Meet Nicole!

Nicole Shifflett is a Licensed Graduate Professional Counselor (LGPC) who provides trauma-informed, client-centered therapy for Veterans, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other public safety professionals. Her work is grounded in the understanding that those who protect and serve others often carry significant stress, trauma, and the quiet expectation to always remain strong.

Nicole has direct experience supporting Veterans through the challenges of service-related trauma, life transitions, and the difficulty that can sometimes come with asking for help. Her work with Veterans has deepened her commitment to supporting first responders and public safety professionals. While military and public safety cultures differ, they share important realities, including exposure to high-pressure and traumatic situations, the responsibility of protecting others, and the expectation to remain composed and keep moving forward even when the weight feels heavy. She is particularly passionate about working with individuals who have spent much of their lives being the helper, protector, or person others depend on. When someone is trained to respond to a crisis, take care of others, and remain steady under pressure, being on the receiving end of support can feel unfamiliar or uncomfortable. Nicole works with clients to explore that experience and develop greater comfort with accepting support without viewing it as weakness or failure. She believes that allowing someone to help does not take away from a person's strength—it is another way of taking care of themselves.

Her approach is collaborative, practical, and deeply respectful of each client's experiences. She does not judge, lecture, or tell clients how they should feel. Instead, she creates a confidential and supportive space where clients can step away from the expectation to always be the strong one. Whether someone is dealing with stress, trauma, relationship strain, anger, sleep difficulties, life transitions, communication challenges, or simply the feeling that something isn't quite right, she works alongside each client to focus on what matters most to them. Nicole also understands that many people do not arrive at therapy enthusiastically. A client may be seeking support because a partner, supervisor, or friend encouraged them to, because work has started affecting home life, or because handling everything alone is no longer sustainable. Clients do not need to have the right words ready or even fully believe that therapy will help. She believes therapy can begin exactly where the client is, without pressure to immediately open up or have everything figured out.

For Veterans and public safety professionals in particular, she believes trust is the foundation of meaningful work. Asking for help can be difficult when you have spent years being the person others turn to for help. Therapy can be an opportunity to learn that accepting support does not mean giving up strength—it means recognizing that even the people who care for and protect others deserve a place to be cared for, heard, and supported themselves.

You don't have to have everything figured out before you walk through the door. We can start there.