Our History: Blending Heart & Mind Since 1983
In the early 1980’s IPG’s founder, Dr. Margaret Nichols, made the decision to devote her psychotherapy practice to serving the gay and lesbian community. She saw that most therapists still lacked understanding of this under-served population, and some still treated being gay as a mental disorder. When she opened her practice, gay-affirmative therapy was rare. Very soon she had more clients than she could handle. In response to this overwhelming need, she assembled a highly skilled group of therapists, most of whom were gay themselves.
The Institute for Personal Growth was incorporated in 1983 and quickly expanded, now serving populations of all types, gay and non-gay, all races and ethnicities, and employing a diverse group of therapists with a multitude of skills.
IPG has evolved in other ways as well. We pride ourselves on staying current in our profession and support our extraordinary staff of therapists in continuing to advance their skills and training. In 1995, our Jersey City office was opened, and in 2001 we opened our Freehold office, all the while expanding our services to all populations.
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IPG and HIV
As early as 1982, Dr. Nichols was familiar with the disease then called GRID (Gay Related Immunodeficiency Virus), and then renamed AIDS/ HIV. At first, this devastating illness seemed to affect mainly gay men, and so early efforts to help “PWAs” (Person With AIDS) were organized by gays and lesbians in major urban areas around the United States.
In 1985, in response to this health crisis, Dr. Nichols founded a sister non-profit group, the Hyacinth Foundation. The IPG staff donated time to provide services to people with AIDS, and by 1986, as the AIDS epidemic exploded, Dr. Nichols obtained state and private funding and Hyacinth was re-named the Hyacinth AIDS Foundation. Dr. Nichols served as its first Director until 1988, when she stepped down from her leadership position and devoted herself full-time to AIDS research, her own writing and lecturing, and to the running of IPG.
Contact our NJ psychotherapy practice today.
