Grace Heaney

I can help you identify the barriers that are keeping you from living a happier and more fulfilling life.

Grace’s approach to therapy is deeply holistic, structurally rooted in radical acceptance and unconditional compassion. Recognizing that every individual’s internal blueprint is entirely unique, she is dedicated to collaborating transparently with each client to tailor clinical interventions that best align with their personal values and lifestyle.

Her primary objective is to guide clients in harnessing their inherent strengths and psychological resources to build a deeply meaningful life. Grace balances actionable, immediate practical interventions with deeper existential exploration, helping each client gain a significantly clearer understanding of their underlying challenges.

Areas of Clinical Specialty

In her clinical practice at 2nd Story Counseling, Grace creates an inclusive, stabilizing environment tailored specifically for adults, college students, and individuals navigating major life adjustments. Her primary areas of clinical focus include:

• Life Transitions, Aging & Identity: Specialized support for managing the distinct psychological demands of life transitions, somatic changes related to aging, and shifting generational identity dynamics.
• Women’s Issues & Body Image: Dedicated clinical care designed to help women dismantle internalized societal pressure, process complex body image challenges, and reclaim personal self-worth.
• Mood & Anxiety Management: Evidence-based interventions targeting persistent depression, chronic anxiety states, overthinking, and the cultivation of sustainable everyday coping strategies.
• Trauma, Grief & Complex Loss: Providing a safe, deeply grounded container to process acute trauma, untangle complicated bereavement, and navigate deep-seated personal losses.
• Identity & Relational Support: Resolving chronic relationship problems, navigating substance or behavioral addictions, and providing a safe, celebratory space for LGBTQ+ & queer-identifying individuals.
• Mindfulness-Based Practice & College Mental Health: Integrating modern mindfulness techniques to assist college students and busy young professionals in mitigating academic stress and regulating their nervous systems.

To provide clients with immediate relief, Grace draws dynamically on structured techniques from Solution-Focused Therapy, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and related evidence-based approaches. Through integrated mindfulness practices, she equips clients with the precise nervous-system strategies and tools required to manage daily difficulties, helping them feel more at ease and resilient when facing life’s unexpected hurdles.

Simultaneously, Grace works through an existential lens, supporting individuals as they explore, identify, and cultivate deep personal value and meaning within their lives—even during periods of acute pain or confusion. Grounded in a strong social justice perspective, she prioritizes an advanced understanding of how external environmental, social, systemic, and societal factors actively shape and influence a person’s psychological well-being. This dual lens allows her to address both internal emotional states and the real-world contexts that impact them.

Her comprehensive scope of clinical practice covers depression, chronic anxiety, issues surrounding aging, substance use, women’s issues, and self-esteem hurdles. She provides specialized care for body image concerns, ADHD management, life transitions, stress, bereavement, chronic health challenges, complex relationship dynamics, and supportive advocacy for LGBTQ+ persons and queer identities.

Advanced Education & Clinical Credentials

Grace earned her Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the prestigious Adler University, an institution renowned for its emphasis on community psychology and social responsibility. She is fully credentialed as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the state of Illinois and is formally EMDR trained, enabling her to offer advanced trauma-processing interventions. Grace warmly invites individuals to collaborate with her to uncover their true potential, reinforce emotional resilience, and actively map out a life path that reflects their deepest values and aspirations.