Heather Lockey, LCSW

Heather Lockey is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) based in North Carolina with eight years of professional experience. She focuses on practical ways to reduce stress and anxiety, manage depression, and cope with grief. Heather also addresses trauma and abuse, relationship strains, parenting pressures, and challenges related to addiction and ADHD.

Heather believes the person sitting in the room knows their life best. She emphasizes strengths and collaborative problem solving rather than one-size-fits-all fixes. Sessions aim to identify small, doable steps that fit into everyday life.

Her approach blends evidence-informed methods like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with client-centered listening. She also draws on Dialectical Behavior Therapy and mindfulness practices when those tools help address emotion regulation and coping skills.

Heather has experience helping people navigate family conflict, separation, adoption and foster care concerns, attachment issues, and caregiver stress. She is open to seeing teens and members of the LGBTQA+ community and works with people facing issues such as domestic violence, substance use, body image, and blended family adjustments.

Sessions are respectful and goal-oriented, with an emphasis on practical skills and values-based choices. Heather encourages people to take the next step at their own pace and supports them in building routines that reduce distress and increase well-being.

How Heather’s Approaches Work Online

Heather uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help people clarify what matters to them and take small steps toward those values. ACT often helps with anxiety, depression, and decisions that feel stuck.

She also draws from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to identify patterns of thought and behavior that reinforce stress or low mood. CBT gives concrete exercises people can practice between meetings to change how they respond to triggers.

Mindfulness and Dialectical Behavior Therapy techniques appear when they fit a person’s goals, offering breathing, grounding, and emotion-regulation skills that reduce overwhelm.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Heather will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what feels most useful. Together they decide which methods to try and adjust the plan over time based on what helps.

If you are considering online therapy, confirm the current session options before booking since formats are not listed here. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and reduce travel time. Licensed professionals can guide practical skill practice between meetings so progress continues outside of session.