About
Heather Swaney,MA, LPC
she/her
I have spent thirty years across schools, child welfare, residential care and disability advocacy, the systems families, disabled people and children actually have to live with.
“I believe in meeting you where you are, honoring your values and identity, and creating space for meaningful dialogue about what matters most to you.”
“No two people are the same. We will work to understand your unique story.”
I have worked as a behavioral interventionist, a child protection social worker, a school counselor, a foster parent, and a therapist on a locked adolescent residential unit. I have advocated for autistic people in education, independent living and vocational settings, often in rooms where nobody else was speaking up.
Through these experiences, I've learned to see and listen to people's experiences and their stories. Every person's experience is different, unique, and their own.
That range is the reason I am hard to shock and slow to judge. I have met families at their worst hour and watched them keep going. I know how schools actually respond, how paperwork actually moves, and how much energy it takes to keep asking for help.
I grew up in San Diego, moved to Alaska for my undergraduate degree and stayed twenty-five years, then moved to Oregon for my master's.
Where the Name Came From
I Am Because We Are
I was working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Alaska. Visiting speakers from Africa came and talked about Ubuntu, the idea that we are interconnected. I am because we are.
It landed because some of my best friends were people with intellectual disabilities or developmental disabilities, people I called family who weren't my biological family.
That is why the practice carries the name. It is a space where everyone can come as they are, no changes needed.
How I Work
I Will Meet You Where You're At
Sometimes that means therapy on a walk in a park. Sometimes it means meeting someone so they can actually get to a doctor's appointment.
Where I Came From
Thirty Years Across Settings
Nobody figures life out entirely alone.
- Behavioral interventionist
- Child protection social worker
- School counselor
- Foster parent
- Therapist on a locked adolescent residential unit
- Advocate for autistic people in education, independent living and vocational settings
- Licensed Professional Counselor in private practice
How I Think About the Work
“Therapy for families, those who experience Trauma or those who experience Autism doesn't look the same.”
I am trained and experienced in CBT, DBT, internal family systems, ACT, mindfulness-based, somatic, narrative, attachment-based, emotionally focused, person-centered, solution-focused, strength-based and trauma-focused approaches. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor, not a psychologist, and I am licensed in Oregon only.