About Nichelle
Nichelle Alva greets people who are feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or stuck. She writes short, direct goals with clients and focuses on clear steps people can use between sessions.
Background and approach
Nichelle is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) practicing in California and brings ten years of clinical experience to her work. She centers conversations on respect and sensitivity.
Sessions start by hearing what matters most to the client and then shaping a plan that fits their life. Nichelle helps people manage stress, anxiety, depression, and the effects of trauma and abuse.
People who are exploring sexuality or navigating LGBT concerns can find a nonjudgmental space to talk. She also supports people dealing with relationship challenges, communication problems, and the strain of divorce or separation.
Her approach mixes practical skills and thoughtful reflection. She uses tools from cognitive behavioral methods to change unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns.
Dialectical behavior strategies help with emotion regulation, and client-centered work keeps the focus on each person’s values and goals. Nichelle draws on a decade of experience to tailor sessions to individual needs.
She wants clients to feel heard and to leave sessions with concrete, doable steps. The pace and focus of therapy depend on what the client wants to work on and how quickly they want to move.
How therapeutic approaches translate to online care
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and meeting each person where they are. In an online session this means the therapist follows the client’s lead, reflects what they say, and helps them identify their own goals and values. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at the connection between thoughts, feelings, and actions and teaches practical skills to change unhelpful patterns; online sessions can include homework and skill practice between meetings. Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, teaches emotion regulation and distress tolerance skills that are easy to practice over video or messaging and useful for managing intense feelings.Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with the client to decide which methods fit best for their needs, goals, and preferences. That decision can change over time as progress is made and priorities shift, and the therapist will adjust methods accordingly.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to connect including video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video is helpful for face-to-face conversation and role practice, phone can be used when bandwidth is limited, live chat suits shorter check-ins, and messaging supports ongoing reflection between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, school, or caregiving schedules and to keep momentum betweenAppointments.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- LGBT
- Relationship issues
Also works with
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 10 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English