Maria Nickell, LPC

I have always been fighting for more; more hope, more peace, more knowledge, more connection, more faith…and I have always found more courage in the quote by Theodore Roosevelt:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

We are all fighting a battle against something, and we can only use the tools we have gathered through our experiences. Unless someone comes into the arena with us, we cannot learn new things and grow into a better champion for ourselves. 

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor, but I consider myself to be a Cornerman (woman 😉). A cornerman in boxing is the support for the man in the arena. They help with physical protection before a match and during, knows the fighter well enough to provide coaching and encouragement during the match, and they also provide a safe space for the boxer between rounds. It is my job to stand in your corner; to support, guide, encourage and give you a safe place to recover. 

I use a combination of modalities with the goal of providing brief therapeutic interventions to help clients get back on track in their marriages, families, or individual lives. An average counseling experience lasts 12-15 sessions focused on goal setting and actively working on correcting behaviors and interpersonal patterns. After this, I help transition clients to long-term counseling if they wish to continue working on and developing these life skills.