Nicole Wilson, Ph.D.

As a doctoral student in psychology, I wrote my thesis on embodied cognition— how our felt, subjective experience of inhabiting a body shapes how we understand and navigate reality. Over the years, what began as a largely intellectual pursuit is something that I have integrated into my being and learned to live on a daily basis.

When my marriage ended in 2014 (followed closely by the collapse of an ill-advised rebound relationship), I found myself in a full-scale dark night of the soul. I didn’t know how to move forward. But I was 100% certain it couldn’t be the way I had been doing things.

The decade plus that has followed has been a slow, non-linear, humbling, sometimes painful, and magical journey. I look back at 2014 Nicole, sobbing on the bathroom floor, and I want to hold her, thank her, and tell her that everything she longs for is coming….

Today, I am blessed with a relationship with myself and with life that is so rich that I couldn’t have even fathomed it back then. Is it perfect and free of suffering? Definitely not! And it never will be. I can’t control what happens outside of me, but I have learned to skillfully and lovingly navigate life’s inevitable challenges by accessing incredible resources inside of my own being.

Today I get to help others unblock, unearth, and reclaim the experience of being truly alive, connected, and joyful.

I’ve walked through the fire. I know what it’s like to long for something more but not have any idea how to get there. And I also know the experience of joy and freedom that is available when we stop trying to “get it right” and start trusting our bodies, our feelings, and our deeper knowing.

That’s what I help my clients do: not by handing them a formula, but by helping them unlock navigational equipment that has laid dormant and untrusted for a long time.

This is deep work. This is playful work. This is transformational work.

I’m a former silicon valley executive, and many of my clients appreciate that I know what it’s like to operate in that high pressure world. My experiences as a improvisor, musician, hospice volunteer, world traveler, and mom all also weave into my coaching.

I have had the great fortune to work extensively with incredible therapists, teachers, and mentors, each operating in their own zone of genius. I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Jennifer Welwood, Katie Hendricks, Steve March, Regena Thomashauer, Nina Lombardo, and Shane Hill who have all had a profound influence on my own development.