EP 361: Crown Of Hope Counseling: From Caregiving To Community Healing

What makes Dr. Nicci Richardson McFarland with Crown of Hope Counseling a good neighbor?

A beam of sunlight crowning a storm cloud changed everything for Dr. Nicci Richardson McFarland—and it became the defining image for Crown of Hope Counseling. We sit down with Nicci to explore how that moment turned into a practice built on presence, dignity, and the belief that healing is possible even when life feels sideways.

Nicci shares her path from caregiving for a mother with a rare illness to becoming a board-certified chaplain and counselor, revealing how a mentor’s simple question opened a vocation. We get candid about the most damaging myth in mental health—the idea that people should just get over it—and unpack what real support looks like: confidential, skilled attention; practical tools for anxiety and depression; thoughtful approaches to grief and trauma; and a safe space to bring faith, values, and big questions without judgment. Nicci’s team serves kids through older adults, blending clinical therapy with chaplaincy-informed care so clients can process compassion fatigue, marital confusion, identity challenges, and spiritual distress with equal depth.

You’ll also hear the human side: two lively toddlers, kitchen experiments that may or may not win, and the small, daily choices that build resilience. We talk authenticity in marketing—speaking to real pain instead of selling quick fixes—and why feeling seen, known, and heard is the first step toward change. If you’ve ever wondered whether counseling is a sign of weakness, consider this your invitation to rethink: it’s a proactive investment in becoming the steadier, freer version of yourself.

If this conversation encouraged you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs light on the horizon, and leave a review to help more neighbors find hope.

**To learn more about Crown of Hope Counseling, go to
 🔗 www.crownofhopecounseling.com

Crown of Hope Counseling

817-412-1426

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

SPEAKER_02 (00:10):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a counselingpractice?
Well, one may be closer than youthink.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Dr.
Nikki Richardson McFarland withCrown of Hope Counseling.
Dr.
Nikki, how are you today?
I'm doing really well.
How are you?
I'm also doing well.

(00:31):
Now we are excited to learn allabout you and your business.
Can you start off by telling usa little bit about your company
and what inspired the name Crownof Hope Counseling?

SPEAKER_01 (00:42):
Yeah, oh, that's a really good question.
I appreciate that.
Um, we are a mental healthprivate practice that offers
counseling and telechaplaincy.
And we're really grateful tomeet people in whatever season
of life they are in, meetingthem right where they are and
helping them find threads ofhope on the horizon.
I came up with the name actuallybecause it was after this really

(01:03):
horrific storm that was in DFWone time.
I grew up in Texas, and you knowhow sometimes we have those
storms where the rain's sidewaysand the wind's blowing, and it
just feels like it's just thesky's open.
And it was right after a storm.
And I was driving on thehighway, and you could see the
sun just encapsulate the top ofthe cloud, and you could see
that the sun was trying to breakthrough the cloud, and it just

(01:25):
reminded me that there was acrown, and that even in the
middle of that storm, that therewas light beyond it, and that
there was something that youcould just wait for and just
know was there.
And so that's where Crowd ofHope came, was just that promise
that no matter how hard someonemay be in a season, that there
is something beyond and thatthere's something you can hold
on to, and light is coming.

SPEAKER_02 (01:44):
Wow.
Well, that's that's a beautifulreason to name the company what
you did.
And most definitely right, weonly see that light when there's
that contrast of the darkness.
Now, how did you originally getinto an industry like this, Dr.
Nikki?

SPEAKER_01 (02:01):
Uh, that's a good question.
Honestly, I didn't grow upthinking, oh, I'm gonna sit with
people and and hear exactlywhat's on their heart and what's
on their mind.
Um, to be honest with you, Iwent through so many just
hardships as I grew up.
My mom had a really raredisease, and and being her
caregiver and being with her andher doctor's appointments and in
the hospital in and out, I gotto just hear and be with so many

(02:23):
people who were just goingthrough unthinkable uh seasons
of life.
And there was just somethingincredible when you got to enter
the sacred ground and just talkwith people and hear their
heart.
And it wasn't until after I gotmy bachelor's in psychology,
which is a degree that's great,but also you don't get to do
much with that degree.
And I was in that, I was in thatdegree and I was thinking, oh

(02:44):
no, what's next?
And I had a mentor who justreally spoke life into me.
And he sat me down and he justsaid, Have you ever thought
about counseling?
And I never went to counseling,I didn't know anything about
counseling.
So the more I looked into it, Ithought, wow, that what an
incredible thing you can offersomeone, just that undivided
attention and that ability tohear someone and not not feel
like you have to worry aboutwhether they're gonna repeat it

(03:06):
or whether you're gonna losethat sense of trust and that
safety.
And so um, from the from a sweetmentor's words is what started
me on that path and how I becamea counselor.

SPEAKER_02 (03:16):
Wow.
Quite a story you have there.
Now, being in this industrytoday, what is the most common
myth or misconception you comeacross in your industry?

SPEAKER_01 (03:28):
Oh goodness, I really wish that we had less
myths, myths to choose from, tobe completely honest with you.
But um I think one of the mostpressing ones we have in today's
time is just to get over it, uh,just to get over and accept that
life is hard and just move on.
And and in reality, it's not asign of weakness if someone is
going through something that'sreally difficult and they don't

(03:50):
know how to cope.
They they don't know how toprocess or feel or what to do.
And so um, I really think one ofthose biggest myths is that, you
know, if you need to go tocounseling, it's a it's a sign
of weakness, it's a sign of lackor inability.
And and in reality, when you goto counseling, it's it's
actually a sign of investmentand proactive engagement and uh

(04:11):
a sense of permission for you toreally figure out how to do
something different and how tobe the best version of yourself.

