About Nicole
Nicole Kough is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) with 15 years in the field. She practices in Illinois and focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, grief, and relationship struggles. Nicole aims to create a calm, respectful space so people can talk openly about what matters to them.
She describes her style as supportive and nonjudgmental. Sessions are conversational and focused on practical next steps. Nicole listens first, then helps clients identify small changes that move them toward their goals.
Background and approach
Nicole blends approaches to match each person's needs. She uses cognitive behavioral techniques to look at unhelpful thinking patterns. She also uses solution-focused and client-centered ideas to set clear, achievable goals and keep sessions grounded in what matters now.
Her experience includes helping people with family and relationship concerns, blended family issues, communication problems, and the stress of divorce or separation. She also works with trauma and abuse survivors, intimacy-related concerns, anger, and panic symptoms. Nicole tailors therapy to the individual.
She helps people build self-love, repair trust, manage shame and guilt, and navigate career or life transitions. Her approach is straightforward and aimed at producing real, manageable change.
Evidence-informed approaches for online care
Nicole uses cognitive behavioral techniques to help people notice and change unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors. CBT can be useful for anxiety, panic symptoms, depression, and social anxiety by providing practical skills to test beliefs and lower distress.She also draws on client-centered and solution-focused ideas. Client-centered work emphasizes listening and understanding so a person feels heard. Solution-focused work zeroes in on concrete goals and small steps that lead to quick, measurable progress, which can help with relationship problems, communication, and life transitions.
Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the work. The therapist collaborates with each person to tailor methods to their goals and preferences. Together they decide what tools and strategies to try and adjust them over time based on what helps.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to connect. Video sessions let people talk face-to-face and use visual cues. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or for shorter check-ins. Live chat and text-based messaging let people share thoughts between sessions and fit support into busy days. These options make it easier to keep therapy consistent while balancing work, family, and daily life.
Questions people ask
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How long has she practiced?
What credential does she hold and where is she based?
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What this counselor works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Grief
Also listed
- Anger management
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Intimacy-related issues
- Jealousy
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 15 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English