Approach – NIKKOL ADAMS, MA

THERAPEUTIC APPROACH

Nikkol believes understanding your human experience is the path towards healing. When we become more self-reflective towards our physical and emotional well-being, and learn how to authentically express ourselves, we are more capable of creating a vision of change in our life. When we envision change through thoughtful reflection of our quality of relationships, thoughts, behaviours, emotions, and belief system, we can then move towards creating a life that is congruent with our values. Nikkol strives to facilitate opportunities for you to reclaim your empowerment through evidence informed therapeutic offerings, in which you will cultivate a deeper understanding and sense of self.

“The Self is a constant act of Becoming”.

Each persons path towards healing and wellness is as unique and individual as their thumb print. For this reason, Nikkol uses an integrative approach to therapy, drawing from several healing modalities to help facilitate personal exploration and growth. In this process you are the expert in knowing what you need and she is a guide to help explore alternative perspectives in order for you to reconnect to your essence that creates your well-being.

PLAY THERAPY

Play Therapy is a combination of interactive playing, verbal interpretation, and storytelling to help a child communicate their experiences using toys and play as their words. As children’s language skills develop, they don’t always have the words to describe their feelings or thoughts. Play Therapy provides a safe environment to act out their emotional and cognitive experience in order to form a better understanding of and gain competency in managing their concerns.

SYNERGETIC PLAY THERAPY

Synergetic Play Therapy®, founded and developed by psychotherapist Lisa Dion, is a research-informed model of play therapy combining the therapeutic powers of play with nervous system regulation, interpersonal neurobiology, physics, attachment, mindfulness, and therapist authenticity. Through therapist attunement and co-regulation within the play, the child is able to re-pattern and heal their nervous system ultimately contributing towards the emergence of new behavioural and emotional responses. Synergetic Play Therapy® is an all-encompassing paradigm that can be applied to any facet of life and, subsequently, any model of therapy can be applied to it or vice versa.

COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a form of talk therapy that is an evidence-based treatment for addressing a wide range of mental health concerns most often related to anxiety and depression. CBT involves focusing on the interactions between our thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and behaviours to better understand our human experience and create change where needed.

INTEGRATIVE SOMATIC THERAPY PRACTICE

Integrative Somatic Therapy Practice (ISTP)™ formally known as Mindfulness-Based Somatic Therapy (MBST®), founded and developed by psychotherapist Ratha Check, is an integrative mind-body-emotional approach for healing trauma and other life stressors. Aimed to enhance the body’s own capacity to self-regulate, experience self-efficacy, and build resilience. ISTP™ incorporates restorative yoga postures, mindfulness, breath work, and supportive touch through hands-on healing.

MINDFULLNESS MEDITATION

Mindfulness Meditation is the practice of moving our attention towards our internal state. Through a variety of techniques, one gradually becomes aware of the present moment and how they are experiencing it in order to respond intentionally rather than react unintentionally.

THERAPEUTIC YOGA

Therapeutic Yoga or Yoga Therapy incorporates elements from both physical therapy and psychotherapy to create a holistic approach that deepens the mind, body, and spirit connection. Therapeutic Yoga involves the use of asanas (postures), pranayama (breathwork), meditation/mindfulness, and guided imagery aimed to improve the physical and psychological well-being of an individual. A yoga practice, designed for your individual needs with a focus on gentle movement and breath, can be applied to anyone regardless of age and ability.

TRAUMA INFORMED

Trauma-Informed Practice is a strength-based framework grounded in the belief that individuals hold the resources and abilities to overcome the impact of trauma in their lives in order to reclaim a felt sense of physical, psychological, and emotional safety in relation to the self, others, and world.

HARM REDUCTION

Harm Reduction is a person-centred approach that seeks to reduce the harm associated with specific coping strategies affecting a persons bio-psycho-social well-being through supporting individual choices in a non-judgemental and non-coercive manor in order to enhance skills and knowledge towards living a safer and healthier life.

INTERPERSONAL PSYCHOTHERAPY

Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) is an empirically supported therapy aimed at resolving interpersonal relationship challenges through the use of non-violent communication. IPT is based on the principal that relationships and life events impact the emotional well-being of an individual and that their internal state can also impact the quality of their relationships and life events.

ATTACHMENT-BASED

Attachment-Based Therapy is a form of counselling that uses therapeutic interventions that are routed in Attachment Theory which focuses on the emotional bond and felt sense of security within interpersonal relationships. Attachment Theory explains how the relationship between primary caregivers and their children influences later bio-psycho-social development. These relationships can serve as a blue prints for our adult interaction as well as our relationship to ourselves.

EMOTION FOCUSED

Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) in an approach to therapy that emphasizes the importance of a persons ability to identify, experience, understand, and manage their emotional self in order to authentically express who they are and share their uniqueness with others.

EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION AND REPROCESSING (EMDR)

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy, founded and developed by Francine Shapiro, Ph.D., that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.

Areas of Practice

ANXIETY
DEPRESSION
SELF-WORTH & SELF-ESTEEM
PREGNANCY & PRE/POSTPARTUM
MIND-BODY CONNECTION
PARENTING CONCERNS

EMOTIONAL REGULATION
TRAUMA PROCESSING
INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
SEXUAL ABUSE
GENDER IDENTITY
GRIEF & LOSS

Essence of Self: Counselling and Wellness Services welcomes all individuals from a variety of different cultures, religions, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual and gender identity, and age. Everyone is unique with their own lived life experiences. Nikkol acknowledges diversity and practices within a culturally-informed framework.