Heather Ehinger, LMFT EdD
Family and Couples Consultation, Assessment, and Coaching
Dr. Heather Ehinger
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
Video Conferencing & Telehealth
Consulting, Co-Parenting, Couples, Mediation,
and Divorce Matters
I am a solution-focused professional for individuals, couples, and families seeking uniquely tailored, relationship-centered treatment. Our work together inspires hope for the future. We begin by truly defining your challenges and objectives. We progress by exploring new depths of self-examination and expanding your understanding of others. I will focus on leading you towards successful strategies to accomplish your defined goals and offer ongoing support as you navigate change. For couples, co-parents, and families we will work together as a team, supporting both each individual and your relationships.
I am a thought leader and expert in matters of relationship trauma, divorce and co-parenting. My clients often suffer from struggles with anxiety, depression, infidelity, co-dependency, personality disorders, addiction and mood disturbances.
Discreet privately designed services for your family's discriminating needs.
Appointments are via phone or video conferencing. Many clients use a combination of platforms. In-Person appointments can be arranged. Traveling to you to start our work is available, as are intensives for crisis-oriented challenges and focused work. Let me know what your needs are.
About Me
I have been curious about relationships from early on. With an undergraduate degree in psychology from Denison University in the early '80s, I had my family and then pursued my profession during my 40s, becoming a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, graduating from Fairfield University. In my early 50s, I completed my education with a Doctorate in Counseling Education and Supervision. Throughout my career, I remained loyal to the subject of how we “do” relationships and how we can heal them. I am armed not only with my education but with experience from my own life as a once wife, a proud mother of 3 and my own journey through divorce and re-partnering. I know first hand how challenging life can be, sometimes how scary and often how frustrating.
During the last 15 years, I have counseled thousands of couples, families, and individuals in their matters of the heart. I have a passion for improving the lives of my clients and their families, always seeking new ideas and methods for improving myself as a professional and a person. Professional membership in my industries organization such as The American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), The American Counseling Association (ACA), The International Family Therapy Association (IFTA), National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) and The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) provides me with a wide breadth of opportunities for learning, leading and growing for the ultimate purpose of improving your outcomes.
This passion for self-improvement professionally has propelled me towards leadership of my industry. I am an AAMFT approved supervisor, providing me opportunity to not only treat clients but teach others coming up behind me. I have participated in my professional organization through leadership roles including my term as President of the Connecticut Division of AAMFT. I have periodically been an adjunct professor at a local university.
My latest projects include creating The MacLetchie Institute for training which provides supervision and educational opportunities for advanced clinical training of systemically minded professionals. I am currently writing a book about relationships and divorce. The impetus for my upcoming book Grounds for Divorce, A Wake-up Call came as a result of hearing countless stories of marriage and witnessing profound family trauma around divorce. I live in Weston Connecticut in an antique 250-year-old home that I have fun restoring. You can find me with friends and family traveling near and far for fun, and work, visiting my 3 adult children, treasure hunting in flea markets, and exploring beaches and gardens everywhere.
My Consulting Approach
Marriage, Couples and
Individual Consulting/Coaching
Family Assessment and Consulting
Divorce Services
We become a team to build hope and find peace of mind in your love connection and family. Finding solutions that make sense and meet your individual and collective needs is our main goal. Our work will inspire possibilities that life will not only be better but joyful again (or for the first time). Together we can face a variety of struggles such as divorce, trauma, parenting, addictions and co-dependence, affairs and teen acting out behaviors. With collective insights and effort, we can build your intentional life.
I work in a solution-focused manner with a belief in your internal strength, using a variety of family systems principles. I believe in your ability to change and grow. I collaborate with you to look at family structure, childhood wounding, attachment disorders, past trauma, generational influence, and current functioning to improve your life. My work focuses on identifying your goals and finding the most effective interventions available to support you in meeting those objectives.
Our relationship is the key to our success. I am direct yet compassionate, respectful and accepting. Professional training, personal experience, humor, and creativity are the ingredients for our success in working towards and meeting your personal goals. My staff and I always work with you and your family in mind.
Divorce Services
Family Consulting and Assessment
Co-parenting Coaching/Counseling
Parent Coordinator
Parenting Plans
Reunification Assessment and Consulting
I began my career working with children. After several years of doing play therapy with this tender population, I began to see a trend in the core concerns of the children: their parents were struggling with relationship problems including divorce, separation, parent alienation, custody battles, and finding ways to co-parent, either married or divorced. This insight quickly moved my career towards supporting the parents, and the impact of that work was nothing shy of remarkable in terms of its positive impact on my child clients. As time evolved I began developing a team approach to my ideas and treatment. By working side by side directly with other therapists I am able to focus my attention on the parenting relationships and the adults in the family, while other members of our team concentrate on the children. This approach has provided a unique opportunity to support both the families and the clinicians in providing premium therapeutic support and significantly improved outcomes in the lives of both the children and their families.
As my expertise has developed I have focused on providing divorce services to families by taking on specifically defined roles. In order to support couples and parents, I am retained as a couples therapist for highly volatile and traumatized couples or as a divorce counselor for couples considering or wishing to move through and explore divorce. I also will be engaged as a co-parenting counselor for divorcing or already divorced or separated couples. Selectively I will take on the role of a parenting coordinator or Guardian ad Litem for highly conflicted couples in litigation battles. I will develop parenting plans for couples wishing to work with a mental health provider to establish the best parenting plans for their children when appropriate.
While I do not take on every client that comes my way, I will try to help you find the right professional if I am not the best fit. If you seek out my services for these roles I want you to know that I am always working to reduce conflict and my focus is on creating relationship-centered strategies. I strive to improve family dynamics at all times, helping clients take personal responsibility for their improved outcomes. I know the best outcome for children is to reduce conflict and to maintain and improve their connection with their parents and extended families. Children thrive by being in healthy relationships, feeling important, understood, and unconditionally loved - Just like us :)
The MacLetchie Institute
For Advanced Clinical Training
Supervision and Clinical Training
As much as I am committed to improving the lives and relationships of my clients, I am quite passionate about the advancement of our profession as mental health specialists, especially those of us working in the relationship field.
To that end, I have been supervising and teaching for the last 15 years in several capacities.; as an individual supervisor, doing group supervision, teaching, and creating workshops, and as a classroom teacher, adjunct professor. In Recent years I established a group private practice in order to work as a team of professionals where we support each other and our client families and individuals. It has become strikingly clear that the right team of professionals working together benefits our clients exponentially. It also fosters increased confidence and skills amount the clinicians. Over the years I moved back into a solo practice but I still believe a team approach is ideal and work collaboratively with many professionals.
For information on one-on-one supervision, professional consultation, or a speaking engagement please contact me.
Contact Me
Appointments are via phone or Zoom. In-person appointments can be arranged. Many clients use a combination of platforms. Traveling to you to start our work is available, as are intensives for crisis-oriented challenges and focused work. Let us know, and we will find a way to work with you.
Our work together is a private matter, thus I am private pay. There are some situations where we can submit for out-of-network benefits. We will help you determine if that path is available to you and help you submit that needed paperwork.
For appointments and inquiries please call our office at 203-438-3139 or email us heatherehinger@gmail.com
