
I view therapy as a partnership. You are the expert in your own experience, and I have expertise in mental health and healing. We move at your pace, working on what you want to work on. During some sessions we may dive deep, and others may be lighter. We may even laugh a little! It is an honor to serve as a guide in your journey of self-discovery and healing.
Hello! I’m Nicole.
My name is Nicole Hoyes Wilson (she/her/hers). I am the founder of Collective Healing Counseling. As a licensed mental health counselor and clinical social worker (LMHC, LICSW), I provide individual online mental health counseling for adults.
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I’m a multi-racial Black woman, first generation American and child of immigrants from Jamaica and England, mother, spouse, and plant lover. I love being able to provide safe and affirming places for healing. Being a therapist is not just my profession, it is my calling.
Much of my clinical work has focused on the intersections of oppression and mental health; namely, the impacts of racial trauma, sexism, and homophobia on one’s sense of self. In addition to my clinical private practice, I serve as an adjunct faculty member in the College of Education at Seattle University and in the School of Social Work at the University of Washington teaching graduate social justice counseling and education courses. I also work as a community college counselor serving students in all stages in self-discovery – at times navigating a world often not designed for them while dreaming and achieving their goals.
As an independent consultant, I am often sought out for training and development focused on trauma informed care, racial battle fatigue, collective care, active listening, identity development, and mental health first aid. I’ve provided consultation and organizational leadership training for non-profits, universities, K-12 teachers. Most recently, I provided expert clinical legislative testimony supporting the recent passing of SB-5194: Providing for equity and access in the community and technical colleges.
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I specialize in working with people experiencing major life changes (new career, new family configuration, losing a loved one, romantic relationship ending or beginning, new migration to the US), depression, anxiety, trauma, ADHD, and adjustment issues.
I often serve BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, plus), refugee, and immigrant communities and young adults.
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I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Social Work at Pacific Lutheran University, my Master of Social Work degree with an emphasis in multi-ethnic practice and school social work from the University of Washington, my Masters of Arts in Education in Community Counseling at Seattle University.
Having degrees in both social work and counseling I’m acutely aware of how macro issues of power, privilege, oppression, and positionality impact our individual mental health. Oppression is trauma. My social work background allows me to both assist people to navigate systems (Social Services, Immigration, Higher Education, etc.) and provide individual clinical mental health therapy.
I have specialized training in Somatic-Based Trauma (trauma that lives in our bodies) and ADHD treatment. I am also a certified Mental Health First Aid and Dependable Strengths trainer.
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As an eclectic therapist, I tailor my counseling interventions and research-based theoretical approaches to each client’s needs. I honor many forms of healing and incorporate each client’s belief system and cultural ways of knowing into therapy.
The therapeutic practices I use most often come from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (learning how patterns of thinking impact our moods), Narrative Therapy (counteracting internalized oppression with a healthier self-narrative), Gestalt Reality Therapy (focusing on the present and one’s agency) and other Mindfulness, Person-Centered, Feminist, and Strengths-based theories.
Multicultural and Social Justice practices are the foundation of my work as a therapist. Experiences of inequity, poverty, and oppression have a direct negative correlation to one’s mental health. Part of my role as a therapist is to help people to recognize and name times when oppression may have impacted the way they see themselves and their mental health, and provide tools for authentic and liberatory healing.
I encourage you to bring your whole self into sessions. All of your identities and parts of you will be welcomed.
“We are made for loving. If we don’t love, we will be like plants without water.”
— D E S M O N D T U T U