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Man leans agains the wall of a sparse office, smiling at camera.

Nick Nordberg was undergoing counseling and realized, as a client, that he was drawn to the mental health profession. (Image: Joshua Hutson)

From Analyst to Therapist: How fatherhood inspired a life-changing shift

Turning a mid-life crisis to opportunity

This piece is part of our “Act II: Career changes after motherhood” series, where we dive into the personal stories of locals who shifted careers (and often reinvented themselves) after parenthood. Read the full feature here, including other stories of Seattleites who made a post-child career move, and tips from experts on how to make a successful post-parenthood career shift.Ā 

Fourteen years ago, Nick Nordbergā€™s circumstances would have been the makings of a mid-life crisis.

His then-wife had given birth to twins at 24 weeks, one of whom had spina bifida and required extensive in-home care. Shortly after, the couple filed for divorce, making Nordberg a single parent. Instead of letting his situation weigh him down, Nordberg, a Puyallup resident, turned his circumstances into a mid-life opportunity.

At the time, he was a business analyst, but found himself struggling to stay invested in his work. ā€œIā€™m trying to manage projects and build systems and make processes better for people, and at home Iā€™m dealing with a lot more difficulty,ā€ Nordberg says of that experience.

He was also undergoing counseling and realized, as a client, that he was drawn to the mental health profession. He thought: ā€œIā€™d like to do something with this ā€” not just get help for myself, but turn that around and help people, whether itā€™s in a similar situation or something different, to be able to draw upon my own trauma, make sense of it, and help other people.ā€

In 2014, Norberg quit his job at T-Mobile and enrolled full-time at the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology to become a therapist. He described the experience as an intense but healing ā€œboot campā€ of unpacking his personal origin story to understand how to do therapy. While attending school, he relied on savings and student loans, but also worked as a Starbucks barista to supplement his income.

ā€œ[Switching careers] was a bit of an impetuous decision in some regards,ā€ Nordberg says. He found himself repeatedly engaging in conversations that highlighted his passion for the mental health profession, viewing them as signs to make a drastic change. He told himself, ā€œI have to find out if this is going to work, otherwise itā€™s going to drive me crazy not knowing what could have been.ā€

After graduating in 2018, he became a full-time therapist for various mental healthcare providers, finding a niche with clients ā€” men, in particular ā€” facing mid-career changes or significant life transitions, as well as late teens and young adults. That same year, his son passed away. That personal loss and his experience in the tech field and corporate world has allowed a stronger connection with clients with similar backgrounds.

In early December 2024, he started a new job as a therapist for students at Walker High School in Puyallup, while still seeing private clients on the side. He says his work also touches his 14-year-old daughterā€™s school experience. Born with Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), she is legally blind.

ā€œWhile she navigates her world well, it is a loss that she feels and she knows it makes her experience in the world different from other children,ā€ Norberg says. ā€œBeing a therapist has helped me to sit with her in that grief and helped her to advocate for herself.ā€

Nordberg acknowledged that he would be much further along professionally had he pursued being a therapist from the start, but he doesnā€™t have regrets. Today he and his daughter are creating a blended family with Norbergā€™s girlfriend and her two children.

ā€œI think of how your life is like a tapestry; there are different threads, and you canā€™t really pull one of them because theyā€™re all part of what shaped you,ā€ Nordberg says. ā€œTheyā€™re all part of what got you to where you are today.ā€

In grad school, Nordberg read a quote by psychologist Carl Jung that he often shares with clients, both parents and teens: ā€œThe greatest burden a child must bear is the unlived life of the parents.ā€

ā€œFor me, I think this encapsulates how becoming a parent changed my career trajectory,ā€ Nordberg says, adding that his work as a therapist gives him more flexibility to accommodate his daughterā€™s school schedule and navigate her changing needs.

ā€œIt has given me insight into child development and understanding how our family story has impacted my own child,ā€ Norberg says. ā€œIf I want to raise children that fulfill their potential, I have to first model that for them.

Read More

Act II: Flexing at Lions and Tigers | After giving birth to her son, Brea Starmer wanted to work at a different pace even as she craved the challenging, high-level projects that had built her consulting career. Now she’s CEO of Lions & Tigers, a flexible consulting firm offering high-level expertise with part-time, remote work for parents.

Act II: From cosmetics to the classroom | Having a child with autism, changed Alexis Whiteā€™s trajectory. She decided in 2022 that she needed to expand her teaching skills by making a career switch. Today sheā€™s doing just that as an instructional assistant at Stevens Elementary in Seattle.

Act II: How a newspaper reporter became a birth worker | In walking away from daily news, reporter Cheryl Murfin walked right into an identity crisis. She needed a new work identity, one aligned with her newish motherform. Strangely, she found it in the birth experience itself.

About the Author

Melody Ip

Melody Ip has been an avid writer since she got her first diary at the age of 5. Today, she is a freelance copy editor and writer, in addition to being the copy chief for Mochi Magazine. She loves the trees and rain of the Pacific Northwest, still sends handwritten letters, and always has at least five books on her nightstand.