About East Valley Family Therapy

Heather Richards, LMFT

Queen Creek Office & Online

Two to Tango

Heather loves working with couples! She is passionate about helping them understand their negative relationship patterns and finding new ways of expressing themselves to their partner.

Understanding that it can be easy for people to misunderstand or misinterpret others, Heather has done extensive work with both individuals and couples looking to improve their communication skills. She has many tools and exercises designed to help her clients better understand their own emotional responses and how to communicate them to their partner in a way that fosters connection and understanding.

Heather believes when couples learn how to turn toward each other and genuinely express their needs, a secure relationship develops. As a result, both partners grow into the best version of themselves together. She aspires to help individuals, couples, and families work through conflicts, feel safe and comfortable expressing themselves, and ultimately reach their relationship goals.

Focus

Heather strives to create a safe and welcoming space for her clients to thrive both personally and relationally. She is inspired and honored by the courage it takes to reach out and invite her on this personal journey – to seek support in the face of pain, loss, relationship struggles, or uncertainty. She has adopted a client-centered, attachment-focused lens in her work and looks forward to walking side by side with each client and couple on their path toward healing.

Heather creates a safe, judgment-free zone where people feel safe to explore and understand themselves and their relationships. She has a “to the point” approach coupled with her personable and compassionate nature that makes her the right choice for many couples, families, and individuals.

Credentials

Heather earned her Master’s of Science degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Capella University. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from California State University San Marcos, and is a member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapists (AAMFT).

She focuses on communication and rebuilding broken trust. Heather has started training in Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) and attended an EFT externship in 2020 and Core Skills EFT Training in July 2021 before graduating. Seeking this level of training is a rare step for a therapist to take while still in graduate school and shows her level of commitment to honing in her skills in order to most effectively serve the couples she works with.

Heather has furthered her counseling skills by completing training in EMDR and is available to assist her clients with trauma processing.

Personal Life

Heather is a go-getter. When she sets her mind to something, watch out! Case in point, she saved and paid off her car by 16, then by 24, owned her condo in CA!

Once anti-cooking, Heather has since put in the effort to learn her way around the kitchen and loves it! Heather’s office has a subtle safari theme, which shows her life-long love of animals and plants.

Heather loves her fur babies at home – two cats, Dexter, and Kenya and a rescue shepsky named Molly. Alongside her furry friends, she shares a deep connection with her boyfriend since 2014. They enjoy going out to eat and going on leisurely hikes together.

Rates for Heather

$150 / 50-minute session