About Heather
Heather Friend is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) who focuses on a wide range of concerns including stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, relationship and intimacy-related issues, grief, parenting, addictions, mood disorders such as bipolar and depression, and challenges like ADHD and compassion fatigue.
Background and approach
She draws on eight years of practice to help clients build emotional clarity, strengthen self-esteem, and find practical ways to cope with life changes and career stressors. Heather also addresses specialized concerns such as body image, attachment issues, adoption and foster care topics, chronic illness and pain, and dynamics related to kink and alternative sex culture.
Her style is warm, collaborative, and nonjudgmental, aimed at creating space where people feel respected and able to explore what matters to them. Sessions are paced to each person’s needs, emphasizing strengths, empowerment, and step-by-step progress toward greater stability and confidence.
Heather integrates evidence-based methods like cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, attachment-based approaches, and client-centered work to tailor care to individual goals. Practicing from Colorado, she holds credentials as LCSW and CSW and accepts international clients in English.
Heather offers flexible scheduling including daily, evening, and weekend appointments, plus messaging between sessions to provide additional support when needed.
Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care
Heather commonly uses cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help people identify and shift unhelpful thinking patterns and develop concrete skills for reducing anxiety, improving mood, and addressing eating or sleeping concerns. She also draws on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), which focuses on clarifying personal values and building psychological flexibility so clients can move toward meaningful actions even when uncomfortable feelings arise. Additionally, attachment-based techniques are used to explore relational patterns and help clients develop healthier ways of relating to themselves and others.Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Heather works with each person to consider symptoms, goals, and preferences, and adapts methods over time so the work stays relevant and effective. Clients are invited to try techniques and give feedback so the plan evolves with their needs.
Online therapy options include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, providing flexibility for busy schedules and differing comfort levels. These formats make it possible to maintain continuity of care across time zones and to access therapists from home or other convenient locations, while still focusing on practical skill-building and emotional support.
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does Heather commonly address?
How would you describe Heather's therapeutic approach?
What is Heather's professional background?
What credentials and location information are on file?
Can I work with Heather if I live outside the United States?
What session formats are available for care?
How is cost determined for sessions?
How do I begin working with Heather?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hearing impaired
- HIV / AIDS
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Traumatic brain injury
- Trichotillomania
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Visually impaired
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Jungian Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Somatic Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Experience
- 8 years
- Licensed
- Colorado, Michigan, Illinois, Louisiana
- Languages
- English