Description

 

My Therapist Approved These

by Nicole Mihelis

This collection of poems revolves around and is inspired by past love (both settled and unresolved), the idea of aging and seeing our parents through a different lens, the mental gymnastics of the dynamic trio (Anxiety, Depression, and ADHD), the poet’s home away from home in Ithaca, NY, and other related topics to human existence. Each poem touches upon subjects broached in her therapy sessions, and while others were born in her mind while on the road listening to music. While none of these topics are particularly groundbreaking, there’s comfort in bringing new light and perspective to familiar thoughts that plague the minds of multiple generations.

 

Early Praise

Both gentle and powerful, My Therapist Approved These is a delicate, intimate read. The collection is what everyone’s therapist wishes they could be with themselves: tender, introspective, and frank. Nicole’s poems balance the marks that the outside and the inside of our worlds leave on each other while navigating how to carry all that happened in the past without forgetting to look to the future.

—Paz Pacheco Hall, author of MAPBOT

I approve of these as well. Nicole showcases the unsaid in My Therapist Approved These in a nuanced and attentive manner. Read this if you’re looking for the candor and grit that often gets neglected in our everyday lives and is seen eye to eye only in therapeutic settings. Nicole doesn’t run away from the tragedies but rather provides the reader with an up-close view of the confrontation so many of us avoid.

—Zaira Gomez, author of Language Runaway

 

About the Author

Nicole Mihelis physically resides in Western Connecticut with her significant other and their dog, Acadia, but her heart and mind are constantly wandering. Her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Ithaca College and master’s degree in counseling from Villanova University have allowed writing to play a healing role in her life despite not pursuing it as a career. Rather, she is an academic advisor in higher education. She is often influenced by love, loss, nostalgia, mental health, and sporadic inspirations while listening to music. When she’s not advising students or feeding her inspiration, she finds comfort in hiking, exploring new restaurants, singing her heart out in the car, and traveling.