Nick K. Choate

Founder & Director of THRIVE Counseling Group and THRIVE Counseling and Workshops

LPC-MHSP, EMDR, CSAT, DARTT, TN State Board Supervisor for LPC-MHSP

Session Details:

• Individual/Telehealth/Partner-Present:

  • $180, 50-min session

• Intensives: $540 half-day (3-hrs)/$1100 full-day (6-hrs)

• Groups - Cost per group is listed within details of the group

• Supervision:

  • $165, 60-min Individual

  • $165, 120-min Triad

  • $25, Group Supervision/ Case Consultation

• Phone - (615) 852-8281

• Email - nick.choate.lpc@gmail.com

Personal Bio:

Nick is a graduate of Trevecca Nazarene University where he received his Master’s degree in Clinical Counseling and is an alumni of Union University, in Jackson, TN, where he studied Psychology & Christian Studies. Nick is the Director and Founder of the THRIVE Counseling Group family and the founder THRIVE Counseling & Workshops. Nick specializes in providing individual counseling, groups, workshops, intensives and speaking engagements for young and adult men wanting help addressing men’s health issues, addiction and intimacy disorder recovery, and healing from painful family or early childhood .

Nick is a:

• Licensed Professional Counselor (LPS-MHSP) with the State of Tennessee - TN Lic# 3689

• Tennessee State Board Certified Supervisor for Licensed Professional Counselors with Mental Health Service Provision (LPC-MHSP)

• Certified Sexual Addictions Counselor (CSAT)

• Certified EMDR Therapist

• Certified DARTT and Healing Our Core Issues (HOCI) Therapist

• Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP)

• Small Business Coach

• a Bully-dad

• and a real, honest-to-goodness “Okie from Muskogee”

Nick is married to is bride and best friend Brandy Lea for over 14-years. They are "Westies" residing in West Nashville with their two English Bulldogs, Duncan Donut and Delilah Doolittle. Nick has recently become a father to a handsome, rambunctious, and “full of life” little baby boy, Cooper Jackson (CJ). When Nick is not providing care to his clients, leading groups and workshops, or wrestling a baby-man to a nap, you can usually find him in one of a few places: spending time outdoors exercising, trail running, camping, rock climbing or kayaking; practicing yoga and mindfulness; having coffee and reading a good book; wood- or leather-working; or gardening and running his tower farm business.

NICK’S MESSAGE TO MEN AND THEIR FAMILIES:

Men, we’re expected to carry a lot on our shoulders! Whether its stress, frustrations, anger, work, school, family, relationships, you name it! And those things are not supposed to bother us. Why is that? Where did you learn that’s how you’re supposed to be? Oh, and aren’t we only supposed to drive the best car or truck, be the smartest man in the room, only make a certain amount of money, and have a certain type of woman standing next to us?

We play these roles we were groomed to play, attempt to fix other people’s problems and cater to everyone else’s needs all while stuffing our own needs way down deep. And, when it all finally takes its toll on us, because it always does, our mask crumbles and we turn to things to help us numb out or distract us from what is really going on: porn, sex, alcohol, food, video games, sports, work, you name it. Why? Because, in retrospect, those things worked for us in the past! At one time they were answer(s) to help us through other tough times in our lives. And they work REALLY well, I might add! But now those things are just causing us problems. Allow me to note, there’s nothing inherently wrong with some of those things but it’s how we’ve learned to use or rely on them that has compounded our problems. In truth they are windows into what our hearts really desire. And, instead of them being something to enjoy, savor or bring us life, now they just make matters worse, and they’ve left a gaping hole where our hearts use to be! They’re getting in the way of us making real connections with ourselves, others and our Creator. What can be done? My name is Nick and I specialize in working men wanting help addressing their emotional and mental health issues and seeking assistance with addiction recovery.

I help men and their partners:

• Address problems with stress, anxiety and depression

• Address possible addiction and/or unwanted behaviors around compulsive sex, pornography, masturbation, intimacy, food, work and alcohol

• Problems with setting healthy goals and maintaining motivation

• Reoccurring problems, issues, enmeshment with family, friends and intimate relationships or work boundaries

• 12-steps recovery and health coaching

• Helping you understand your True Identity, make up and purpose

• Practicing and developing skills that reflect your values and goals.

My role as your therapist is to help you:

• Get a clearer understanding of WHAT IS actually happening; often it’s not what we think or perceive things to be. Instead, we’re more likely to focus on what we are comfortable talking about or addressing. But, with some guidance, curiosity and compassion we can become a little more aware of our deeper needs.

• To help you gain perspective and see the array of pieces that make you, you; you’re not broken, you’re not messed up, or something that is needing to be fixed! Your nervous system has developed a set of skills that helped you to survive till today. Sadly, those skills are no longer effective with your current relationship(s).

• Consistently remind and encourage you that you’re NOT your past mistakes, choices, or addiction(s) and how I can help draw your attention back to the steps you are taking to address and grow.

• Help you to understand you are not your family’s problems or their history keeper either.

I want to help you see how your experience’s assisted you in developing roles you could play to stay safe and still get the minimum of what you wanted or needed. These roles helped get you through life, work, relationships, family, friendships and other stressful events with as little pain or discomfort as possible.

When you’ve spent the majority of your life playing these different roles, unbeknownst to us, we become something called “fragmented”. This often leaves us feeling disjointed and disconnected from important areas of life, like our feelings, thoughts, needs; we are left questioning our value, safety, humanness, and deeper desires. It’s as if we’ve had electricity running rampant throughout our bodies for years with nowhere for it go. Eventually, that electricity has to be grounded so we can released that energy. But we’ve learned and worked so hard at holding it in that we don’t know how to let go of it.

Hey! That’s where I can come in and help!

Our work makes room for these “experiences and roles” to show up, help you begin to understand them, then, work with them to change them. I'll introduce you to tools that can help get you “grounded” and reconnected to the areas that matter most to you. Using approaches like: Internal Family Systems (IFS), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Experiential Exercises to understand the roles you’ve played, Mindfulness and body-work to help you reconnect and maintain your connecting to what you’re feeling and other sensations that may show up so you can understand what they mean, wisdom from sacred texts and The 12-Steps materials to help you have a healthy, wise path for healing, and Task-oriented practices to provide you with tangible, objective activities and goals where you can measure and actually see where change happening.

I know all too well the residual effects addiction, trauma and family can take on in a person’s life. Being born and raised till I was nine in the Oklahoma heartland of the Cherokee reservations will remind me of all of that very quickly. Thankfully, when was 10 my grandparents stepped in and started raising my brothers and me. We had a chance to start a new life, in a new home, in a new place. Are there still memories? Certainly! Our work is never done, but I’ve also experienced a lot of healing, renewed trust, and gratitude, and I’ve learned tools for the recovery journey I have been able to travel. Now I want to pass those gifts forward to you. I’ll have the pleasure to walk with and get to know you.

If I can assist you in any way, please let me know through our website, email or phone call, or let the kind folks at THRIVE Counseling Group know you would like to meet with me. It would a pleasure to connect with you and help you Heal, Reconnect, and Grow so you can THRIVE!