Areas of Expertise
Heather's approach to therapy is eclectic. She draws from humanistic, relational, psychodynamic, and queer perspectives on therapy and combines this with her background in creative arts therapies, EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing), parts work like IFS (internal family systems), and verbal psychotherapy. Heather's approach to therapy is trauma-informed. She has training and knowledge in how trauma can affect a person and how to work with a person's relationship to these memories and experiences.
LGBTQIA+ Affirming
What does this mean? Heather has a specific focus in providing care to teens, adults, and couples who are members of the LGBTQIA+ communities, as well as their allies and accomplices.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR can be a helpful tool for those who have symptoms of PTSD, depression, and anxiety, as well as for those who would like to have more insight into their thoughts and feelings. It is a multi-step process that uses the brain's natural desire to integrate memories in an adaptive manner. Through EMDR, clients can resource positive feelings they have for themselves, process traumatic memories, and practice adaptive changes they would like to make in the future. While EMDR will not erase a person's distressing memories, it can help a person have more space to grow even though these memories exist.
Creative Arts Therapy
Heather uses the creative arts to help people make meaning of their experiences, reconnect with themselves and their emotions, identify and set boundaries, as well as gain insight, self-awareness, and clarity. More specifically, Heather has a master's degree in Art Therapy as well as training in Resource-Oriented Music and Imagery, which is part of a depth oriented method of combining the use of music and drawing in therapy.
Bio
Heather received her masters from NYU (New York University) in Art Therapy. Subsequently, Heather trained in EMDR through Deany Laliotis' The Center for Excellence in EMDR Therapy and trained in couples therapy at The William Alanson White Institute. She has given presentations on the use of Art Therapy in treatment with children and adolescents, as well as presentations that focus on issues facing LGBTQIA+ communities. Heather is passionate about the ways in which creativity can prompt brain plasticity and the ways in which thinking outside of rigid binaries can offer people new avenues for seeing themselves and their relationships.
