Heather Dumas

Are you or your child struggling with managing emotions or feeling overwhelmed and stressed? I can help! I am a licensed professional counselor and with over 20 years of experience working in the mental health field. My professional experience includes working in community mental health, providing crisis stabilization, providing school based mental health services, and work as a school counselor. I specialize in working with children, adolescents, and adults who are experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression and/or who have experienced trauma. I also have exprience working with clients experiencing symptoms of ADHD, oppostional defiant disorder, separation anxiety, and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder as well as clients who want to work on personal growth or building self-confidence.

I see my role as a therapist as someone non-judgmental walking alongside you, supporting you in meeting your goals and making the changes you want in your life. I can help you process through current and past situations and relationships, and can offer an outside, unbiased, and non-judgmental perspective on things. In addition, I can suggest new ways of thinking and behaving that may help you be better able to cope with negative emotions. During our sessions, I will follow your lead with what you would like to focus on and will also offer you new strategies and perspectives. I operate from a strengths based perspective and take an integrative approach to therapy, where I pull from a variety of modalities, including cognitive behavioral therapy, art therapy, trauma therapy, and dialectal behavior therapy. With children, I also use play therapy interventions.

The first session is an important part of us starting getting to know each other and for us to begin building a therapeutic relationship. Many people are nervous about a first therapy session, so it can be helpful to know what to expect. During the first session, we will talk about confidentiality in therapy and I will ask some questions about your history and current life to get some background information. We will also use the time to talk about what led you to seek therapy at this time and your goals for therapy.