)
Nicole Thompson, Ed.S
Educator, Author & Humanitarian Committed to Serving Urban Youth
Nicole Thompson, Ed.S
Educator, Author & Humanitarian Committed to Serving Urban Youth
Biography
For Nicole Thompson, it all started with a box of crayons and a coloring book. The eight-year-old was still grieving for her mother, who took her own life. Thompson had awakened to find her mom dead in bed beside her from an overdose. Feeling utterly alone and isolated, she returned to school. Her third-grade teacher had Thompson’s classmates present her with the two small gifts. It’s something she never forgot. “They were a reminder that even though I was going through hell, people cared,” Thompson says. “And I’d certainly never expected a teacher, of all people, to care as much as Ms. Smith.”
That one small gesture led to an outstanding career for Thompson and the children she’s helped through the years. She is an educator, author, mentor to urban youth and retired school psychologist. She has also served as an early intervention therapist and adjunct professor.
Thompson is the creator of Reverse the Adverse, a trauma-informed care training for educators and mental health professionals that work with urban students. The goal of Reverse the Adverse is to raise awareness of the impact that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) has on urban students and teach functional strategies to better serve such a vulnerable population.
She is also a co-author of Black Therapists Rock: A Glimpse Through the Eyes of Experts in which she shares her story of ACEs and waking up next to her mom. She has spoken at Harvard School Mental Health Conference where she received the first standing ovation in over 10 years. Nicole’s work has also been featured in numerous publications, with her most recent appearance in Forbes.
She completed her undergraduate at Temple University and her graduate studies at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine with her Education Specialist Degree in School Psychology.
Speaker Videos
Interview on WURD Radio - Snippet
Educator's Role in Helping Students Heal Trauma
Reverse the Adverse
Speech Topics
Developing a Self-Care Plan
COVID-19 has affected us all and traumatized many. According to the Mayo Clinic, there has been a major increase in stress, anxiety and depression across the nation. Financial pressure and social isolation and worries about getting sick are taking a toll, too. That’s why self-care is more important than ever.
In this keynote, Nicole Thompson, an educator, author, mentor to urban youth and retired school psychologist, shares self-care strategies to improve your mental and physical health for yourself and your family. She shares practical tips that anyone can use to help them overcome challenging times and heal themselves from what’s hurting them, so they can thrive despite their current circumstances.
The Importance of Workplace Wellness
Study after study has shown that when employees are happy and healthy, engagement, productivity and business growth rise and burn-out drops. A culture of self-care in the workplace has proven to be critical to success — especially in these times when stress is at an all-time high. So how do you go about incorporating self-care into your company culture?
In this keynote, Nicole Thompson, an educator, author, mentor to urban youth and retired school psychologist, shows you how. She shares self-care strategies for the workplace, and practical tips that anyone can use to help overcome challenging times and heal themselves from what’s hurting them, so they can thrive despite their current circumstances.
How to Heal Yourself From What’s Hurting You (Student Keynote/Workshop)
We all go through challenging times at different points in our lives, and COVID-19 has proven that. For some, it’s during childhood and often those moments qualify as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Nicole shares the most challenging times of her life that happened when she was a child. She accounts living with a depressed mom that lost her will to live when she was only 8 years old, how she felt waking up next to her mom’s dead body, and how she was able to overcome that trauma. She then shares practical tips that students can use to help them overcome challenging times and heal themselves from what’s hurting them so they can thrive despite their current circumstances.
Reverse the Adverse (Workshop)
This workshop is for educators in urban districts who struggle to motivate students to learn, lose instruction time due to problem behaviors, and want to improve student/teacher relationships which ultimately improves student performance, teacher satisfaction and overall morale. Nicole provides a space for educators to reflect on their own personal bias, and how it may interfere with the entire learning process. She also teaches about trauma, how it manifests in school, and provides a practical proven approach that uses functional strategies to transform classrooms from places of discipline to that of learning and thriving. Lastly, educators are given a step-by-step approach to develop a healthy daily self-care routine to prevent overwhelm and burnout. Given such, educators can effectively educate, engage, empower, and instill hope in vulnerable students, thus changing projected negative outcomes.
)
)
)
)