Meet Nicole Duarte, LCSW, CCTP, NATC

I've built my career around a simple belief: people deserve therapy that meets them exactly where they are, in whatever language and cultural context feels most like home to them. As a bilingual and bicultural clinician, I've spent my career bridging that gap for clients who often feel like pieces of their identity get lost in translation when they walk into a therapist's office.

I have a deep passion for supporting people through trauma, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance use, performance anxiety, and major life transitions. My clinical training has taken me through a range of settings, including The Menninger Clinic, nationally recognized for its work with complex mental health and personality disorders, Communities in Schools, where I supported students navigating trauma and life stressors, Catholic Charities, where I worked with individuals and families facing a wide range of challenges, and private practice, where I've continued to build long-term, individualized care for my clients. I've worked across every age range, children, adolescents, young adults, adults, and older adults, and across every format, from individual and couples work to groups and full family sessions.

I earned my Master of Social Work from the University of Houston with a clinical concentration and specialization in Health and Behavioral Health, and I was honored to be part of the Phi Alpha Honor Society and the Graduate College of Social Work's Clinical Leadership Society during my program. I've since become a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional and a Certified Narcissistic Abuse Treatment Clinician, deepening my ability to support clients working through some of the most complex relational wounds.

Whether you're navigating unresolved trauma, struggling with disordered eating, working through substance use challenges, or simply feeling stuck in a life transition you didn't see coming, I bring both clinical depth and lived cultural perspective to help you find real footing again.

My approach centers on building genuine trust and emotional safety first. I don't believe meaningful work can happen until you feel truly seen. From there, I draw on a range of tools, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), psychodynamic work, trauma-informed care, and mindfulness practices, tailoring the mix to fit you rather than asking you to fit a method.

Outside the therapy room, I've lived a life shaped by movement across cultures; I've lived abroad teaching in both English and Spanish, and I spent years traveling domestically and internationally as a Women's Youth National Team soccer player and collegiate athlete.