Trauma Therapist for Anxiety, Grief & Relationship Wounds in Peoria, AZ
Heather Colton-Pritt, LAC
Serving Adults & Teens (14+)
You've probably been managing for a long time. Keeping things together on the outside while something underneath keeps pulling you back — the anxiety that never fully quiets, the grief that doesn't have a clear timeline, the relationship patterns that repeat no matter how hard you try to change them.
You don't have to keep navigating this alone. And you don't have to have it all figured out before you reach out.
Therapy is where we slow down long enough to understand what's actually going on, and start building something more sustainable in its place.
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Therapy for adults + teens
* Therapy for adults + teens
Who is trauma therapy right for? Adults + teens in Peoria, AZ
I work with adults and teens (14+) who are ready to understand what's underneath the anxiety, depression, grief, or relational struggles, not just manage the symptoms from the surface.
My clients often include:
Adults navigating anxiety or depression that has become harder to outrun, even when life looks fine from the outside
People carrying grief or loss that doesn't fit neatly into a timeline or a category others easily recognize
Individuals working through relationship wounds: patterns of people-pleasing, difficulty trusting, or feeling disconnected from themselves and others
Teens (14+) navigating the pressures of growing up with anxiety, self-esteem struggles, or emotional responses that feel bigger than the moment
Anyone who has tried to figure this out on their own and is ready for a different kind of support
"I believe in each person's capacity for growth and change. My goal isn't just to help you navigate challenges, it's to help you create a life that feels meaningful and fulfilling on your own terms."
— Heather Colton-Pritt, LAC
How I Work and Where EMDR Fits In
My approach is rooted in person-centered therapy — which means you are always the expert on your own life. I bring empathy, authenticity, and unconditional positive regard, and I tailor every session to where you are rather than applying a rigid protocol.
I draw from a range of evidence-based approaches depending on what you need:
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) — building psychological flexibility and helping you move toward what matters rather than away from discomfort
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) — identifying and shifting the thought patterns and behaviors that keep people stuck
Mindfulness practices — grounding in the present and developing a more compassionate relationship with your inner experience
Motivational Interviewing and solution-focused approaches — building on your existing strengths to create concrete, meaningful change
I am currently completing my EMDR training — a requirement for all Inside Out clinicians within their first year of joining the practice. Every clinician at Inside Out is trained through the same instructor, grounded in Francine Shapiro's foundational model. My training is in progress, and my rate reflects that. You can learn more about what quality EMDR treatment looks like at EMDRIA.org.
What It Feels Like to Work With Me
My clients are often people who have spent a long time trying to think their way through what they're feeling. They understand their patterns intellectually — but the emotional responses are still there. That's because some things don't shift through insight alone. They live deeper.
I show up with genuine curiosity, steady presence, and the directness to name what I notice — without judgment and without rushing you. Every session is shaped around where you are, not a script.
Explore my specialties
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Trauma + PTSD
Trauma does not always announce itself as trauma. Sometimes it looks like anxiety that will not settle, patterns in relationships that keep repeating, or a nervous system that never fully rests. Heather works with all of it.
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Anxiety + Chronic Stress
If you are the person who holds everything together while quietly running on empty, Heather understands that particular kind of exhaustion. This is not just stress management — it is getting to what is underneath.
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Attachment Wounds + Relationship Strain
The way you show up in relationships has a history. Heather works with adults and teens navigating the patterns that formed early and are still running — in friendships, partnerships, and the relationship with yourself.
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Grief, Loss + Life Transitions
Heather works with grief that does not fit a recognized category as much as the kind that does. If you are carrying a loss that others do not quite understand, or navigating a transition that has upended who you thought you were, there is room for that here.
My work spans each of these areas — and in most cases, they're connected. Trauma doesn't stay in one lane, and neither does healing.
Training & Qualifications | Serving Peoria
I hold a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and am a Licensed Associate Counselor (LAC). My integrative approach draws from person-centered therapy, ACT, CBT, mindfulness, Motivational Interviewing, and solution-focused interventions — tailored to each individual's needs rather than applied as a rigid protocol.
I work with adults and adolescents (14+) across a range of presenting concerns including anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, relationship issues, and self-esteem. My EMDR training is currently in progress through Inside Out's required certification pathway.
A little more about me
Outside the therapy room, I value the same things I bring into it — connection, growth, and a genuine commitment to showing up. I believe that meaningful change is possible for every person, and I carry that belief into every session.
Further reading
ANXIETY + NERVOUS SYSTEM
You Are Not Too Sensitive. Your Nervous System Learned to Stay Ready.
Being told you are too sensitive is one of the most common things people bring into a first session. Here is what is actually happening in the nervous system — and why willpower alone has not been able to change it.
MENTAL HEALTH + CULTURE
Therapy Is Everywhere on Social Media. Here Is What It Is Getting Wrong.
There is a gap between recognizing yourself in a post and actually shifting the pattern running in the background for years. Here is what that gap is and what closes it.
RELATIONSHIPS + ATTACHMENT
Why You Keep Ending Up in the Same Relationship Patterns
You understand the pattern. You have probably traced it back to something in your history. And still, the next relationship or the next conflict shows you the same version of yourself you were trying to leave behind.
Ready to take the next step?
If something on this page resonated — the patterns, the exhaustion, the quiet hope that things could shift — I'd love to connect. Reach out and let's figure out if we're a good fit. No pressure, just a conversation.
Common Questions About Working With Me
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Understanding your patterns and actually shifting them are two different things, and the gap between them is exactly where therapy lives. Insight is the starting point, not the finish line. What we work on together is the part that knowing alone can't reach.
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Grief doesn't require a death certificate. It shows up in the loss of a relationship, a version of yourself you thought you'd be by now, a period of your life that ended quietly. If something is missing and it matters, it counts. We don't need a dramatic story to take your experience seriously.
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Because those patterns usually started long before you had the awareness to question them. They made sense once — they were protective, adaptive, survival. Therapy helps you understand where they came from and build something different in their place, not through willpower but through actually shifting what's underneath.
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Anxiety that has been there long enough can start to feel like a personality trait. It isn't. It's a nervous system response that learned to stay on — and what can be learned can be unlearned. That doesn't mean it disappears overnight, but it does mean it can change.
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Waiting until you feel ready is how years pass. You don't have to be certain, you just have to be willing to have one conversation and see how it feels. That's all the first session asks of you.