Consultation
“Heather comes to her consulting work having taken great care with her own professional development. That integrity is at the root of her wise and grounding presence, allowing Heather to support therapists as they deepen their skills and sustain themselves well in their own work.”
Amy Derringer Chandler, LCSW
Associate Therapist and Consultant
Womencare Counseling & Training Center
Trauma Consultation for Helping Professionals
Helping professionals have significant educational and clinical experience, yet we often find ourselves challenged professionally and personally in our work with clients who have experienced trauma. Individual consultation provides a space to explore the complexities and the impact of our role as both a helper and a human being.
I provide consultation specifically for counselors, therapists, and other helping professionals who want to enhance their knowledge of working with trauma, who already work primarily with trauma, who would like to become more trauma-informed, or develop a specialization as a trauma therapist.
Increasing Confidence and Competency
If you have ever felt anxious, fearful, uneasy, or unskilled in your work with clients, you're a helping professional! Because of the private nature of our work, it is especially important that we have a professional space to tell our stories and receive support for the impact our work has on our lives and our clients.
Particularly for clients who are struggling with complex PTSD and other interpersonal trauma, our therapeutic relationship with them can be a place of healing and a place of dysregulation. As a result, working with relational trauma is particularly activating for both the client and the helper. It is an opportunity for painful re-enactments, as well as deep healing and repair. Awareness of the interconnectedness of ourselves and our clients is essential in working with trauma survivors.
Our consultation relationship will support your personal growth and professional success with these outcomes in mind:
Increasing the use of your insight, emotions, and awareness in service of your clients
Managing triggers, countertransference, and boundary issues
Finding greater peace with vicarious trauma, stress/anxiety, and overwhelming feelings
Feeling more competent and skilled
Improving client retention and/or building long-term client relationships
Achieving greater fulfillment and personal growth from vicarious resiliency
Consultation vs. Supervision
Consultation differs from clinical supervision in that the consultee remains responsible – ethically and legally – for the decisions that you make with clients in clinical case situations. My goal is to foster an individualized learning experience that holds space for you as a person, while enhancing and expanding on your educational and clinical experiences in this field. I view my role as that of a mentor, with a focus on honoring and developing your personal gifts as well as your professional wisdom.
Fees and Frequency
Consultation fees are $150 per 60-minute session. We will decide together on the frequency of consultation, but 2-4 times a month, especially in the beginning, is recommended for building a supportive relationship, allowing for continuity and focus, and fostering a depth of learning and growth.
Continuing Education (CEs) for LPCs and LCPCs
Per the current Illinois licensure law for Licensed Professional Counselors and Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors, up to 8 hours of CE credit may be earned per renewal period for clinical supervision. If you would like to use consultation hours toward CEs, I am happy to work with you to provide the required documentation.
Heather Pierce, MSEd, LCPC
Heather Pierce is the Founder of Steadfast Center, and she has been a trauma therapist for 15 years, working to restore hope and creating lasting change in people impacted by victimization, neglect, and violence. She is a 2009 graduate of the counseling master’s program at Northern Illinois University and completed a two-year fellowship in the feminist-relational treatment of trauma at Womencare Counseling and Training Center in 2015.
Heather has held leadership and volunteer roles in higher education, community agency, and private practice settings, including student services, college counseling, and serving on the board of the local rape crisis center. She is a respected leader, published author, and engaging speaker, presenting to local and national audiences on a range of topics that honor the impact of trauma on both helping professionals and the people they serve.