Nicole Wells PhD

Psychologist
919 W 21st Street
Norfolk, Virginia 23517
ADA Accessible
Narrative of Services:
I work with teens and adults who are navigating anxiety, neurodiversity, Autism, OCD, and relationship challenges. Many of my clients are neurodiverse with co-occurring OCD and anxiety related disorders. Currently approximately 20% of my caseload is focused on OC related disorders. I offer a collaborative, goal-oriented approach tailored to your needs, using techniques from Cognitive Behavioral (CBT), Exposure Response Prevention, and Acceptance and Commitment (ACT) therapies. I often incorporate family sessions and parent training as part of my treatment approach, particularly for teen and young adult clients living at home when appropriate.
Treatment of Co-occurring Disorders:
Co-occurring anxiety disorders including Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Phobia, Panic Disorder, etc. I utilize Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Exposure Response Prevention/exposure based therapy.
Training Description:
I’m a licensed clinical psychologist with over 15 years experience working with children and adults with OCD. Throughout my graduate training at Virginia Tech, internship at University of Colorado Denver, and postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins/Kennedy Krieger I have specialized in treating anxiety disorders in Autistic people. With my background in researching modified CBT approaches for Autism, I specialize in highly individualize ERP to meet the needs of the client including varying pacing, session structure, and presentation of information to promote engagement, build motivation, and collaboratively develop values based goals.
Diversity Statement:
During my time working in academic and hospital settings, I have provided care to clients from a wide range of racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, gender/sexuality, religious, and geographic diversity. I am passionate about contributing to research and clinical endeavors with the aim of increasing accessibility of high-quality mental health services to underserved populations and de-stigmatizing mental health care. I have been a clinician in several grant-funded studies attempting to streamline mental health care access to underserved populations.
It is of utmost priority to me to practice cultural humility when working with diverse populations. My approach is collaborative, and it is critical to me to take time to understand a client’s sociocultural background and values. I aim to modify treatment so that it is culturally relevant and aligned with the client’s worldview and perspective. I regularly participate in training related to cultural competency, implicit biases, engage in self-reflection, and seek feedback.