Hi, I’m heather.

I Deal in Real.

I’ve always been interested in people—their stories, their relationships, and what makes them who they are.

When I was 13, I wanted to be Oprah Winfrey. I wanted to sit across from people, hear their stories, and help make meaning of their experiences. My dad told me there was only one Oprah, but suggested I might make a good news reporter. He was right.

I went on to work in broadcast news as a reporter and anchor, where I learned to listen closely, ask meaningful questions, and look beneath the surface of a story. Years later, after becoming a mother and stepping away from that career, I found another way to connect with people through teaching fitness. I’ve been teaching since 2011 and still love it. I love challenging people, helping them discover strength they didn’t know they had, and being fully present in the experience with them.

Then my own life changed.

After 15 years of marriage, my former husband and I divorced in 2015. We have two daughters, and that experience changed the way I understood relationships—not just as a therapist, but as a person. At 42, I went back to school to become a therapist, driven by a question I couldn’t let go of:

Why do some relationships survive, while others don’t?

My Approach

Today, couples therapy is at the center of my work, although I also work extensively with individuals. I’m fascinated by the patterns people bring into relationships, the ways our histories continue to shape us, and what happens when those patterns begin to interfere with the lives and relationships we want.

I believe people generally do better when they know better and feel better. Sometimes anxiety, anger, jealousy, withdrawal, shame, or conflict is connected to something deeper—a part of us that learned to protect itself in a particular way. My work is about getting curious about those patterns, understanding what they are trying to do for us, and finding a way to respond differently.

But understanding is only part of the work.

I want our work to create movement.

I’m warm, genuinely caring, and easy to talk to. I want you to feel that you can tell me anything without being judged or shamed. But I’m also direct. I ask questions. I challenge limited thinking. I offer another perspective when I see one. And when I see an opening for change, I go after it.

I’m not a therapist who wants to spend session after session simply talking about what happened. We will understand what is happening—and then do something with that understanding.

That might mean learning a new way to communicate, interrupting a familiar relationship cycle, working with a part of yourself that feels stuck, changing how you respond to anxiety, or having a conversation you’ve been avoiding for years.

I draw from Rapid Resolution Therapy, Internal Family Systems, Somatic Experiencing, Emotionally Focused Therapy, and psychodynamic therapy, tailoring these approaches to the person or relationship in front of me. I’m especially interested in the deeper dynamics that shape relationships, including attachment, intimacy, sexuality, unconscious patterns, and the ways our past can show up in the present.

My own life has included marriage, divorce, parenting, blended family life, love, loss, and love again. Those experiences don’t make me an expert on anyone else’s life. They have, however, taught me to approach people with humility, curiosity, compassion, and respect for how complicated change can be.

I became a therapist because I wanted to understand people more deeply.

I stay in this work because I love helping people understand themselves and each other—and then helping them do something with what they discover.

I deal in real.

Education and training

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, LMFT CA #142872

MA, Counseling, Palo Alto University

BA, Journalism and Communications, University of Oregon

Certified Couples Therapist, Hypnotherapist, Pet Bereavement

Trained in modalities of Rapid Resolution Therapy, Internal Family Systems & Emotionally Focused Therapy.