Nikki Hune

Nikki Hune brings over a decade of experience in mental health treatment and research to The Lovett Center, where she treats a wide array of mental health conditions with a concentration on co-occurring serious mental health disorders and substance use disorders. Her specialties include schizophrenia and other psychosis-spectrum disorders, suicidality, and thought and mood disorders. Her research is dedicated to the exploration of human suffering as it relates to selfhood, personal agency, and the intersubjective barriers to connectedness.

Dr. Hune earned her Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Houston-Downtown in 2013, working in community mental health programs including the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). An honorarium and scholarship took her to the University of Pennsylvania, where she completed her Master of Social Work in 2014 and worked in public health and harm reduction communities in Philadelphia. That public health experience led her to a PhD in Addictive Disorders and Recovery Studies from Texas Tech University in 2022. Advocacy and nonprofit leadership have long been central to her work: in 2016 she founded What it’s Like Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to reducing mental health stigma through the arts, education, and community engagement, and in 2019 she served as Director for NAMI Lubbock, helping to revamp the community’s mental health support programs.

Dr. Hune is passionate about rescuing senior dogs and lives with her best friend, Cooper, a very spoiled Labrador Retriever. She also loves to play experimental music, so do not be surprised to find her roaming Houston’s underground noise scene.