We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nicole Strauss. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nicole below.

Hi Nicole, thanks for joining us today. How’s you first get into your field – what was your first job in this field?

I love this question, and have never really thought about it! Since childhood, I have always been a math and puzzles kind of girl, and also simultaneously, an extremely sensitive empath. I knew from very young I wanted to be a psychologist, and wanted to set myself up well to achieve this goal. I declared my Psychology major for college right at the start, and considered double majoring in math. That was until I took my first statistics college course, and realized very quickly how well this subject aligned with my math mind. It became clear that pursuing a PhD path was my destiny, and I thus began stacking my resume with statistics and research jobs over the years to make myself a competitive applicant. My first job on this path was a teaching assistant job at my undergraduate university in our Psychology Statistics course. I loved it :)

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am tempted to start by sharing that I am a psychologist in East LA providing services for individuals with complex trauma, low self-esteem, and depression… but in answering this question, I also want to be clear that I am SO much more than this. I am a dynamic human who: experienced childhood trauma, spent the last 11 years uncloaking that trauma from my identity, and becoming who I am and have always been underneath it all. I am someone who values deep connection, spiritual practice, and all of life’s beauties, big and small. My missions in life are to grow, to inspire, and to love. And this is exactly the person that I show up as when working therapeutically with clients. Because I strive to help others discover their true, confident, and joyous selves too.

The direct client services that I currently offer include individual therapy, DBT skills sessions, and diagnostic assessment. I work best with individuals who are blocked by the stories created from childhood trauma and who are looking to heal, expand themselves, and grow into their full potential. Right now, in addition to these services, I am best known for my online DBT skills course, an innovative new approach to teaching people the essential skills for coping with extreme emotions, high levels of distress, emotion dysregulation, and interpersonal conflict. You may also find me in the coming years integrating spiritual and psychological principles in the online and print spaces. Stay tuned for so much more!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

To answer this question, I will address both the practical and the spiritual.

Practical: Networking! Get the word out! Meet people in the field, and connect with them authentically. It is not enough to pass out your business cards. People want to know you and trust you. Also, a word of advice: it will be some time before you see traction. KEEP GOING. It all does pay off in the long run.

Spiritual: Trust. Surrender. Work through your fears as they come up. See a therapist of your own. And listen to as many money mindset and manifestation podcasts as you can get your hands on!!!

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

This is a great question to follow my previous response. Being an entrepreneur requires lots of humility and a whole lot of external support. In addition to my personal therapy journey, here are my favorite podcast and book recommendations that have been incredibly helpful for my expansion as a business owner.

Podcasts:

-“You Make Sense” by Sarah Baldwin – A seriously life changing podcast that will teach you to heal and regulate your nervous system, as you simply cannot be a successful entrepreneur without a regulated nervous system.
-“Manifestation Babe” by Kathrin Zenkina – incredible spiritual tools and tricks for money manifestation and financial expansion

Books:

-“Rich as F*ck” by Amanda Frances – more spiritual and practical tools and tips for money manifestation and becoming a female entrepreneur
-“The Big Leap” by Gay Hendricks – this book is so powerful and talks a lot about the ways we as humans tend to self-sabotage unconsciously when we reach a new level in life, and how to overcome this so we can live the lives we dream of.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.frequencypsychotherapy.com
• Instagram: @drnicolestrauss