Hi! My name is Heather Adaro, I am licensed as a mental health counselor in Washington State, and a licensed Telehealth provider for mental health services in Florida (more about that can be found here: https://www.flhealthsource.gov/telehealth/,) . I also hold a substance use disorder certification in Washington State. I completed my undergraduate studies in Psychology at the UW in 2000, and earned my master’s in mental health and counseling psychology from UMass Global (Formerly Brandman University) in 2018 at JBLM. In between those, I completed my training in substance use, and since 2018 I have completed trainings and certifications in neurobiology and anxiety, as well as trauma recovery. I feel very connected to the field of trauma recovery, it’s something that is really important to me, and I draw from a few different therapeutic schools and approaches, including liberation psychology, internal family systems, and classics like cognitive behavioral therapy, to help people understand why they may feel the way they do, and to learn new ways of connecting with themselves and others, and forming a new relationship with their past. This often begins with finding a feeling of centeredness, or safety. For me, creating a feeling of safety in our therapeutic space is foundational, and a lot of this comes from establishing trust and safety with you in what kind of person I am, because safety also includes being safe from harmful ideologies, even for just an hour. Connecting with an understanding that trauma recovery also includes trauma caused by systems of oppression, social justice and liberation are important to me, and I value equity, human rights, individual determination, and access to services including health care/mental health care. Values like these are part of how I adhere to my ethics code. These are just some of my beliefs and what’s meaningful for me, and I share these not to center myself, but to help create understanding and hopefully the start of a feeling of safety, or even a feeling that safety is possible to exist here. Therapy is your space to bring up issues that are important for you, and to explore your experiences, your values and thoughts, and what these mean for you with curiosity and compassion rather than judgment or shame, and without the worry that the therapy space will be another place in which your identity, your humanity, or existence is marginalized or weaponized.

On a more lighthearted level, I grew up in the PNW, just south of Seattle, and I love hiking, being near the mountains, colder beach days, and I have a soft spot for anyone who says they have had a Bigfoot encounter. I live right now in the northern part of Florida, for family reasons, (I haven’t seen any alligators) but I still love rainy days and all the cozy things that come with them, like drinking tea, reading books, and wearing sweaters, but I don’t like to be out in the rain too much, I’m not a fan of getting my hair wet! I like music, and I read a lot- everything from bell hooks, Octavia Butler, Grady Hendrix, and anything else that will challenge my perspectives. I like to run, and usually try to get in 3-5 miles a day on most days!