NSU Graduate Practices and Preaches Improving Mental Health
“I tell people all the time I am obsessed with mental health, I will continue to do this, and I will do it for free,” says NSU alum Nicole Laing.
Nicole Laing fulfills what she calls her “true calling” – improving mental health – as both a 2023 graduate of NSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine and an assistant professor at NSU’s College of Nursing.
Hailing from Jamaica, Laing’s family stressed that an education was critical to her future.
“It’s one thing that they ingrained in me; getting an education was not negotiable,” she said.
Laing first pursued a biology degree at Southern Connecticut State University with the goal of becoming a physician. However, her long-held desire was to practice nursing, the profession she was drawn to after caring for her grandparents as a child.
“I have to love what I’m doing,” she said.
After she earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing while working at Howard University, Laing worked at Yale New Haven Hospital in the psychiatric unit. She loved it, so much so, that she pursued a master’s in Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing at Yale. Later, while working at NSU as the director for the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program, she earned a second master’s degree in Marriage and Family therapy.
“I tell people all the time I am obsessed with mental health, I will continue to do this, and I will do it for free. I have so much of a passion and love for it,” she said.
Laing has dedicated her career to mental health, both as a therapist and teaching the next generation of health professionals.
“I’ve been a practitioner since 2002, and I’ve seen clients come in at their worst and leave at their best,” she said. “That’s one of the things I value most, knowing I was part of their journey.”
At the same time, Laing says working as a provider also exposed cynicism at how some people working in this field treat their patients.
“I saw people who really shouldn’t be in mental health,” she said. “But I also saw people who I believed would respond to teachable moments.”
For Laing, that belief translated into academia – catching students early into her field and teaching them the importance of being humble.
“There’s an African proverb Ubuntu that says ‘When I uplift you, I uplift myself. When I dehumanize you, I dehumanize myself,’” she said. “I want my students to understand that out the gate. I tell them that if this is the kind of work that you’re going to do, this is who you’re going to be around, and you need to practice with a level of humility and respect.”
Laing is committed to guiding her students for success. “If you’re going to do this work, you’re going to do it right – that’s what I tell all my students. You’re not leaving Dr. Laing’s class not knowing what you need to know.”
Laing also finds inspiration in her work through her faith. “I’m doing what God asked me to do,” she said. “I measure success by the lives I impact.”
Through her efforts in mental health, Laing’s impact continues to be notable.
“As a practitioner and especially as an educator, your role is to support and encourage and strengthen individuals,” she said. “I look at all of my students as a flicker of light, and if I can do anything to make that light become a bonfire, I’m going to absolutely do it. Absolutely.”
