Welcome to
Emergent Counseling and Consulting!
Trauma-Focused Therapy for Anxiety, Depression, PTSD, and Relationship Healing in South Florida
Oakland Park · Fort Lauderdale · Sunrise · Miramar · Coral Springs · Plantation · Deerfield Beach, FL
Anxiety doesn't always look like panic attacks. Sometimes it looks like overthinking every conversation after it happens, struggling to say no, or staying constantly busy because slowing down feels more dangerous than burning out.
Depression doesn't always mean withdrawing from life. Many people struggling with depression are also the ones holding everything together. They show up, perform, care for others, and carry responsibilities while quietly feeling numb, disconnected, or overwhelmed inside.
Carrying that much while hiding how you actually feel gets heavy in a way that's hard to explain to anyone who hasn't lived it.
At Emergent Counseling and Consulting, we provide trauma therapy, anxiety treatment, depression counseling, PTSD therapy, couples counseling, and stress management support for individuals, couples, and families throughout Florida. Our approach is trauma-focused and grounded in evidence-based mind-body therapies that address the emotional, mental, and physical impact of stress and trauma.
Our therapists bring more than thirty years of combined clinical experience and use integrative approaches including EMDR therapy, somatic therapy, mindfulness-based interventions, attachment-focused care, and nervous system regulation techniques to support long-term healing. We help clients move beyond survival mode and build greater safety, emotional balance, confidence, and healthier relationships.
What we've learned from sitting with people through some of their hardest seasons is that healing begins in a space where people feel safe, supported, accepted, and free from judgment.
We'd love to be your healing partner — schedule your first session with us.
Meet Our Therapists
Nicky Cameron
Founder / Clinical Director / Holistic Trauma Recovery Therapist
Mernelle Saint Jean
Lead Trauma Recovery Therapist
Anecia Collins
Grief Resolution Therapist
Tania Jacques
Anxiety and Depression Therapist
Ashanti Shakespeare
Trauma-Informed Maternal Mental Health Therapist
Casey Gowans
Couples Therapist
Georgia Ballantyne-Durand
Anxiety and Stress Management Therapist
Laronda Thomas
Couples Therapist
Nathalie Mardice-Joseph
Anxiety Management Therapist
Shanekia Calbert
Stress and Anxiety Management Therapist
Adonaide Jules
Anxiety Management Specialist
Kayelah Livingstone
ADHD and Anxiety Management Therapist
Deena Rey Cameron
Client Engagement Coordinator & Operations Manager
Insurance & Payment
We accept a wide range of insurance plans so that accessing mental health support is as barrier-free as possible.
Please check with your insurance carrier to ensure that counseling is a covered service under your plan.
Why Choose Emergent Counseling and Consulting
Choosing a therapist isn't just about finding someone qualified. It's about finding someone you actually trust enough to be honest with. That's a harder thing to find than most people expect.
And most people who find their way to us have already tried. They've seen two, three, sometimes more therapists before they get here. What they describe is usually some version of the same thing: they didn't feel connected. They felt like they were being managed through a framework rather than actually seen. They were sitting across from someone who didn't understand their background, their culture, their experience of the world — and they spent more energy translating themselves than actually healing.
We hear that regularly. It's part of why we work the way we do.
What we've noticed over thirty years of combined clinical experience is that the people who come in aren't usually looking for advice. They're looking for someone who can hold the weight of what they're carrying without flinching, and who actually knows how to help them move through it rather than just talk about it.
Anxiety, depression, trauma, and chronic stress don't just live in your thoughts. They live in your body, your sleep, your relationships, the way you brace before difficult conversations, the way you check out when things get too close. Treating any of that with surface-level coping skills rarely touches what's actually happening underneath. That's why we focus on treating the whole person — using approaches like EMDR, somatic therapy, nervous system regulation, mindfulness, and attachment-focused care. Because what's happening underneath usually needs more than talking about it.
We also don't assume your experience looks like anyone else's. The person dealing with high-functioning anxiety looks nothing like the person who can barely get through the day, even though they might be carrying the same thing. And someone navigating trauma through the lens of their culture, their family history, their identity, needs a therapist who understands that context — not one they have to constantly explain themselves to.
Our work is specific to you, your history, your patterns, and what healing actually needs to look like in your life.
What changes when people do the work here:
People tell us the shifts aren't always dramatic at first, but they're real.
- They stop replaying conversations and waiting for something bad to happen.
- Relationships that felt impossible start to feel workable.
- They can set a boundary without the guilt spiral that used to follow it.
- Their body stops feeling like the enemy.
- The things that used to hijack them don't have the same grip.
- They start recognizing their patterns before those patterns have already done the damage.
- They can sit with hard feelings without immediately needing to escape them.
- And slowly, they stop needing to have everything under control just to feel okay.
