Nicole Braswell, LIcensed Marriage Family Therapist

Attachment focused, Trauma Informed, EMDR Therapist

Nicole is a cool therapist practicing in Long Beach California works with children adults struggling with depression anxiety and relationship/family issues in person and online

Hi, I’m Nicole!

And I am so happy you are here.

At Just Therapy LBC I wanted to create a practice that normalizes therapy, feels authentic, welcomes all people, so therapy can just be therapy (and not a place that you feel judged, not a power struggle, not for people that are weak, crazy or lazy). Therapy should be a routine thing everyone does, life is tough, relationships are not perfect, and how awesome to have someone on your team to guide you in self exploration and teach you tools and tricks for your life. I mean let me tell you how amazing you are to be making the step to find a therapist (I wish I could have told that to my younger self).

So a little about me. I attended Cal State Long Beach, and graduated with my Bachelors in Sociology. I then got my Masters in Psychology, Marriage Family Therapy at Albizu University in Miami in 2012.

My pronouns are she/her/hers, I am a cisgender, straight female, single mother, half Mexican/White, and I am fluent en español. I was was raised Catholic, but I don’t really identify as highly religious, but sometimes I go to Christian church. I am also an Aquarius, haha if that helps in determining that were a good match.

In the past 10 years of being a therapist, I have had the opportunity to work with various groups of people including at risk children and teens, LGBTQIA+, parents, adults, and college students transitioning out of college.

I am absolutely passionate about working with people that want heal any wounds possibly from childhood or trauma that they are holding, that may be getting in the way of living your best most authentic life, and want to develop healthy and happy relationships (either with their parents, children, family, partners, friendships), allowing them to feel safe and connected which ultimately leads to feeling fulfilled in life.

I offer individual therapy sessions virtually to those who live in California. And because I know that there are days where it’s hard to get out, sometimes depression makes it hard to make it to your appointments on time, sometimes safety is in the comfort of your own home, and sometimes as a therapist I can personalize resources and learn more about you through being in your people environment. I am open to discussing options to offer in-home counseling services for those that live in the Long Beach area.

I hope to create a space for: growth, self-compassion, empowerment, self awareness, courage, trust, self efficacy, your unique identity, anger, love, forgiveness, loss, empathy, fulfillment, joy, freedom to be.

I meet you wherever you are at in life, and I am excited to hear about what you hope to accomplish, and on the path to get you where you want to be.

Work with me

My “therapeutic” Approach

 

My mind has been fed so much information, theories, ideas, and frameworks to guide me as I understand various challenges people experience in life. Some of the things I have learned about myself is that I am 100% client centered, which means you are in charge, you tell me where you want to go, and we will go there (metaphorically that is). Therapy should be about you, and I am here for that. I would also consider myself a trauma-informed therapist, which means I understand and know how much of an impact experiencing traumatic events can be to any person, even if “it didn’t seem like a big deal”. I’m also a big fan attachment theory (maybe some of you have read that book Attached, yes there’s anxious, avoidant, secure, disorganized), psychodynamic approach which just means your early relationships with whoever raised you, and your history matters! In the past year, I also fell in love with Internal Family Systems (kinda spiritual, but basically you have several parts to yourself, that often feel differently, and sometimes try to be protective of you in ways you don’t find helpful), and EMDR (an amazing therapy aimed to help reprocess negative experiences, so they don’t continue to affect you in the present or future). And when you mix the 2 together…. its MAGICAL! I am also a big believer in mindfulness and meditative practices. (phewwww that was a lot, but I love it all)

Specific Problems/Themes I specialize in:

  • young adults that identify having a dysfunctional family or emotionally immature parents

  • problems with dating (avoidance, anxiety, fears)

  • Childhood trauma/attachment wounds (we all have a wounded child part of us that needs to be healed)

  • intergenerational trauma

  • patterns of being in unhealthy or toxic romantic relationships

  • anxious/avoidant attachment style

  • Learning healthy boundaries in relationships

  • positive parenting skills, reducing guilt and anxiety with parenting

  • supporting your child with their mental health/trauma

  • past/present infidelity

  • difficulty finding “the one” or committing in relationships

  • problems in the workplace (boss, coworkers, stress)

  • interpersonal conflict

  • children/adolescents with depression/anxiety

  • difficulty trusting others

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