Welcome back to the True Calling Project. Today’s guest is Nicole Gordon, licensed marriage and family therapist, and she has a very unique way to approach couples and family work.
Nicole sees clients in both a private practice and in their homes. She practices experiential therapy that uses cooking as a tool. It’s basically a platform to help clients understand themselves in situ and relate their emotions or thoughts to what has come up in traditional talk therapy.
“By going through the process themselves, they’re able to observe more about themselves.”
What does cooking therapy look like?
- It starts with an introduction to talk about the clients’ backgrounds and goals with therapy
- The activity might involve a couple or family creating something together, creating something for each other or creating something without knowing what the ingredients are
- The activity is geared towards the clients’ goals
- During the activity, Nicole will ask questions to help clients process along the way
“People love it because they get to do something fun, but also relate to each other in a safer way.”
Cooking therapy sounds fun, and we don’t typically think about psychotherapy as something enjoyable or fun. It’s a refreshing approach to couples and family therapy that focuses on what patients observe about themselves during the process, as opposed to what Nicole observes about them.
“It was taking two loves and putting them together and saying I can do both at the same time.”
Nicole is writing a dissertation about the relationship between therapy and cooking. She is particularly interested in the different physical and emotional levels on which people relate to cooking.
- On an instinctual level, we eat to survive
- On a family level, we relate food to different cultures and traditions
- On a societal level, we relate food to health, enjoyment and more
- On an emotional level, different foods and dishes affect us all differently
Nicole has truly found her true calling. She learned to find joy and creative expression in what she does – an empowering technique that you can apply to any career to improve your life and the lives of people around you. You can learn more about Nicole and her techniques at BoutiquePsychotherapy.com.
Resources:
- Learn more at BoutiquePsychotherapy.com
- Email: Nicole@BoutiquePsychotherapy.com
- Extraordinary Relationships by Roberta M Gilbertt
- The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
- Happy at Work: 60 Simple Ways to Stay Engaged and Be Successful by Jim Donovan and Steve Rizzo
- Working Happy: What Great Bosses Know by Jill Geisler
Interested in learning more about how I can help you through coaching? Find out more at www.johnharrisoncounseling.com/individual-coaching/
Production & Development for True Calling Project by Podcast Masters
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