Dr. Nichole “Nickie” Collins comes to us with a B.S. in psychology from the University of Connecticut, a M.S. in behavior analysis from Northeastern University and a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She is also a Licensed Behavior Analyst in the State of Connecticut and is a national Board Certified Behavior Analyst.

Dr. Collins has dedicated her clinical work to supporting individuals with neurodivergent profiles including those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), acquired brain injury (ABI), executive function deficits, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and intellectual disabilities across school, clinic, home, and community-based settings. She believes that the science of behavior is a key part of a multidisciplinary understanding leading to effective support for individuals in meeting their goals and improve their quality of life.  Though Dr. Collins worked with preschool and elementary age students in her early career, life and professional opportunities have led her to thrive for the advancement of collaborative support for adult populations. She served as the clinical supervisor of a large adult services organization where she guided teams through the development of a system wide Positive Behavior Support framework and behavior analytic practices to provided better support for staff and individuals they served. She later went on to develop a line of services that supported older teens and adults with ASD and ABI in the state for individual supports and group social supports.

Dr. Collins is a PEERS® certified instructor which has allowed her to provide social skill instruction to adolescents and adults to help them build meaningful relationships in their own communities.  She has guided her team to implement this specialized curriculum to reach individuals across the State of Connecticut. Additionally, Dr. Collins has received training in Charting the Life Course framework to improve person-center planning in supporting individual care planning.

Dr. Collins has professionally presented to a wide range of stakeholders including ASD Waiver for CT-DSS, various school systems across CT, state-based conferences in CT and MA, and at national conferences such as NARMH and ABAI.   She has also worked as an adjunct professor at the University of Saint Joseph.  Dr. Collins maintains memberships in Brain Injury Alliance of Connecticut, Association of Behavior Analysis International, and various local behavior analytic groups.

Dr. Collins enjoys diversity in her professional and private life.  She enjoys spending time with her 2 daughters, her husband, her 4 dogs, and her menagerie of farm animals.  She completed her program at the Connecticut Culinary Institute in 2009 and is the co-founder of Small Town Pride- CT with one of her children in 2022.