ABOUT ST JOHN COUNSELING
Experience Matters.
So Does Being Heard.
We are Nicole and Mark St John, licensed clinical social workers who have spent decades helping people navigate mental health concerns, addiction and trauma.
Our experience has taught us a great deal about therapy.
One of the most important lessons is also one of the simplest: people need to be treated like people.
Free 15-minute phone consultation — no obligation.
OUR STORY
We built the kind of practice we wanted our patients to have.
Our careers began long before St John Counseling.
We have worked in residential treatment, community mental health, clinical leadership and private practice. Mark began practicing in the late 1990s and Nicole followed in 2005. Along the way, we have worked with patients experiencing everything from everyday life challenges to significant trauma, addiction and complex mental health concerns.
Those years also shaped what we wanted to do differently.
Large treatment systems can sometimes become focused on programs, processes and the business of providing care. We wanted a setting where we could keep our attention where we believe it belongs: on the person sitting across from us.
St John Counseling grew from that idea.
OUR THERAPY PHILOSOPHY
We are not here to tell you who you are.
You already bring an enormous amount of knowledge into therapy.
You know your history. You know what hurts. You know which patterns keep repeating, even if you do not yet understand why.
We bring a different kind of knowledge.
After decades of clinical work, we have developed a deep understanding of mental health, trauma, addiction and the therapeutic approaches that can help people create change.
Good therapy brings those two forms of expertise together.
We listen carefully. We ask questions. We help you recognize patterns, challenge barriers and understand possibilities that may be difficult to see when you are in the middle of the problem.
We work with you, not on you.
That distinction matters to us.
DECADES OF CLINICAL EXPERIENCE
Experience gives us more than one way to look at a problem.
Over the course of our careers, we have worked with people whose concerns do not fit neatly into one category. Trauma can affect mental health. Substance use can become a way of coping. Longstanding patterns may have roots that are not obvious at first.
That is why our work is not tied to a single therapeutic framework.
Our backgrounds allow us to draw from CBT, DBT, REBT, CPT, EMDR, psychodynamic approaches and other evidence-based therapies. We use that breadth of experience to look at the whole picture and choose an approach based on the person in front of us.
Both clinicians bring broad training to their work, with an intentional focus on mental health, addiction and trauma recovery through EMDR.
FAITH, SPIRITUALITY & PSYCHOTHERAPY
For us, spirituality begins with connection.
Our Christian faith has shaped who we are as people and why we chose careers devoted to helping others.
It also informs values we believe have a place in good therapy: honesty, accountability, compassion, connection and the belief that people are capable of change.
For patients who want faith to be part of therapy, we are comfortable integrating Christian principles and exploring spiritual questions as part of the therapeutic process.
Faith integration is never a requirement.
We have worked with people from many backgrounds and belief systems. We respect your worldview and want therapy to be a place where you can talk openly about your beliefs, questions and experiences without being pressured toward ours.
MEET YOUR THERAPISTS
Two therapists. Decades of experience.
One shared philosophy.
Nicole St John, LCSW
Nicole has practiced since 2005 and specializes in trauma, addiction and mental health. She is an advanced EMDR clinician and Florida Qualified Supervisor whose career has included hospitals, addiction treatment centers, county mental health agencies and private practice.
Mark St John, LCSW
Mark has practiced since the late 1990s and brings extensive experience in addiction recovery, trauma and mental health. His career has included clinical and program leadership in treatment settings as well as private practice, and he is also a Florida Qualified Supervisor and advanced EMDR clinician.
OUR MOST POPULAR TEAM MEMBER
Meet Ginger
There is one additional member of St John Counseling who takes a decidedly less clinical approach.
Ginger has been part of our family since she was a puppy and regularly joins us at the office. Many patients enjoy having her nearby and find that her presence makes the therapy space a little more comfortable.
She does not attend every session. We are always happy to keep Ginger out of the office when a patient has allergies, does not enjoy dogs or simply prefers therapy without a four-legged participant.
THERAPY IN PALM BEACH GARDENS
Think We Might Be a Good Fit?
A free 15-minute phone consultation gives us a chance to learn a little about what brings you to therapy and gives you a chance to get to know us, too.
If it feels like the right fit, we can talk about what comes next.
In-person therapy in Palm Beach Gardens & online therapy throughout Florida