Nicola Lester

Psychological trauma specialist, Nicola Lester Psychological Trauma Consultancy

Nicola is a registered mental health nurse with over 20 years’ experience specialising in crisis intervention and psychological trauma. Since qualifying in 2005, she has worked with both public and private sector organisations in the UK and internationally, including in hostile and conflict-affected environments.

Nicola’s work focuses on supporting individuals and organisations in the aftermath of traumatic events. This has included responding to incidents such as gender-based violence, arbitrary detention, hostage situations, acts of terrorism, aviation disasters, road traffic collisions, and military fatalities. 

Nicola holds a Master’s degree in Psychological Trauma and was awarded a PhD in Politics and International Relations in 2023. Her doctoral research explored how organisational responses to trauma impact victims, using the British military as a case study. This work examined the experiences of bereaved military families whose loved ones died on overseas operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Since completing her PhD, Nicola has focused on translating research into practice through the development of training programmes that promote trauma-informed approaches to victim engagement.