Ms. Nicole Gehlbach-Wilson

Licensed Social Worker|Clinically Supervised

It took me years to identify who and what had hurt me, and how I had been hurt. It then took even more years to stand by the truth that my body knew. I grew up collar bone deep in conservative evangelical Christian worlds, and I could not flourish, or even find safety, within the psychological cage in which I was raised. I was eventually exiled, and while it hurt like hell, it gave me space. Space to scream in my journals about how much it all hurt. How angry I was. How wrong it all was. For once, I began to listen to my body. My aching, exhausted body that was simultaneously battling Chronic Lyme disease, an autoimmune disease, and other compounding chronic health conditions. I made thousands of small, tiny choices to give her rest, to take her seriously, to trust the intuition that lived inside her. And at the end of the day, this has led me to me. I was never made for the small, grey box they tried to mangle me into. I was made for so much more, and so are you. We all deserve spacious places that celebrate our becoming.

Personally and professionally, I am fed up with a world that does not have space for people who identify more expansively. I care deeply about seeing the queer and trans community find spaces of belonging and celebration, be able to unravel internalized shame, and create new roadmaps for ways of being and relating that actually lead to your thriving. I identify as queer in both sexuality and relationship structures, and am honored to come alongside kink, poly, trans and queer expansive folx. My passion and experience with chronic pain/illness is deeply personal. I know firsthand the incredible amount of loss - not just of health, but of energy, potential, relationships, and dreams. How much it takes to find the resilience to keep going, over and over again, and to balance hope with grief and acceptance. The world wasn't made for the pace, rest, and new ways of being that are needed. My hope is to provide space for you to hear your voice and find the powerful advocate within you.

I hope you walk away from our time together with a renewed sense of your ability to find your voice, your truth, and your power. I use three primary healing methods in our work together: Internal Family Systems, or "parts work", acknowledges that as humans we have both needs and strengths. If we experienced the abuse or neglect of our needs - our need for love, or agency, or safety - there are parts of us that still carry that pain. These parts might ache to have space, to speak up, to be set free. We'll create space to hear the pain and wisdom of these parts, so that you can give them what they need to heal now. EMDR is a trauma therapy that relies on bilateral stimulation to support folx in moving through the overwhelming emotions of traumatic memory. The emotions and sensations of awful experiences we went through can get "stuck" in our body as our nervous systems attempt to keep protecting us. EMDR helps our body to trust in the strength and resources (internal and external) we have to keep ourselves safe, and can move us toward feeling whole again. Expressive Arts Therapy can be a powerful tool. Art speaks for us in ways we often don't dare or can't bear to say aloud. It can help us build connection and choice in the midst of trauma and chaos. You do not have to be good at art for it to help you heal. Art can help us to "tell the truth for as long as you need to" (Hilary McBride). The truth about the way your body carries the pain, about who you are when you feel totally free, and what you really need.