Heather Showen, LICSW, LISW

Heather Showen is a licensed clinical social worker practicing in West Virginia. She holds LICSW and LISW credentials and has seven years of experience helping people facing stress, anxiety, addiction, trauma, and depression. Heather emphasizes practical steps and clear goals in sessions. She meets people where they are and builds on existing strengths.

Heather uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help clients identify unhelpful thoughts and change patterns that maintain distress. She also draws on acceptance and commitment therapy to help people clarify values and take action that matters to them. Client-centered techniques guide the pace of work so people feel heard and respected.

Her approach combines skill-building with compassionate listening. Sessions often cover breathing and grounding skills, concrete coping strategies, and small behavioral experiments to test new ways of responding. When trauma is involved, she can incorporate EMDR-informed processing and DBT strategies for emotion regulation.

Heather also supports people dealing with relationship wounds like abandonment and attachment concerns. She helps people manage caregiver stress, chronic pain, and life transitions such as separation and midlife shifts. Practical problem solving and communication coaching are common parts of her work.

People who want straightforward, goal-oriented help tend to do well with her style. She encourages collaboration and tracks progress so adjustments can be made as life changes. Getting to a more livable day-to-day routine is the aim she sets with each person.

How CBT and Acceptance-Based Work Fit Online

Heather commonly uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help people notice and change thoughts and behaviors that keep problems going; CBT often includes simple home practice like thought records and behavioral experiments that translate well to online sessions. Acceptance and commitment therapy is another approach she uses to help people name their values and take small steps toward them while learning to allow difficult feelings to exist without avoidance.

She also brings a client-centered stance to online care, which means sessions are paced around what the person needs and preferred. Choosing the right mix of approaches happens together - the therapist and client review goals and try methods that fit the person's strengths and challenges, adjusting as progress is made.

Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video sessions are useful for face-to-face conversation and teaching skills that benefit from visual demonstration. Phone calls can be a good option when bandwidth is limited or someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text messaging work well for brief check-ins, in-between support, homework review, or when someone needs flexible, short communications throughout the week. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and keep momentum between sessions.