SPEAKER_02 (04:18):
Now we know marketing is the heart of every
business.
Who are your target clients?
And in terms of marketing today,how do you attract them?

SPEAKER_01 (04:27):
That's a great question.
Um, when I first started Crownof Hope, it was just me.
So to be honest with you, mymarketing was very targeted.
Um, I'm not just a counselor,I'm actually a board certified
chaplain.
So um I am uh someone whotypically people trust to work
with through grief, umcompassion fatigue, uh spiritual
distress, those types of reallyhard uh situations.

(04:50):
But I'm blessed to work with ateam of people.
And the team of people and theproviders at Crown of Hope
specialize in a myriad of youknow different uh different
experiences and hardships.
And so um really and truly, weare just a team of providers who
just love to meet peopleauthentically where they are.

(05:11):
We love to be our authenticselves and get to engage people
and and really help them throughanxiety, depression, um, family
struggles, marriage confusion,identity issues, um, grief,
trauma, um, spiritual distress,um, really anything that you can
think of.
Our team is really equipped.
I'm just blessed beyond compare.

(05:31):
So our marketing team sometimesthey just roll a Yahtzee dice
and they just try to make surethat they speak to someone out
there to let them feel seen,known, and heard.
And really that is just ourheartbeat is that if we can just
allow people to feel seen,known, and heard, that is the
type of person we want to beable to meet with.
And and so really we are here toserve adults as old as 102 and

(05:54):
and and kids as young as sixyears old.
We're we're ready and able, andwe're just so grateful to have
that uh platform to speak toeveryone and anyone who needs
that kind of uh safety net.

SPEAKER_02 (06:05):
Amen.
And have you ever thought abouthaving your own podcast before?

SPEAKER_01 (06:11):
Uh no, I haven't.
But can I just tell you, um, noteven 24 hours ago, uh, the
person who's in charge of mymarketing, so maybe like she
just planted a bug in your ear,uh, she actually was telling me,
like, Nikki, I just want to beable to ask you questions and I
just want you to be able totalk.
And I was like, I don't thinkanyone really wants to listen to
that.
So we're gonna tell it to behonest with you.

(06:33):
I haven't thought about it.
But if God wills it, you neverknow it will happen.

SPEAKER_02 (06:38):
Now, outside of work, what do you and your
family like to do for fun?

SPEAKER_01 (06:44):
Well, I have two toddler girls.
So, to be honest with you, Ihave a three and a two-year-old,
and what they determine is funis what our family does.
And so to be honest with you, weget to um have a lot of dance
parties and we get to play a lotof soccer.
And um, my my oldest daughter,who's three, she uh is the most

(07:04):
hardest person to feed.
She is such a struggle, and so Iam desperately trying to find
any recipe I can on Pinterest oron something that I can try to
get her stomach to get excited.
So, what I'm doing for fun rightnow is trying to figure out the
labyrinth of my daughter, whichis sort of fun.

SPEAKER_02 (07:23):
Honestly, though, you know, family is so important
to have and it just opens upyour life to a whole new span of
adventures.
So that's a great blessing thatyou have.

SPEAKER_01 (07:34):
They're worth it, truly.

SPEAKER_02 (07:38):
Now, please tell our listeners one thing they should
remember about Crown of HopeCounseling.

SPEAKER_01 (07:45):
I would love everyone to remember that no
matter what they're in, thatthere is hope and peace that
they can experience.
And and that is really our ourpassion is to allow people to
really um give themselves theability to know that whatever
really hardships that they'refacing, they're valuable and

(08:07):
they're they're valid of reallybeing able to honor and
experience, but at the sametime, uh their story is not
ending, and they deserve to beable to see that even in the
midst of the storm, that thereis light and that we can we can
get experience and and find thatlight in the storm and we can
experience true and everlastingpeace.

SPEAKER_02 (08:27):
Amen.
And in that same vein, I thinkit goes back to you know, God
doesn't only give us, you know,the blessings, but he also
entrusts us with the challengeshe allows us to experience
because he gives the biggestchallenges to the strongest
warriors, and I think that'ssomething to always keep in
mind.
Okay, that's that was bold.

(08:52):
Just just speaking from theheart here.
Um, so Nikki, Dr.
Nikki, um, what our listenerswould really like to know today
is where can they go to learnmore about Crown of Hope
Counseling?

SPEAKER_01 (09:05):
We have a website, um, www.crown of hope
counseling.com.
Um, we also have an Instagramthat my marketing uh woman is
phenomenal.
She will just impress you withher color and and she does a
great job.
And so um you can go to ourInstagram, which is Crown of
Hope Counseling as well.

SPEAKER_02 (09:21):
Well, Dr.
Nikki, I really appreciate youbeing on the show today.
We wish you and your businessthe best moving forward.

SPEAKER_01 (09:29):
Thank you, truly.
I really appreciate this chanceto get to know you.

SPEAKER_00 (09:32):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to GNP Frisco dot com.
That's GNP Frisco dot com orcall four six nine two two one
nine three four four four fourfour five.