Most people wait longer than they should. If you're already asking the question, that's enough of a reason to reach out.
Emergent Counseling and Consulting serves individuals, couples, and families throughout Florida. In-person and telehealth available.
A Practice Built From the Inside Out
Emergent Counseling and Consulting started with one woman's lived experience, her own healing, and a commitment to making sure others had access to the kind of support that actually reaches what's happening underneath.
Where It Began
Nicky Cameron grew up in Jamaica and migrated to the United States carrying everything that kind of transition brings: a new country, a fractured sense of identity, and challenges nobody prepares you for. The adjustment was harder than she anticipated. She experienced what it felt like to be defined by her immigrant status before being fully seen or understood. She was taken advantage of in workplaces because she didn't yet know her rights. She lost her brother while he was in her care, and that loss disrupted her sense of self in ways that took years to fully understand.
What she was living through had a name. The fatigue, the anxiety, and the constant tension in a body that never fully relaxed. It was a nervous system shaped by grief, displacement, and stress that had never been processed. When she finally understood that, she made a decision: to reclaim herself, and to build something that gave other people a real path to do the same.
What She Saw That She Couldn't Unsee
Before founding Emergent, Nicky worked across inpatient and outpatient clinical settings. What she witnessed there became the second force behind this practice. People misdiagnosed because they couldn't articulate their experience fluently in English. People medicated when what they needed was someone willing to sit with them long enough to understand what their behavior was trying to communicate. People moving through systems that were never designed with them in mind.
That frustration became a commitment to do things differently. To build something that treated people as whole human beings first.
How the Practice Grew
Emergent didn't expand through job postings. It grew through relationships and trust. The therapists who make up the Emergent team came through years of mentorship and clinical supervision with Nicky. They know how she thinks. They share her beliefs about people, healing, and the kind of care therapy should provide. Over time, that professional alignment became something more personal, and eventually it became a collective commitment.
The Emergent team is made up of Afro-Caribbean therapists. They built this practice because they kept seeing the same gap in their communities: people who needed culturally grounded, deeply human care and couldn't find it. People who spent their sessions explaining their background instead of healing from it. Creating a space where people no longer have to translate their humanity became one of the foundations of this practice.
What Guides Our Work
They care deeply about people. They hold themselves to a high standard of ongoing learning and clinical competence. Causing harm through complacency is something none of them are willing to accept. They hold themselves to the same level of honesty, growth, and accountability they encourage in their clients. And they show up to sessions as full human beings, not just clinicians — because they believe that a real, felt connection in the therapy room is what teaches people what healthy connection can feel like everywhere else.
The approaches they work with — including EMDR, somatic therapy, brainspotting, nervous system regulation, and attachment-focused care — aren't credentials they collected. They are approaches this team believes in because they have witnessed, both personally and professionally, how much healing becomes possible when therapy addresses the whole person.
Who This Practice Is For
If you've seen other therapists and left feeling like something was missing, you're not imagining it. Connection matters. Cultural attunement matters. Feeling genuinely understood by someone who doesn't need you to translate your experience matters.
Emergent Counseling and Consulting provides trauma therapy, anxiety treatment, depression counseling, PTSD therapy, couples counseling, and family therapy throughout Florida, with in-person sessions in Oakland Park and telehealth available statewide.
This practice was built for people who are ready to stop surviving what's happening to them and start actually living. That is the heart of this practice.
Nicky Cameron,
Licensed Therapist & Founder
What Clients Say
…I just want to say THANK YOU
THANK YOU for all that you have done for my family. You are a special human being and I hope God continues to give you the wisdom and strength to continue to be the life saving hero that you are. My daughter who suffered from stress related seizures hasn't had an episode in more than a year and the lights are turned back on in my son's eyes again. He is smiling and laughing again. Grades are back up. He is now a well functioning kid who wants to live life to the fullest once again.
You are rare
It's rare that you can find professionals that are willing to go above and beyond for clients these days. You have shown a vested interest in my family's case and the outcome. You are thorough in your review of the issues that are at hand and you exhibit kindness and honest care to your patients. It is obvious that you have amassed a wealth of knowledge in your area of expertise, but also in terms of care and empathy for the well being of your patients.
Thank you Nicky
Thankful for the genuine love and healing. I've been a client of this practice for about 2 years and have been helped uniquely, specifically and intentionally by two of their therapists. I've had therapy before, but not like this. As a health care professional myself, I can tell you without bias that their range of skills and philosophy as a practice exceeds all of my expectations. I've learned so much about myself and how I want to treat myself and be treated. I've grown and become so much stronger under this practice.
Your Questions, Answered
Everything you need to know about starting your healing journey at Emergent Counseling and Consulting — a practice rooted in culturally sensitive, stigma-free care.
