Nick Tomasello (he/him)

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist #141543

CLINICAL APPROACH

When I think of therapy, I think of growth, insight, opportunity, and healing. I also think of struggle, challenge, and perseverance. No one's healing journey is the same, nor is it a clear or straight path. There may be forks in the road or multiple conflicting signs. Your brain may have neon lights saying, "This way!" when your heart pulls you in another direction. It's hard to navigate this circuitous route alone, without a guide or sense of direction. I often describe the therapy process as if you are driving a car, taking it for a joyride on a warm Sunday afternoon. You may eventually find yourself needing to make a choice on where to go next. Suddenly, you hear a voice, and it's me, your GPS, highlighting a possible route on the road ahead. Ultimately, you are in the driver's seat in control of the wheel and can make the final decision on where to turn, but sometimes it's nice to have someone else along for the ride to reflect to you parts of yourself and your journey that you may not have seen.

I practice therapy primarily from a client-centered perspective, meaning that I aim to meet you where you're at, collaborate to identify relevant and meaningful goals for our work together, and pour authenticity and genuineness into our relationship, as I believe this is where much of the healing work takes place. Additionally, I interweave cognitive behavior therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and the gender affirmative clinical model into my work. I like to describe my therapeutic style as eclectic; I pull from a variety of theories, models, and practices to tailor a unique and personalized therapy experience that is best for you, and if something doesn't feel right, we can work together to find what does. I also enjoy integrating mindfulness into my therapy, with everything from meditations to practicing grounding, awareness, and presence.

Part of what initially drew me to this work was my fascination with the tremendous capacity that humans have to overcome adversity and heal from even the most adverse experiences. There are many challenges that we face in our lives, particularly compacted into the late teens and early twenties, commonly referred to as transitional aged youth. Navigating individuality, shifting and changing relationships with friends and family, moving to college, getting into the workforce, and much more, are situations that I find so rewarding to support others through. In addition to these, I have a passion and specialty in working with and supporting the LGBTQIA+ community, specifically trans, non-binary, and gender expansive youth in navigating coming out, their transition process, exploring the inherent shifts in their relationships, and processing the backlash, discrimination, and hate that is lamentably a component to this experience for so many people.

ABOUT ME

I believe an important aspect of who I am is my identity, part of which includes being a straight, white, cisgender male. These are dominant group memberships which have played a challenging historical role in our society, and I believe strongly that bringing this into the therapy room is crucial to acknowledge. In doing so, this helps me approach my therapy in a culturally humble way, as well as creates opportunities for corrective emotional and relational experiences by having different and distinct interactions that are restorative and healing.

Aside from therapy, I have copious other passions, including playing video and board games, pool, cats, manatees, and the occasional, slightly strenuous hike. I highly value time spent with my close friends enjoying each other's company, mutually shared interests, as well as learning and growing together. I am a huge foodie and eating delectable food is one of the main ways that I practice self-care.

I think that the world needs more people like you. Because you're here right now looking at this means you’ve taken the first step toward beginning your healing journey. It is something that takes a significant amount of thought and reflection, and can at times be difficult to admit to ourselves. If more people had these traits like you do and considered starting this rigorous yet rewarding journey, I imagine there would be so much more good in the world.

SERVICES I OFFER

In-person & virtual sessions for:

• Individual Therapy (Teens)

• Parent Support Therapy

THERAPEUTIC MODALITIES & PRACTICES I USE

• Acceptance & Commitment Therapy

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (trauma-informed)

• Circle of Security

• Crisis Intervention

• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

• Gender Affirmative Clinical Model

• Humanistic Therapy

• Internal Family Systems Therapy (parts work)
  
  
  

SPECIALTIES

• LGB+ and TGNB specific issues, including but not limited to: coming out, transition, relationships (with family, friends, partners), backlash, discrimination, gender and sexuality exploration.

  
  

AREAS OF CONCERN I WORK WITH

• Abuse (Emotional/Verbal, Physical, Sexual) (Survivor)

• Academic Problems

• Acting Out Behaviors

• Adoption

• Anxiety (Generalized, OCD, Panic Attacks/Disorder, Social)

• Attachment Issues

• Attention Problems/ADHD

• Autism Spectrum

• Bipolar

• Blended Families

• Body Dysmorphia

• Body Image

• Bullied By Others

• Codependency

• Communication Difficulties

• Cultural Concerns

• Depression

• Discrimination

• Divorce (Supporting Kids/Teens)

• Family Conflict

• Health & Medical Problems

• Identity Exploration

• Impulsivity

* Areas of concern in bold are areas I'm particularly passionate about working with

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

Education:

• Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in the LGBT community from Santa Clara University (2021)

• Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Sonoma State University (2016)

Work Experience: 

• Therapist at Teen Therapy Center (2021-present)

• Marriage and Family Therapist Trainee at Family and Children Services, a division of Caminar, providing individual therapy services to a wide range of individuals, including the LGB+ and trans/nonbinary communities (2020-2021)

• Taught and tutored children and teenagers with various learning challenges (2017-2020)

• Sexual assault crisis line counselor and survivor advocate with Verity providing 24/7 support to sexual assault survivors in addition to accompanying them on hospital visits (2016)