Gérald Nickner is a social worker and psychotherapist with more than 30 years of clinical experience in the health care system and in private practice. For the past twenty years, he has worked in hospitals with people (patients and their families) who are coping with serious illnesses or those with a difficult prognosis.

His work with these individuals has influenced the development of a collaborative therapeutic approach based on the combination of expertise (therapist and client) to deal with difficult problems and situations: existential suffering, questioning the desire to live, grief and multiple losses, depression, anxiety, relational and communication challenges, professional issues, identity crises, etc.

During the same period, he participated in the development and sharing of knowledge in the field of psychosocial support and psychotherapy through his involvement in clinical research, publication and teaching of health professionals and volunteers. He is a trainer in the program of continued education in palliative care (Faculty of Medicine of Laval University) and offers supervision to psychotherapy professionals in his field of expertise.

Gérald’s work experience has fostered the development of approaches that can help people to identify the best solutions for themselves, based on scientific principles and knowledge based on their own values and life experiences.

He is particularly interested in the development of the power to be and to act in the face of multiple difficulties: physical, identity, relational and existential, drawing on the ECHO (Crombez), Narrative (White and Epston) and Participatory (Gingras and Lacharité) approaches.

Through these approaches, the clients will be able to explore new ways of coping with the difficulties they encounter, as well as take advantage of these therapeutic areas to redefine themselves as individuals and regain control over their lives and well-being.