Me with Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score
Hi, I’m Heather!
My journey to this moment has been like all good stories… an evolution, an unfolding, a discovery and response to a life lived and learned from. I have 20 years of experience working with children and adolescents in the role of school psychologist, mental health coordinator, and educationally related mental health therapist. Over the course of my career I have worked across a range of settings; from elementary to high school campuses, to juvenile hall and non-public schools and residential treatment centers, which is why I am passionate about treating children and adolescents. We are in a global mental health crisis, and seeing a significant shift in the mental health of the world, which starts of course, with our youth. So what was born out of education has become a singular focus, passion, advocation and honor, to bring shame free healing to stories, through a totally different approach. As unique as I am, as true as to who you are, and the space we create together. It might be work, but I promise it will feel healing, rewarding and safe.
Can you imagine looking forward to therapy??
I can and do.
Trauma, big or small, is the result of life…it’s experiential. We get too much too soon, too little for too long, or too much for too long. It is what happens when we are overwhelmed, without the correct resources at the time. I do not believe that individuals come to me with problems, they come with outdated solutions. Afterall, we all do the best we can, with the information we have at the time; it’s called surviving. We make decisions in the service of survival which become patterned in our brains and body, leaving us feeling stuck, in old narratives, old ways of being, that seem endless and unstoppable.
This is where an integrated trauma therapist comes in.
Mental Health treatment is complex. No two individuals are alike; thus having a range of tools to adapt to the diverse needs of an individual’s life experience, is paramount.
Education + Training:
I am a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional Level II: Complex Trauma.
I offer a unique highly personalized, integrated approach to therapy or big or small “traumas,” through a holistic lens.
I am trained in and employ aspects of the following methodologies:
I hold advanced training certificates in EMDR with children, adolescents, resistant teens and their care givers.
Suffering and well-being are two sides of a reality of the ying and yang of the human condition and psychology should care about each.
Human strengths, excellence, and flourishing are just as authentic as human distress. People want to cultivate the best version of themselves and live a meaningful life. They want to grow their capacities for love and compassion, creativity and curiosity, work and resilience, and integrity and wisdom, developing their own style of attachment-based approaches in reprocessing trauma. This enables Therapists to navigate the complex landscape of the human psyche and guide clients towards wholeness; exploring the mind-body-spirit connection, recognising the profound impact that trauma, stress, and emotions hold within the body.
