Nicole L. Gonzalez, LCSW (she/her) Founder & Psychotherapist
Nicole is a psychotherapist, Executive Director, and founder of Roots & Branches Therapy with a background in business leadership roles. Her experience in both corporate and clinical settings has given her a unique understanding of the challenges that can arise while balancing professional success, relationships, caregiving responsibilities, personal growth, and emotional well-being. She is passionate about helping individuals and couples navigate anxiety, burnout, trauma, relationship challenges, life transitions, and the pressures that often accompany achievement and responsibility.
Nicole's clinical focus includes high-performing individuals, leaders, executives, entrepreneurs, highly sensitive people, caretakers, and couples seeking greater fulfillment, balance, and connection in their lives. Many of her clients are thoughtful, capable, and deeply committed to the people and responsibilities they care about. While these strengths often contribute to meaningful success, they can also lead to perfectionism, overthinking, self-doubt, people-pleasing, relationship difficulties, burnout, and periods of feeling stuck.
Nicole partners with clients to better understand themselves, overcome challenges, strengthen relationships, and create meaningful change aligned with their values and goals. She feels privileged to support clients through difficult and transformative moments, creating a warm, authentic, empathetic, and non-judgmental environment where healing and growth can occur.
Nicole uses an integrative approach to therapy drawing from EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Gottman Method Couples Therapy, AEDP, and Attachment Theory. She tailors treatment to each client's unique needs, strengths, and goals, recognizing that meaningful change often requires both emotional insight and practical action. Nicole is an EMDRIA-Trained EMDR Therapist and is DBT Certified through DBTNCAA.
Nicole also offers Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) in partnership with Journey Clinical. She has completed professional training in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy through Journey Clinical and Fluence and believes in the importance of clinicians engaging in their own experiential and reflective work when supporting others in psychedelic healing. Nicole approaches KAP with deep respect for the healing potential of psychedelic experiences and believes that preparation, intention, integration, and a strong therapeutic relationship are essential components of meaningful and lasting change.
Before founding Roots & Branches Therapy, Nicole served as Director of the Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Initiative at Safe Horizon, where she led and coordinated an interdisciplinary high-risk domestic violence team focused on survivor safety, advocacy, and risk reduction. In this role, she provided counseling, crisis intervention, and case coordination while collaborating with law enforcement and community organizations throughout New York City.
Nicole completed her clinical training at the Crime Victims Treatment Center at Mount Sinai West and St. Luke's Hospitals, where she provided psychotherapy to survivors of violent crime using evidence-based trauma treatment approaches. Prior to entering private practice full-time, she worked in both the Psychiatric Emergency Department and Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic at Kings County Hospital, supporting individuals experiencing a wide range of mental health concerns and life challenges.
Nicole founded Roots & Branches Therapy with the belief that healing occurs through authentic connection, self-understanding, and meaningful action. She considers it a privilege to accompany clients as they navigate challenges, discover new possibilities, and build lives that feel more aligned with who they are and how they want to live.
One thought as a therapist and marketer: I think the strongest SEO and positioning opportunity is deciding whether "trauma" or "high-performing individuals" is your primary lead identity. Right now this draft blends both well, but if your goal is to attract more full-fee executives, founders, professionals, and leaders, I would make that audience even more prominent in the first two paragraphs and let your trauma credentials provide credibility rather than define the page
EDUCATION
New York University Silver School of Social Work
Master of Social Work: Clinical Focus in Trauma
CUNY Queens College
Bachelor of Art in Psychology, Minor: Student Services and Counseling
AREAS OF FOCUS
Anxiety
Assertiveness
Couples Therapy
Dating, Friendship and Relationship Challenges
Depression
Issues of Identity
Life Transitions
Perfectionists & Caretakers
Professionals & High-Performers
Psychedelic Integration
Stress Management
Trauma/PTSD
DBT Skills Training:
- Mindfulness
- Emotional Regulation
- Interpersonal Effectiveness
- Distress Tolerance
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RATES & AVAILABILITY
- Rates for out-of-network/full fee $300/session
- Click here for Availability & Next Steps to Book