Heather Breems, LCSW - Therapist in Illinois

About Heather

Heather Breems is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with years of experience helping people cope with stress, anxiety, relationship struggles, parenting concerns, and depression. She approaches each person with respect, sensitivity, and compassion. Heather focuses on practical steps and clear conversation to help clients move toward a more manageable day-to-day life.

She emphasizes collaboration and tailors conversations and plans to each person's situation. In sessions she listens first, then works with clients to set simple goals.

Background and approach

Heather uses tools from cognitive behavioral therapy to spot and change unhelpful thinking. She draws on attachment-based ideas to help people understand relationship patterns. Mindfulness skills are used to steady strong emotions and reduce reactivity.

Heather has practiced as a social worker for 11 years and holds the LCSW credential, which stands for Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Her license is issued in Illinois. That background includes work with a wide range of concerns such as trauma and abuse, grief, addictions, sleep problems, anger, and low self-esteem.

She also supports people facing life transitions like career changes, aging and caregiving stress, divorce and separation, adoption and foster care issues, and fertility challenges. Heather combines evidence-based techniques with a warm, attentive style. The focus is on what helps right now and what builds longer-term coping.

Sessions can include skill practice, focused conversation, and steps to try between meetings. Heather aims to make therapy understandable and usable for busy people seeking steadier routines and healthier relationships.

How therapy approaches work online

Attachment-based work looks at how early relationship patterns shape current ones. It helps people notice recurring ways they connect or pull away and teaches new, healthier ways to relate. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on the link between thoughts, feelings, and actions. It offers simple exercises to change unhelpful thinking and build more effective habits. Emotionally-Focused Therapy helps partners or individuals name and respond to core emotions, which can ease conflict and deepen connection.

Heather treats finding the right approach as a team effort. She will talk with each person about their goals and preferences, and together they pick methods that fit. That collaboration helps make sessions useful from the start and allows adjustments as needs change.

Online therapy gives practical flexibility. Video calls let people use face-to-face conversation from home, while phone sessions offer an audio option when video isn't possible. Live chat and text-based messaging provide short, on-the-go check-ins or focused writing-based work. These formats make it easier to fit therapy into busy family schedules and ongoing life demands.

Attachment-Based Therapy

Looks at how early bonds shaped what you expect from closeness, and how that plays out now with a partner, a parent, or your own children.

Client-Centered Therapy

The direction comes from you rather than from a set programme. The therapist offers a warm, non-judgemental space to think out loud and work at your own pace. Online, this rests on the relationship rather than on being in the same room.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT looks at the link between what you think, how you feel, and what you do. You work on noticing unhelpful patterns and practising steadier responses. It suits online sessions well, because much of the work happens between appointments and can be talked through from anywhere.

Frequently asked questions

What concerns does Heather help with?

She works with stress, anxiety, depression, relationship and parenting concerns, and related issues such as trauma, grief, addictions, sleep problems, anger, and low self-esteem.

What is her general approach to therapy?

Heather focuses on respectful, practical conversation. Sessions emphasize listening, setting manageable goals, and teaching skills to use between meetings.

How much experience does she have?

Heather has 11 years of professional experience as a social worker and has worked with a variety of life and relationship challenges.

What credentials and region are listed?

She holds the LCSW credential, which means Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and practices in Illinois with license IL LCSW 149.014749.

Which languages are supported for sessions?

Sessions are offered in English.

What session formats are available?

Therapy is offered through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging.

How is cost handled for sessions?

Cost varies with location and therapist arrangements; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.

How do I begin working with her?

Use the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and then schedule sessions based on therapist availability.

Specialties and expertise

Top specialties

Stress, Anxiety
Relationship issues
Parenting issues

Also works with

Therapeutic approaches

Experience: 11 years
Licensed: Illinois
Languages: English

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