Lecturer in Behavioural Health
College of Medicine and Public Health
Nicola is a Social Worker and registered Clinical Counsellor with a Masters in Social Work and Masters in Counselling from Flinders University & University of South Australia. Nicola is an experienced child and youth practitioner specialising in grief, loss and trauma counselling.
She has provided therapeutic trauma informed counselling with vulnerable children and young people in multicultural primary schools, private practice and human service settings.
Nicola's clinical and management experience includes over 30 years in the non-government sector supporting vulnerable children and youth in therapeutic programs. She has developed trauma informed experiential and expressive art programs for refugee, Aboriginal and marginalised young people, and children, in services such as Survivors of Torture and Trauma Assistance and Rehabilitation Service, to aid trauma recovery.
Nicola’s professional practice is guided by trauma informed care, ethics of justice and compassion. She holds a child rights and ecological perspective, is client centred and enjoys inviting imagination, creativity, and self-expression to support children and young people's agency in discovering their internal resources and ways of knowing and resilience.
Master of Social Work
Master of Counselling
Grad. Cert. Aboriginal Studies
Bachelor Soc Science - Community Development and Youth Practice
Chancellors Commendation for outstanding academic achievement and high GPA in the Master of Social Work, Flinders University.
Lecturer and Teaching Specialist, Behavioural Health, Counselling.
SWIRLS - Social Work Innovation Research Living Space.
PhD Candidate, Social Work.
Development and delivery of Graduate Certificate in Trauma Responsive Practice.
Delivery of MSW Trauma and Reslience topic.
Teaching interests.
Child and youth centred practice
Trauma informed and responsive practice in work with vulnerable populations.
Applying and teaching counselling and child/youth theory to practice.
Trauma informed pedagogy.
Previous topics;
Interventions with Children and Youth, Loss and Grief in Social Work practice and Grief, Loss, and Trauma, Human and Animal Interactions.
Other tertiary institutions - teaching in degrees of counselling, youth work and human services.
AASW Australian Association of Social Workers, Social Worker AASW 488516
PACFA Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia, Reg. Clinical Counsellor 24267
Private Practice - Child and Youth Counselling.
Interests;
Human Rights, Refugee and Asylumn Seeker Humanitarian Rights
Childism, Child Rights, Inclusion and Participation, Child & Youth Centred Practice.
Aborignal Sovereignty & self determination
Decolonizing theory and practice, Cutural Humilty.
Interpersonal neurobiology, brain based, trauma informed knowledge and practice.
Interests
Child and Youth Centred Practice
Trauma informed expressive arts therapy.
Child rights and voice and agency in therapeutic practice
Impact of trauma and adverse childhood experiences
Interpersonal Neurobiology and the neurobiology of trauma
Trauma Informed Approach and Trauma Responsive Practice
Research
PhD research focus The use of creativity and imagination to promote children’s voice, visibility, meaning making and resilience.