Who do you work with?
We work with individuals — particularly within the Black community — who want to learn tools to manage distressing symptoms of mental illness without medications. We also work with individuals looking for support to make meaningful life changes so they can emerge into the truest versions of themselves. Our approach is non-traditional, and focuses on restoration of the mind, body, and soul. We are person-centered, culturally sensitive, stigma-free, holistic, and strengths-based.
Do you have Black therapists available?
Yes. Our team includes culturally competent Black therapists who deeply understand the nuanced experiences of the Black community. We provide a stigma-free, affirming environment where you don't have to explain your culture — you can simply show up and heal. Representation in therapy matters, and we're proud to offer it.
Do you offer a consultation before committing to therapy?
Absolutely! Consultation sessions are not free. If you are insured, your insurance will be billed for the initial session. If you are a private pay client, the initial session will be billed to you. We offer our potential clients the opportunity to meet with our therapists to interview them, learn more about our services, and decide if the approach we use is what you are looking for to support you on your healing journey.
What can I expect from therapy?
Therapy is a journey shared between you and the therapist. We are not in the business of dictating how our clients should live their lives. You will be provided with a supportive, non-judgmental space, tools, suggestions and honesty to help you make the decisions you want to make to change the direction of your life. Therapy requires an open-mind, work, commitment and behavior change. You will get back what you put in.
What happens during the first session?
It is perfectly normal to feel nervous or afraid before your first appointment. The initial session may last about 55–60 minutes. This is the time for you to thoroughly interview your therapist to ensure that they are competent and can meet your needs. The client–therapist relationship is crucial to healing — we encourage you to use this time to determine whether you feel a sense of ease in your therapist's presence, set your expectations, share your goals and what you would like to change.
How long do appointments last?
The standard length of a therapy session is 55–60 minutes. However, we also offer 75- and 90-minute sessions — please contact us regarding availability and pricing.
How often are the sessions?
Sessions are typically once or twice per week. Session frequency is also dependent on how severe your symptoms are and your availability. As you meet your goals, you can begin to taper off your sessions and transition into the maintenance phase of treatment.
Do you provide online counseling / teletherapy?
Yes. Although in-office face-to-face therapy allows for more direct connection with your therapist, virtual sessions are offered by telephone or secure video platform to persons who are unable to access therapy in person. We serve clients across all of Florida via teletherapy.
What methods do your therapists use?
Our team uses evidence-based, body-focused modalities including EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), AEDP Therapy, Somatic Experiencing, Brainspotting, EFT Tapping, and Internal Family Systems (IFS). These approaches are not just techniques we have studied — our founder Nicky Cameron has personally explored and integrated each into her own healing journey. The work is embodied, lived, and real.
How much do you charge for sessions?
Our therapists are highly trained and receive ongoing mentoring and training to ensure you receive specialized, competent, quality care. We understand that financial limitations often play a role in access to care. We offer 45-minute sessions at $113 and 60-minute sessions at a range of $100–$200. Payment is collected on the morning of your scheduled session.
Do you accept insurance?
Yes, we accept the following insurance plans: Aetna, Avmed, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Curative, Humana, Loveland Vouchers, Managed Care Concepts, Multiplan, Mutual of Omaha, Optum, Oscar, United Behavioral Health, and Workplace Options. Please check with your insurance carrier to ensure that counseling is a covered service.
Do you provide letters for emotional support animals (ESAs)?
Yes, we do provide ESA letters, but only for existing clients. This service is available after a series of evaluations and once a therapeutic relationship has been established. We do not write letters for individuals seeking counseling or assessment solely for the purpose of obtaining an ESA recommendation letter, as advised by the Human-Animal Interactions in Counseling (HAIC).
What is the process for obtaining an ESA letter?
To obtain an ESA letter you must: (1) be an existing client who has completed a series of evaluations with your therapist; (2) undergo a comprehensive evaluation of your need for an ESA; and (3) participate in a discussion of the potential benefits and risks associated with having an ESA. This ensures the recommendation is based on a thorough understanding of your therapeutic needs.
How much does an ESA letter cost?
The cost for an ESA letter is $100. Additional fees may apply if further information is requested by your landlord or the requesting entity. These fees cover the time and resources required to provide detailed documentation.
Why don't you provide ESA letters for new clients seeking only this service?
Due to potential risks and unanticipated outcomes, the HAIC strongly suggests that counselors abstain from writing letters for individuals seeking counseling or assessment solely for the purpose of obtaining an ESA recommendation letter. We adhere to this guideline to ensure ethical and responsible practice and to protect the well-being of all clients.
Ask a Question or Book an Appointment
Emergent Counseling and Consulting serves individuals, couples, and families throughout Florida.
In-person sessions in Oakland Park. Telehealth available statewide.