Heather Parenti, LCSW

Heather Parenti is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 27 years of experience helping people facing stress, anxiety, depression, eating concerns, relationship struggles, grief, trauma, and health-related life changes. She encourages clients to find more contentment and to recognize the inner resources they already have. Heather speaks plainly and aims to make therapy practical and usable in day-to-day life.

She meets people who feel overwhelmed, not enough, or stuck after big life changes. Sessions focus on clear goals and small, steady shifts that add up over time. Heather uses tools that help with mood, coping, sleep, and relationships so daily life feels more manageable.

Heather trained at California State University, Long Beach and has held a California LCSW and a Connecticut LCSW. She has worked in private practice since 2004 and has experience in medical and mental health settings, schools, and coaching. Her background also includes long-term involvement in athletics, yoga, meditation, and creative arts, which shape a practical, whole-person approach.

Her methods draw from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and mindfulness-based strategies, with emphasis on emotion, attachment, and relationship patterns when useful. She adapts techniques to each person rather than following a single formula. That means a mix of skill-building, reflective conversation, and real-world homework when appropriate.

Heather supports people through caregiving stress, chronic illness and pain, body image and eating concerns, parenting strain, and major life transitions. She works with adults, teens, and children who want steady, compassionate guidance toward living better and feeling more capable.

How her approaches fit into online therapy

Attachment-Based Therapy looks at patterns in close relationships and helps people understand how early ties affect current bonds and reactions. It can be useful for tackling intimacy, attachment concerns, and repeated relationship difficulties. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and behaviors and then practicing concrete skills to change them; this is often used for anxiety, depression, and sleep or eating concerns. Dialectical Behavior Therapy, DBT, combines mindfulness and skills training to improve emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and communication in tense moments.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Heather treats therapy as a collaboration and will help clients decide which methods fit their goals, needs, and preferences. That choice can shift over time as progress is made or new issues arise.

Confirm current session formats before booking so you know what is offered. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life by removing travel time, allowing quicker check-ins, and making scheduling more flexible. They can also enable continued care during moves or life transitions and let people work on skills between sessions in their everyday routines.