Through the use of dreamwork, art, movement/dance, role play, ceremony/ritual, play, and the outdoors, Deborah counsels individuals through issues of trauma/abuse, addictions, eating disorders, anger, grief, anxiety, depression, and self-harm.

Deborah Heikes offers Gestalt-based counselling and therapy to adults, couples, families, adolescents, and groups, based on a unique personal perspective: her strength, compassion, and insight come from an intimate understanding of addiction, trauma, and eating disorder challenges that she has faced and worked through in her own life experience.

No matter who the person or what they may have experienced, Deborah believes that each individual brings a gift to this world, as well as a unique way of expressing that gift. If this gift is left undiscovered, the world will have lost something of great value.

Deborah works closely with her clients to begin to identify and get in touch with that gift, by exploring unexpressed feelings such as resentment, rage, pain, grief, shame, and abandonment. As the work progresses, her clients begin to experience a myriad of benefits, including greater range of expression, more creativity in everyday life, more self-esteem, a positive body image, and the opportunity to release old patterns of behavior.

Deborah's ultimate goal for her clients is to learn how to live from a place of self-loving and personal empowerment, recognizing their particular gift in the world, and feeling confident about expressing it.

Deborah completed her M.A. in Counselling Psychology from Southwestern College, and received her certification as a Gestalt Therapist at the Gestalt Institute of Santa Fe. She has done extensive training at a residential trauma resolution facility, and continues to work with clients in recovery at a primary residential treatment facility. Deborah is also an NIA dance instructor.