Nicole Mendicino

Nicole Mendicino is a Licensed Social Worker in the states of New Jersey and New York. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Rider University and her Master’s Degree in Social Work from New York University.

Nicole’s trainings include Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and the Nurtured Heart Approach. She has worked in various therapeutic settings including outpatient, residential, and in-home implementing individual, group, and family counseling techniques. Nicole has spent the majority of her career working with preteens, adolescents, and adults struggling with anxiety, depression, self-esteem, familial conflicts, anger management, parenting, and crisis de-escalation.

Nicole maintains an eclectic therapeutic approach and believes in the importance of being attuned to the individual needs of each person. Her work emphasizes collaboration, as she is determined to help people feel as though they are supported. Thus, Nicole presents a warm therapeutic environment that is considerate and non-judgmental. She believes that a crucial part of treatment is to guide others in feeling motivated and hopeful about their lives. Nicole’s education, training, experience, and compassion have enabled her to do just that!

Our Services

Addictions

There are many reasons why people become addicted. People with anxiety, mood, personality disorders or other mental health problems are particularly vulnerable to becoming dependent on substance use or other forms of compulsive behaviors. For example, people find that drinking alcohol or taking drugs helps them initially to alleviate stress or emotional pain. However, doing so often worsens their life circumstances and mental health conditions. Ambivalence about own addiction and treatment is very common so working with a compassionate therapist can help make that shift and increase motivation.

Anxiety Disorders

People with anxiety disorders respond to certain objects or situations with excessive fear and often unexplainable dread. Anxious reaction manifests as thoughts, feelings and physical reactions to those objects. What often brings people to seek professional help is the intolerable and uncontrollable physical symptoms, such as a rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, tunnel vision, and sweating. Anxiety disorders come in different varieties and intensity, such as social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, phobias and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Career Counseling

If you feel dissatisfied with your work, feel unaccomplished or unrecognized for your contributions, have "checked-out" or are self-sabotaging your own success at work, you are not alone. Close to twenty percent of American adults are unhappy with their current jobs. Work-related stress impact family life, mental health, and increases risks for chronic illnesses and heart attacks. Psychotherapy offers a safe, confidential, and empowering space to work through career-related issues and retake control of your career.

Mood Disorders

Disorders related to one's mood can be highly disruptive and even dangerous if not addressed professionally. Common symptoms are feeling sad and "empty inside" all the time, loss of interest in joyful activities, feeling hopeless and even suicidal. Others may experience drastic fluctuating between extremes of happiness and sadness. Frequent diagnosis include Depression, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), and Bipolar Disorder. In some cases, psychotropic medication may be an option, yet psychotherapy is almost always an important component of treatment.

Personality Disorders

Personality or Characterological Disorders are diagnosed when people experience patterns of behavior, feelings, and thinking that significantly interfere with their life and create problems in personal and social relationships, at work and in school. Although everyone has a unique "personality type," due to a variety of factors Personality Disorders are problems of relating to self and others in rigid and compulsive ways, despite experiencing aversive consequences. It is not uncommon that Personality Disorders also co-occur with other problems, especially with addictions.

Spiritual Struggles

In the most stressful moments, many people turn to their faith as source of solace and support. The healing power of healthy spiritual and religious practices is well documented. However, some forms of religious and spiritual coping can also become problematic. Studies have linked people who struggle spiritually to higher levels of psychological distress, declines in physical health and even greater risk of mortality. Psychotherapy offers a safe and a nurturing place to explore the sources of these conflicts, deal with life issues through the perspective of your spiritual world, find acceptance and plan for personal growth.

