Integrated somatic healing Arts & PsychotherapY(c)

As a Somatically-Oriented TraumaTherapist, Heather integrates the often compartmentalized and fragmented aspects of the internal self/ves into a realignment for holistic wellbeing, employing the wisdom of the somatic system to guide.  She is an EMDRIA Certified EMDR Therapist, Internal Family Systems Therapist (IFSCA); Experienced-Registered Yoga Teacher; and Certified Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework, in addition to four years of Alexander Technique training.  A twenty-five year career in Acting along with training actors in performance theory and embodied, experiential techniques in higher education have deeply informed Heather's work with clients as a therapist, allowing presence through embodiment and breath; guiding a deep inquiry into each person's unique somatic-psychological being, just as she did with characters and students in previous incarnations of her work.   She combines all these processes with talk therapy for a unique exploration specifically responsive to the individual's mode of learning and experiencing the world.  

With focus on marginalized stress and systemic trauma, Heather draws from Feminist Systems Theory, offering an empowering client-led collaboration which examines the macro, micro, and internal systems of oppression which may be impacting the client; she assists clients in bringing internalized messages of un-worth to the forefront in order to reframe them, ultimately deepening a greater sense of belonging to a whole.   Heather's work is inspired by relational cultural theory, rooted deeply in Expressive Arts, Spiritual Alignment, and Carl Rogers' principle of Unconditional Positive Regard: Centered in Love.   

Heather regularly attends advanced trainings in EMDR applications for complex Dissociative Disorders / PTSD, participating in ongoing collaboration, consultation, and supervision with Lead Trainers of EMDRIA / experts in the field of complex trauma, PTSD and Dissociative Disorders.  Heather is a professional member of EMDRIA (Certified) and International Society of the Study of Dissociative Disorders (ISSDD).

ADVOCACY STATEMENT

I seek to be a culturally affirming practitioner in every aspect of my work.  

I champion your unique experience and seek to continually deepen my own awareness and sensitivity to all individuals and groups similar or different from myself ~ including members of every race; of every gender identity and expression; every affectional orientation;  every culture, age, nation of origin, and language of origin; every degree of physical and mental special ability; every belief system, religion, and spiritual alignment - 

with a particular devotion to serving those who have been marginalized and experience systemic trauma.  

I am aware of my unjust privileges as a white, cis-gendered, heterosexual person in the United States, 

along with my experiences of systemic marginalization and oppression as a woman.  

I am aware of the intricate, complex ways in which this intersecting contradiction 

informs my experience in this life.  

 I do not presume to know what your unique experience has been, 

and I am dedicated to learning and serving you wherever you are.   

I will make mistakes.  

I invite you to communicate with me about the ways that I fall short, so I may continue to grow.

You will make mistakes, too.

I invite us both to the challenge of working through these blips together to encourage deeper repair that can lead to deeper healing.

I uphold your right to know ease and bliss ~ 

and I will support you in your evolution toward wholeness, collective connection, and reunion with your true nature.

It is my honor to be in service of your unique healing path, which we will invent together.

With Respect, Heather (she/her/hers)

TRAINING

Heather completed two years of supervised practice in solo private practice under the advanced clinical supervision, 

ongoing EMDRIA consultation, and in-depth case consultation of Tory Jones, LCPC-S.  

Heather extends her deepest gratitude for Tory's expert guidance, breadth of knowledge, finely crafted pedagogical approach, and belief in Heather's unique integration of so many specialized techniques into an evidence-based Trauma Therapy Practice.

Heather is an EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) Certified EMDR therapist, with core training in the Restricted Reprocessing model for Complex EMDR and continuous advanced trainings for specific applications of the work (see also, Training & Experience tab).  

As an IFS (Internal Family Systems) Therapist, Heather had the great honor and privilege of training live and directly, with Derek Scott, LISW: the late and wonderful founder of IFSCA, 2021-2023.  

Heather completed her Masters Degree in CMHC from Walden University, with focus on Social Justice Counseling and Trauma

under the Faculty Supervision of Dr. Jason Patton, PhD  

She completed her Clinical Internship at Ebb & Flow Counseling and Wellness Studio

under the Site Supervision of Rachel N. Wagonner, NCC / LPCC-S

and earned LPCC under supervisors Tory Jones, LCPC-S and Veronica Bojerski, LPCC-S

Heather extends her deepest gratitude and respect to her supervisors

& to the inspiring, brave clients with whom she has had (and continues to have) the privilege of collaborating 

in the creative artistry of their unique healing journeys.  

Heather holds an MFA in Acting from Yale School of Drama (2003), also training in Stanislavski's Method (based in Freudian psychoanalysis) at the Actors Studio Drama School, NY (2000), performing professionally in New York Off Broadway and Regional stages in the US for 25years. 

VOICE .... BREATH plus RESONANCE

Having studied Voice in great intensity at Yale Drama School and Actors Studio, Heather integrated Fitzmaurice Voicework into her Voice for Actors course while on the faculty at Oberlin College, returning to NY to train more intensively in Fitzmaurice Voicework(c) with the founder Catherine Fitzmaurice and Master Teachers Saul Kotzubei; Michael Morgan; Iilsa Pfifer; and Jeff Morison; earning Certification as Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework (2012).  In 2014 Heather was invited to co-teach alongside Catherine Fitzmaurice, leading "Embodying Text" in the teacher training that year.  This work was incorporated intricately into the Voice for Actors class Heather developed and taught at Oberlin, with a year as visiting professor at Case Western Reserve University, in addition to being invited to lead master classes in Voice for the MFA Acting students at the Cleveland Play House.   

~

From  Embodied Performing Arts - Acting / Voice / Movement - to Therapy

~

Heather holds profound respect for the Arts and the Theatre, and all it can do for collective and individual healing when done to its truest excellence.  Acting work is the deep inquiry into both the actor - and the character -  psyche, embodied metaphor and expression - with a lens for storytelling that holds responsibility to equitable, respectful representation and moving our society forward.   Heather hopes to honor the full potential of these practices by integrating them into healing modalities as a therapist.  

While teaching full-time in yoga studios, several devoted students asked Heather to create a yoga teacher training program for them, which she spent more than a year designing and conceptualizing as a community-center offering at the YMCA.  The day before scheduled to sign the lease agreement and formally announce this program to the community, our national shut-down for COVID was announced, cancelling the program's physical space indefinitely.   Two students determined to complete the training however necessary, and we found a way to do so virtually, at Edgewater Lake, or at Queen's lovely salon when COVID numbers were safe enough to meet indoors - we completed the entire program through 2020-2021, while Heather was also earning her degree to become a therapist.   This boutique training became the Kalinanda 200HR YTT  at the YOUARELOVE Yoga School, earning accreditation by Yoga Alliance, and Heather earned her Masters Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with focus on Social Change, specializing in Marginalized Stress / Complex PTSD. 

She is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher and Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider.