Nichole Coccia

Raised by a single mother who struggled financially all of my life and begged me from an early age to do better for myself. I am the first in my family to graduate from college with a BA and to obtain master's degrees. After graduating in 2007 with my BA in Sociology I began working in early childhood programs, this was purely out of need for finding a job but as luck would have it, I found a passion for a lifelong career path. My initial areas of interest were in the fields of research, and this was always my goal as a way of building on advocacy work for children and families, but I found that having my feet on the ground actually putting in the direct work is where I belong. I completed my M.Ed. program in 2012 and completed an infant mental health certification at Chatham University during my master's program. I began working in intensive family-based community programs. This is where I found a passion for counseling and therapy services driving me to seek a second master's degree in clinical mental health counseling. I completed this degree in 2020. I have worked in a variety of settings and launched a successful IBHS program from the ground up during the pandemic serving nearly 100 children and families in less than a year and a half. Currently I am working as an outpatient therapist full time and part time as the marking/social media specialist for a nonprofit that has captured my heart.