Psychological Services

While we provide a number of treatment specializations, our approach to psychotherapy is individualized to meet the specific needs of our clients. Our integrative psychotherapies can incorporate cognitive, behavioral, psychodynamic, existential-humanistic, and mindfulness-based techniques. All of our psychotherapeutic approaches place an emphasis on the strength of the therapeutic relationship and the first priority is to build the trust necessary for growth. Our goal is to create an environment that is validating, non-judgmental, and genuine, and at the same time, encourages effective change. We strive to facilitate an experience that helps people live a healthier lifestyle, reduce suffering, develop the skills they need, and create a sense of meaning in their lives. A mental disorder is combination of a wide range of conditions that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. It may have many different symptoms, intensities, underlying causes, and treatment options. Sometimes symptoms of a mental illness are difficult to identify initially, and may even be misleading. For example some psychological symptoms may appear as physical problems, such as stomach pain, back pain, headache, or other unexplained aches and pains. Since most mental disorders do not improve on their own and if left untreated and may even get worse over time, it is important to get a consultation with a qualified mental health professional. The good news is that in most cases, symptoms can be managed well with psychotherapy, or a combination of medications and psychotherapy. Adult Services Adjusting to Difficult Changes Adjustment Disorder Agoraphobia Bipolar Depression Chronic or Terminal Illness Complex Trauma Death of a Loved One Divorce or Break-up Drug Addiction Dysthymia Family/relationship issues Generalized Anxiety Loss of a Pet Major Depression Managing Stress Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Panic Attacks Performance Anxiety Phobias Postpartum Depression Pregnancy Loss or Fertility Difficulties Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder PTSD Search for Meaning in Life Seasonal Affective Disorder Self-Actualization Separation Anxiety Sexual Trauma Situational Depression Social Anxiety Survivor of Abuse Trauma Veteran Services Work Related Anxiety Adolescents Academic Struggles Behavior Problems Boundaries Chronic Illness Dating Death of a Loved One Depression / Bipolar Disorder Difficulty Making Friends Drug Use Family Conflict Gender Identity Increased Irritability Learning Problems LGBTQ Low Self Esteem Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior Parental Divorce Adjustment Perfectionism Poor Body Image Poor Peer Relationships School Anxiety Sleeping Problems Social Anxiety Stealing Suicidal Thoughts or Self-Harm Survivor of Abuse Weight Issues When you are suffering from a chronic disorder or an unexpected illness, or when you simply need to talk through some difficult decisions without compromising confidentiality and objectivity, our clinicians are ready to support you all the way through. Our practice specializes in assisting intelligent, high-functioning adolescents and adults to mobilize their inherent strengths toward achieving their highest potential and wellness. You can be assured – we are committed to providing the best level of care. Please Contact Us to Inquire about Including Video and Phone Sessions: Avita Integrative Care offers online therapy sessions via video conference and Phone Session. It is a wonderful way to help individuals get the help they need when it may not be feasible to come into a therapist's office. Virtual therapy and phone sessions are often requested by business professionals, parents of minor children, and adolescents without transportation to the office.

Biofeedback Services

Biofeedback is a powerful set of tools we use to reveal your body’s level of stress and how it improves when you apply the simple skills of stress recovery that we teach you. It’s non-invasive and can even be fun! Using biofeedback, clients are helped to gain awareness of many physiological functions of their mind and body. The key to biofeedback is the use of sophisticated technological instruments that provide information on the activity of critical to survival systems. For example, sensors are tuned to pick up subtle information gathered from one's brainwaves, muscle tone, skin conductance, heart rate and pain perception, with a goal of being able to manipulate them at will. We all have stress, but not all stress is bad. Medical research has shown that stress which lasts too long or is too high is known to cause illness and compromises your immune system. Many psychological, physiological and environmental factors are involved in developing the ability to control one's response to the stressors. In biofeedback training sessions, clients are taught some simple, effective techniques to intervene with stress responses. Since each individual has their own signature stress response, an individualized assessment and treatment plan helps clients to take control over their physiological reactions. In our unique approach, we utilize some of the cutting-edge technology and proven knowledge of psychophysiology helps clients to go from stress to stress recovery and from depressed immune system to improved health. Clients learn how to maintain their stress recovery, and to respond to future stress with confidence, consistence, and equanimity. Some of the well-documented benefits of using biofeedback in clinical settings are: Transform the detrimental effects of your stress. Strengthen your immune system. Maximize cancer or other treatment synergy for improved health. Manage pain and discomfort of disease or treatment. Shift the effects of anxiety and depression. Reduce symptoms of numerous GI conditions. Reduce the effects of ADD and ADHA Cultivate serenity within yourself. Improve work performance and cognitive function. Eliminate test-taking anxiety Biofeedback clinician collaboratively develops a unique treatment program for each patient, which may require an average of 7-10 sessions. However, evidence demonstrates significant improvement experienced even with a single session. Successful treatment is contingent upon patient participation through daily dedicated home practice and training, combined with subsequent and progressive treatment sessions. Although most patients often experience an improvement and relief from many symptoms almost immediately, it is important to remind that despite being a powerful tool, Biofeedback does not a promise of a cure for most of the above listed disorders.

