Nicholas Rives is an inspired and adaptive licensed mental health counselor, LPCC, who works from the Somerset office. He uses an integrated approach grounded in mindfulness and systemic thinking to enhance insight and provide meaning, wholeness, and behavioral solutions for clients.

Nicholas ("Nick") offers deep listening to his clients with a sense of duty to make the most of our time, presenting with respect and accountability, and providing an atmosphere of support and non-judgemental acceptance so that the client might feel safe and remember what makes their life beautiful. In therapy sessions, he honors the client’s present approach to their circumstance while providing cognitive and behavioral solutions to inspire confidence in their ability to apply methods for practical change and re-orient themselves towards effective participation in the improvement of their mental health.

Nicholas has found that his present-moment approach is effective for Anxiety (learning about our body's response to stress and using mindful breathing to work with our nervous system), Depression (recognizing the effect of our emotions on how we think about the world and rather directing our focus towards taking care of our emotions), Grief (finding how much we still have to offer and receive even after tremendous loss), Trauma (healing ourselves in the present to inspire hope in our past wounds), Personality disorders (releasing our identification with attachment to maladaptive habits), Anger (committing to non-violence through the discovery of the benefits of peace and calmness), Mood disorders or Bi-Polar (communicating with our whole person and lessening our predilection towards dualism), Psychosis (understanding our capacity for multiple points of views or sensitivity to pattern recognition), Physical pain or medical difficulties (providing instruction in deep relaxation or somatic tracking), Relationships (prioritizing shared experience over individual interests), Addiction (accepting the great magnitude of a sober reality), and Obsessive compulsions (finding liberation from intrusive thoughts or unhealthy eating patterns).

Nick loves to help those wanting to learn meditation or mindfulness practices. Nicholas has been practicing as a licensed professional clinical counselor for several years in Kentucky, having been raised in New Orleans, receiving a master's degree in counseling from UL at Lafayette, an undergraduate degree from LSU in Baton Rouge, a diploma from Jesuit High School of New Orleans, and further psychology credits from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA.

He has an ability to serve diverse populations, with experience in urban settings, having lived in Los Angeles and Portland, combined with most of his clinical experience in our rural area, finding that he is able to relate to and understand different cultures, religions, values, political affiliations, socioeconomic statuses, ethnicities, races, sexualities, lifestyles, gender identifications, ideologies, creative pursuits, and occupations. We are one people sharing life together.

Nick has experience working with all age groups, proficiency with senior citizens and Medicare clients, enthusiasm for working with seasoned adults his own age, and the energy and freshness of adolescents and young adults.

(Please note that children are not his specialty. His age range starts at 15 yrs+)