About Nicole
How I came to do this work
Nicole Shieh grew up in San Francisco, connected to the city’s progressive, creative, multicultural communities. She graduated from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2012 and has over 15 years of experience working in both community and private practice clinical settings, including college campuses, low income housing and homeless youth shelters. She holds a BA in sociology from Wesleyan University and has since been interested in understanding the shaping of history, society and culture on individual subjective problems and pathologies.
Prior to pursuing a masters degree in counseling, Nicole’s work experience included fundraising and development in the non profit social service sector. She raised money for the organization, San Francisco Women Against Rape where she was also a peer counselor for several years. This experience led her to become curious about how to delve deeper in her listening to those with histories of sexual and violent childhood traumas.
Nicole started her journey to becoming a therapist through Buddhist meditation practice and participating in week-long silent meditation retreats, engaging in teachings about the true nature of suffering. The values of silence, slowing down, listening, and being present remain essential in her work.
In graduate school, she encountered and landed upon psychoanalysis as a rigorous theory and practice of studying the vast influence of the unconscious on mental life. She underwent personal psychoanalysis from a Lacanian analyst and a two year post-graduate training in psychoanalytic therapy, learning how to adapt and reinterpret traditional ideas and techniques in today’s contemporary, culturally diverse world.
In addition to practicing therapy, she has taught students at the graduate level and provides clinical supervision to pre-licensed trainees at California Institute for Integral Studies, Center for Mindful Psychotherapy, and Marina Counseling Center.
Education
Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology from California Institute for Integral Studies, graduated 2012
Access Institute Psychoanalytic Training Program, graduated 2014
Bachelors in Sociology, Wesleyan University, graduated 2005
Clinical Work Experience
Access Institute (Intern)
The Clinic Without Walls (Trainee)
Larkin Street Youth Services (Counselor)
Asian Community Mental Health Services (Intern)
Roosevelt Middle School, Oakland (Intern)
San Francisco State University Counseling Center (School therapist)
CIIS Pierce St and Church St (Supervisor)
Marina Counseling Center (Supervisor)
Teaching Experience
Adjunct Professor and Guest Lecturer, California Institute of Integral Studies
Presentations
Beyond the Stigma: A Conversation about Mental Illness in the API Community, November 2021
The Mental Health Impact of Anti-Asian Violence, January 2022
API Healing and Community Empowerment, February 2022