Divorce Mediation Services

Mediation is a process of discussion and negotiation, a problem solving method where an impartial third party assists you in reaching an agreement between you and your spouse that would be the fairest to both of you. Mediation works successfully for families who are in a processed of divorce as well as families that are faced with some challenges that need to be resolved. Those families don't usually need to engage in hours of psychotherapy, but rather have one to two productive session to reach a workable solution. You and your spouse will meet with our mediator and through asking you questions, will bring out all of the issues that need to be decided, and will lead you to resolutions that are equitable and mutually acceptable. Your mediator will serve as an impartial arbiter to help you find the most suitable compromise resolutions to your dilemmas. Many cooperative couples more often choose this alternative while going through their divorce. Families with high conflict need mediation even more to avoid the high costs of litigation and the deepening conflicts that result from the adversity inherent in court litigated “divorce solutions”. How Does it Work? Regular mediation process includes an orientation session which gives the opportunity to get to know each of the parties involved. Most of the first mediation meeting is usually dedicated to listening to a couple’s mutual and divergent perspectives, gathering information, answering questions and presenting an agenda for our following meetings. The most important goal for the first mediation meeting is to create an atmosphere where both parties will feel comfortable with the whole process and secure in the non-threatening and cooperative nature of the meetings. During the course of the mediation process the divorcing couple will need to make many serious decisions about their assets and liabilities, parenting and child support, spousal support (if necessary) and the couple’s living arrangements. We will focus on the future and make arrangements that take all family members into consideration. At the end of the mediation process, your mediator will prepare a Memorandum of Understanding, a detailed document outlining your divorce arrangements that will be used by one of your attorneys to create your Property Settlement Agreement, or can be filed to court by one of the parties should you decide to forgo the attorneys' review. We strongly believe that, the direct participation of the divorcing couples in creating their own voluntary agreement, results in a document that is much more likely to be upheld and honored by both parties (as opposite to a legal decisions handed down to them by the courts). In the mediation process, the main goal of the mediator is to facilitate communication, promote understanding, and assist the parties in reaching fully informed solutions that will work for all involved. Though we have to consider the legal statutes and case law, the mediation process still affords much latitude for you to work out an agreement that is suitable for the entire family. Your most important goal during mediation is to prepare yourself mentally and recognize that a divorce settlement will be reached only if and when both parties’ major goals are met. You will also need to keep in mind that divorce mediation is a negotiation process where both sides will need to work very hard in balancing an agreement and recognize that neither of you will get your “wish list”, and both of you will need to give up on some points in order to gain on the others. An important point to stress once again, is that mediation process really works: statistics indicate that over 89% of all divorce mediations result in settlement. This is true even where all prior attempts at settlement have failed, where the parties were pessimistic about the prospects of settlement, and where the parties have spent substantial amounts of time and money preparing for trial. With such a success rate, it is wise and relatively inexpensive to try mediation. You have little to lose and a lot to gain!