12/10/2024
Heather LaFontaine is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a warm, trauma-informed approach to therapy. She created Portland Trauma Dissociation Specialists to provides a safe, supportive environment where clients can process their experiences, build resilience, and reclaim their lives with confidence and hope.
Her work is grounded in compassion, collaboration, and a belief in her clients’ inherent strengths. Heather specializes in helping individuals explore how trauma impacts the body and mind, empowering them to develop healthier thought patterns, self-compassion, and a stronger sense of self-efficacy.
Heather understands that life’s challenges can feel seismic, with effects that echo throughout relationships, work, and personal well-being. She believes that healing is possible and that even in adversity, we can find growth and resilience. By addressing the roots of trauma and making sense of painful experiences, Heather helps her clients move beyond merely coping, toward meaningful and transformative healing.
Heather holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with minors in Philosophy and Religious Studies, as well as a Master of Social Work (MSW). She has extensive experience working with adults navigating various forms of trauma, including domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, childhood neglect, and developmental abuse.
She draws on a range of evidence-based, trauma-informed modalities, including:
- **Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR)**
- **Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)**
- **Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)**
- **Internal Family Systems (IFS/Parts Therapy)**
- **Somatic Experiencing**
- **Attachment-Based Therapy**
Reach out today to learn about individual and group therapy to support you in your healing.
