Nicole Wendel, M.Ed., RIC

Resident in Counseling

Nikki Wendel earned her Masters in Educational Counseling from The University of Missouri in 2019. Nikki is currently completing her Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Capella University and will be working towards pursuing her Clinical License in Virginia. While receiving her Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Nikki worked as the Director of Education for a teen dual diagnosis residential treatment center in Los Angeles, California.

As Director of Education, Nikki provided supervision for Educators at both the PHP and IOP level of treatment. Nikki also worked closely with students, families, schools, and clinicians to integrate education and advocacy into teen treatment. Nikki specializes in helping students regain confidence in the classroom by offering creative learning opportunities, helping students build executive functioning skills, and helping students target motivation and regain confidence.

Within the role of Education Director, Nikki aimed to assess creative ways to support student’s education and guided families through finding the appropriate learning environment when students graduated from treatment. Nikki has presented seminars to parents, clinicians, and educators on the intersection of education and teen clinical treatment. She specializes in educating parents and educators on topics related to education advocacy and student learning disabilities and teaching parents how to communicate with schools to support their child’s mental health needs.

Nikki had the unique opportunity to support teens' clinical recovery journey from an educational perspective, but she also spent her time as a clinical intern in a primary teen mental health residential facility where she ran parent and teen groups, individual sessions, as well as acting as support within the milieu for teens with higher level care needs.

Nikki also has a background in sports and fitness, which lead her to teach seminars on Mental Health in Sports to high school-level athletes and hold a passion for working with athletes in a clinical capacity.

Nikki has worked with teens experiencing diverse struggles including complex trauma, self-harm, school avoidance/learning disabilities, parent relational conflict and executive functioning stressors. She incorporates an integrated clinical approach including DBT, CBT mindfulness ,and a strengths based system approach to her work with both teens and families.

*Nikki is currently a resident practicing under supervision by Andrea Holman, LPC and Dr. Hill.