Heather Neilson, LMFT
Somatic-informed therapist focused on relationships and mood
About Heather
Heather Neilson is a licensed marriage and family therapist who helps people manage stress, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and relationship struggles. She works with adults who are coping with life changes and seeking clearer direction. Her approach is practical and grounded in the body as well as the emotions.
She brings 25 years of professional experience to sessions and holds the LMFT credential. Heather focuses on somatic work alongside attachment-based and emotionally focused approaches to help people notice how stress and old patterns live in the body.
Background and approach
That can mean learning simple grounding skills, tracking sensations, and then connecting those experiences to feelings and relationship patterns. Sessions are collaborative and paced to each person's needs. Heather aims to help clients build resilience and strengthen self-compassion while practicing new ways of relating to themselves and others.
She uses clear language and steps people can try between sessions. Her background includes long experience in attachment-informed methods and trauma-focused work. Heather often supports people dealing with family of origin issues, communication struggles, codependency, guilt and shame, and a sense of emptiness or isolation.
She also addresses mood concerns like seasonal affective disorder and broader questions about life purpose. Heather practices from Utah and offers services in English. She encourages people to move at a comfortable pace and to bring whatever feels most pressing into the room for exploration.
Approaches that connect body, feeling, and relationships
Heather commonly blends somatic therapy with attachment-based methods and emotionally focused techniques. Somatic therapy helps people notice how stress and emotion show up in the body, using gentle attention to breath, posture, and sensation to reduce reactivity and build calm. Attachment-based work looks at recurring patterns in close relationships and helps people understand how early bonds shape current responses. Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) focuses on identifying core emotions in the moment and reshaping how people respond to each other in important relationships.Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. Heather will talk with each person about their needs, goals, and what feels most helpful. She offers a collaborative plan and adjusts methods over time as progress and preferences emerge.
Online therapy offers practical flexibility for this kind of work. Video calls allow for face-to-face interaction and guided somatic practices. Phone sessions can fit days when video is not possible, and live chat or text-based messaging can support check-ins and practice between appointments. These options make it easier to maintain steady progress while fitting therapy into a busy life.
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
Also works with
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 25 years
- Licensed
- California, Utah
- Languages
- English