Practitioner record · Checked 7 Nov 2026

Nicole Forester has been in practice 20 years and is licensed in California. Nicole lists stress, Anxiety, addictions and relationship issues among 46 subjects on the BetterHelp roster.

Everything below is either quoted from Nicole's own BetterHelp listing, taken from public licensing records, or written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such. Nothing here is an availability promise, a review, or a rating.

20years in practice
46subjects listed
11approaches listed

01 · Who Nicole works with

Nicole works with stress, Anxiety, addictions and relationship issues

Nicole lists 17 specialisms and 29 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Nicole chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

Specialisms
  • Stress, Anxiety
  • Addictions
  • Relationship issues
  • Trauma and abuse
  • Depression
  • LGBT
  • Family conflicts
  • Grief
  • Intimacy-related issues
  • Sleeping disorders
  • Parenting issues
  • Anger management
  • Self esteem
  • Career difficulties
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Coping with life changes
  • Compassion fatigue
Also experienced with
  • Caregiver issues and stress
  • Codependency
  • Communication problems
  • Control issues
  • Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
  • Dissociation
  • Domestic violence
  • Drug and alcohol addiction
  • Emptiness
  • Family of origin issues
  • Family problems
  • Fertility issues
  • Gender dysphoria
  • Guilt and shame
  • Hospice and end-of-life counseling
  • Isolation / loneliness
  • Life purpose
  • Midlife crisis
  • Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
  • Panic disorder and panic attacks
  • Postpartum depression
  • Post-traumatic stress
  • Pregnancy and childbirth
  • Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
  • Self-love
  • Sexual assault and abuse
  • Sexuality
  • Social anxiety and phobia
  • Women's issues

02 · In Nicole's own words

What Nicole says about the work

Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.

Hello - My name is Nicole Forester .

I welcome you.

I recognize the energy it takes to seek support.

What I can offer is non-judgmental listening to help you hear your own voice.

I invite you to be as direct and unedited as you are comfortable.

I believe speaking your full truth is the best place to start.

I am a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (CA), a Licensed Professional Counselor (CO) and a Nationally Board-Certified Music Therapist.

I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Therapy from Utah State University in 2002 followed by an internship at Bethany Children’s Home in Pennsylvania. I graduated with a Master of Science degree in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Phoenix in 2007.

I have worked in a variety of settings: University Neuropsychiatric Institute, Inpatient Units, Addiction Recovery Utah Youth Village, In-Home Crisis Team Project Reality, Outpatient Addiction Services and Dual-Diagnosis Arbour Counseling Services, Outpatient Services, Intensive-Outpatient Program Groups Hospice by the Bay, Children and Teens in Hospice Established Private Practice in 2012-2019 in San Francisco.

I encourage you to interview your therapist to find a good fit.

Feel free to connect with me. We can talk about what kind of support you seek.

I will do my best to answer any questions you might have about this process.

I believe that having someone to listen objectively can be very helpful.

I appreciate the courage it takes to ask for help.

Take good care. Hope to hear from you.

Nicole Forester, on the BetterHelp listing · read 7 Nov 2026

03 · How Nicole works

The 9 approaches Nicole lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Nicole lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Nicole's - a general explanation of what each method is, so the list means something before you have spoken to anybody. They are not a claim about how Nicole runs a session.

Acceptance and Commitment TherapyACT
Rather than trying to argue a painful thought away, ACT works on loosening its grip and getting on with what matters to you anyway. Sessions spend real time naming your values, then building action around them while difficult feelings are still present.
Client-Centred TherapyPerson-centred · Rogerian
The therapist does not steer toward a technique or a diagnosis. They offer sustained, non-judgemental attention and reflect back what they hear, on the premise that people find their own direction when they are genuinely listened to. Often what people mean by “someone who just gets it”.
Cognitive Behavioural TherapyCBT
Structured, present-focused work on the loop between what you think, how you feel and what you then do. Usually means noticing a thought pattern in the room, testing it against evidence, and practising something different between sessions. Among the most heavily researched talking therapies for depression and anxiety.
Emotionally Focused TherapyEFT
Built for couples and rooted in attachment: the recurring argument is treated as a cycle two people are stuck in rather than as one person's fault. Sessions work to interrupt the cycle and get to what each person is actually asking for underneath it.
Mindfulness-Based TherapyMBCT
Trains attention on what is happening right now - body, breath, the thought as it arrives - so distress can be observed rather than automatically acted on. Strongest evidence is in preventing depression from recurring, and it is usually taught as a practice you keep doing outside the session.
Narrative Therapy
Treats the story you tell about your life as something that can be examined and retold rather than as the plain facts. Separates the person from the problem - “the anxiety” rather than “your anxiety” - to make room for the parts the current story leaves out.
Solution-Focused Brief TherapySFBT
Starts from where you want to end up rather than from how you got here. Sessions look for the times the problem is already smaller and work out what is different about those, so the number of sessions tends to be short and the work concrete.
Trauma-Focused TherapyTF-CBT · trauma-informed
CBT adapted for people whose difficulty is rooted in a frightening or overwhelming event. Pacing is the point: safety and stabilisation come first, the memory itself is approached gradually and only when you are ready, and the aim is that recalling it stops hijacking the present.
Internal Family SystemsIFS
Treats the mind as made up of parts - the critic, the one who withdraws, the one that keeps everything running - each of which is trying to protect you. The work is getting to know them rather than overruling them.

Also listed

  • Existential Therapy
  • Systemic Therapy

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Nicole practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Nicole's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.

  1. A questionnaire, not a booking form

    BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Nicole at this point.

  2. Naming Nicole specifically

    BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Nicole is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Nicole.

  3. If the caseload is full

    You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.

  4. The first conversation

    A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.

  5. If the fit is wrong

    Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.

05 · Before you commit

4 questions worth asking Nicole

Built from what Nicole actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Nicole's - Nicole has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.

  • “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Client-Centred Therapy. Which do you lean on with someone like me?”

    Those two point in different directions - one structured and led by the therapist, the other led by you. The answer tells you what the sessions will actually feel like.

  • “How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”

    Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.

  • “With 20 years in, what has changed most in how you work?”

    Long experience is only an advantage if it has been examined. This tends to surface whether it has.

  • “How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”

    On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.

06 · Practical details

Credentials and licensing

Credential
LPCC
Licensed in
California
Licence
CA LPCC 640
Licence number
640
Licence expires
31 Mar 2027
NPI
1366768418
Years in practice
20
Gender
Female
Languages
English
International clients
Not accepted
Listed since
15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Nicole's name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 7 Nov 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.

The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.

Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Nicole. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.

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