Heather Coates Jones, BA, BEd, MEd, MACP student intern

Heather is excited to be joining the Alivera team as a counselling intern.  She holds a BA in International Development from the University of Guelph, a BEd in Elementary Education from Mount St Vincent University and a MEd in Special Education (now known as Diverse Learners) from Acadia University and is completing her Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology through Yorkville University. 

After spending more than 20 years as a teacher in the Halifax area, the last 18 working as a Learning Centre teacher with a wide range of neurodiverse students, Heather is excited to broaden her reach to include teens, young adults and mature adults. She is dedicated to helping both children and adults with an array of neurodiverse experiences and needs, achieve and maintain their goals and be their best selves.  Through her years working with families in her role as a Learning Centre teacher, Heather has seen the challenges families face as they navigate parenting and coping with physical and mental health differences while simultaneously juggling the demands of daily life and jobs. Witnessing these struggles and the resilience of families has been an inspiration in moving Heather towards a new career in psychotherapy, enabling her to support not just students, but also their families and other adults.

Heather approaches counselling from a strengths-based and collaborative stance with a focus on client-centred methods. She believes the therapeutic relationship is the foundation of the counselling experience. Additionally, Heather draws from Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) methods, an understanding of family systems and dynamics as well as her experience working within a trauma-informed methodology to support counselling strategies and relationship building. Heather honours clients as the experts in their own experiences and excels at facilitating individuals building on their personal strengths to foster resiliency and meet daily challenges. 

Heather’s interests outside of her professional life include gardening, hiking, biking, cross-country skiing and the fibre arts. She loves spending time outside and staying busy while enjoying our natural world. She has been known to combine her passions for plants and growing things with her love of natural fibres by experimenting with natural dyeing techniques to create uniquely coloured yarns for her knitting projects.