Nicole Decker
LICENCED ASSOCIATE PROFESSIONAL COUNSELOR
NATIONAL CERTIFIED COUNSELOR
Are you feeling anxious, overwhelmed, or unfulfilled? Do you experience looping thoughts of self-doubt or despair? Do you feel like nothing you do could ever be enough? Do you feel stuck in the past or worried about the future? Do you long for change but don’t know where to start?
Hi, I'm Nicole and I am glad you're here. Through our work together, I hope to help you on your healing journey while also validating you in your lived experience. Being human is hard and you do not need to face life alone. By taking the courageous step to start therapy, you have already begun your journey towards a life filled with more inner peace, meaning, joy, and fulfillment.
I am passionate about the importance of looking inwards and focusing light, love, and compassion on the pieces and parts of us that crave attention and acceptance. My hope is that by showing up as my true and authentic self, I will serve as a safe space for you to do the same.
My approach is compassionate, warm, and positive while also being direct, real, and honest. I am a strengths-based therapist and know that each client is unique and will benefit from different techniques and approaches. For children and adolescents specifically, this often looks like play and art therapy as it can be more challenging to communicate complex thoughts and feelings through words at this age. However, I find that play and fun is important regardless of age as it helps to remind us all of who we really are at our core.
I have experience working with children, adolescents, adults, and families and enjoy sitting with individuals across the lifespan. While this is true, I feel particularly called to adolescents, young adults, and those navigating transition or uncertainty in life (which is really all of us most of the time). My areas of specialty include the following: anxiety, self-esteem, depression, self-harm, interpersonal and identity issues, ADHD and rejection dysphoria, OCD and obsessive tendencies, grief, and those who are highly-sensitive, neurodivergent, or struggle sitting with life’s big questions.
In regard to treatment modalities, I am an integrated therapist who incorporates a collection of modalities including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as a way to increase acceptance for one’s thoughts and feelings, for self, and for the present moment and DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) to balance the importance of this acceptance with initiating change behavior. I also believe in the power of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and our ability to break down harmful core beliefs and thought patterns in order to move forward and find alignment. I incorporate existential therapy and mindfulness-based interventions as well.
I received my Master of Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Vanderbilt University and my Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Eckerd College. I am a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) and a Licensed Associate Professional Counselor (LAPC) working under the supervision and direction of Christi Bartolomucci, Ph.D., LPC, CPCS and Julia F. Harris, MS, LPC, CPCS.
I feel grateful every day to do this work and am honored to walk alongside my clients as they show courage in reclaiming their lives. It is a true gift and I look forward to meeting you soon!
Nicole Decker, M.Ed., LAPC, NCC
770.293.1950 ext. 202
4045 Orchard Road, Suite 110
Smyrna, Georgia 30080