About Heather
Heather Abreu welcomes people who feel overwhelmed and unsure where to start. She introduces a calm, direct presence and focuses on practical steps clients can take right away. Her opening aim is to help people feel heard and begin moving forward from stress, anxiety, addiction, grief, relationship strain, or major life changes.
Heather is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with two decades of clinical experience.
Background and approach
She has worked in mental health, addiction treatment, criminal justice settings, and independent practice. Over her career she has helped people dealing with trauma, substance use issues, career transitions, and conflict within families. Her style is person-centered and strength-based.
She treats each person as the expert on their life and adapts techniques to fit each situation. Sessions focus on identifying patterns that keep someone stuck and building concrete skills to change them. Heather adopts an integrative approach, drawing from evidence-based therapeutic techniques to address specific concerns.
She is willing to challenge clients when needed, while staying empathetic and patient. The goal is practical progress - greater confidence, better coping, and clearer choices. Sessions are offered in English and conducted online through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging.
Heather practices in Connecticut and brings a steady, experienced perspective to help people work through anxiety, depression, addiction, parenting stress, and grief.
Evidence-based techniques for online care
Heather uses an integrative mix of evidence-based techniques tailored to each person's situation. One common approach focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns and replacing them with practical skills for reducing anxiety and depression. This method helps people notice what keeps them stuck and practice new responses.Another regularly used approach targets addiction and relapse prevention by building coping strategies, recognizing triggers, and strengthening daily routines. These interventions aim to increase resilience and support long-term behavior change.
Choosing the right mix of techniques is a collaborative process. The therapist will work with each person to clarify goals, try methods that fit their preferences, and adjust the plan as progress is made. Clients help set priorities and decide which strategies feel most useful.
Online sessions offer flexibility and accessibility through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video allows face-to-face interaction when that is helpful. Phone sessions can work when a quieter setting or lower bandwidth is needed. Live chat and text messaging let clients check in between sessions or use shorter, focused communication when that fits their schedule. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy lives while still getting consistent support.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Family conflicts
Also works with
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Grief
- Intimacy-related issues
- LGBT
- Parenting issues
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Trauma and abuse
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- New York, Connecticut
- Languages
- English