if you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.
-lao tzu

Coaching Services offered:

 

  • Relationships – marriage, dating, surviving a divorce, workplace struggles, difficult friendships, extended family tensions
  • Personal growth and wellness – life transitions, job satisfaction, self-advocacy, self-esteem, personal boundaries, finding peace and happiness, taking personal responsibility for needed change
  • Expats – emotional and socials aspects of moving abroad, living abroad, returning home, balancing new roles and expectations, communicating cultural challenges that effect each member of the family.
  • Fertility and Adoption – the planning, in the trenches, new family dynamics, surviving failures, relationship survival, knowing your limits and communicating as partners through it all
  • Parenting – toddlers, teen and everything in-between! Co-parenting, step-parenting, parenting through divorce, positive parenting with boundaries and love, raising self-reliant children, redirecting children’s behaviors, supporting and building educational advocacy for your child, creating a positive parenting partnership with your spouse/partner.

Pura Vida Life Coach-supporting you on your path towards healthier relationships, personal growth and wellness, and difficult or unique life transitions.

Pura Vida:

pure life, happy life. It is a phrase used by Costa Ricans to express happiness, well-being, and satisfaction. In Costa Rica people try to live each day with gratitude and appreciation of the good things they have in life and not dwell on the negative. They strive to spread this happiness each day to their family and their community.

How does online coaching work?

Online coaching opens up many possibilities. With online coaching, clients have flexibility with how they would like to conduct their sessions. I offer face to face sessions via video conference, phone sessions, email and text support. Online allows you the convenience to have a session at your lunch hour, at night once the kids are in bed, when killing time between baseball games or out for an evening walk. I do recommend that the first few sessions are face to face on video conference so we can see each other and build a rapport. Between sessions I may send homework or mini steps for your goals and welcome you to check in on your progress. I hope you will find that online coaching helps meet the needs of you and your family by giving you the flexibility to meet when and where it works best for you.

What my Clients are Saying:

"Finding Heather in the middle of the jungles of Central America was a Godsend a few years ago. My adult children live in Costa Rica and were unfortunately both struggling greatly in their marital relationships. Returning to the US for help didn’t happen to be an option. With her skillful and engaging personality, Heather was able to educate, guide and help both of my children in those relationships as well as coach the three of us in the dynamics of our family. I need to make sure the term “help” is qualified….I credit Heather completely with not only helping, but saving our family and inspiring each of us to grow. She is a master in her field and was able to relate and connect with each of us, male, female, parent and child. She is a true professional and highly qualified and still comes across as easy going and approachable. She quickly established a trust in her that was comforting and put us at ease while we were embroiled in very tense situations. To this day my daughter still consults with her and seeks her advice By chance I ran into her recently and couldn’t even say hello as I was overcome with emotions trying to express to her my overwhelming gratitude. In this world there are ok therapists/coaches, good therapists/coaches, and then there are a few who can be called exceptional. In my family and my eyes, Heather belongs in this category."

one happy Mommacita

2017-07-13T21:19:59+00:00

one happy Mommacita

"Finding Heather in the middle of the jungles of Central America was a Godsend a few years ago. My adult children live in Costa Rica and were unfortunately both struggling greatly in their marital relationships. Returning to the US for help didn’t happen to be an option. With her skillful and engaging personality, Heather was able to educate, guide and help both of my children in those relationships as well as coach the three of us in the dynamics of our family. I need to make sure the term “help” is qualified….I credit Heather completely with not only helping, but saving our family and inspiring each of us to grow. She is a master in her field and was able to relate and connect with each of us, male, female, parent and child. She is a true professional and highly qualified and still comes across as easy going and approachable. She quickly established a trust in her that was comforting and put us at ease while we were embroiled in very tense situations. To this day my daughter still consults with her and seeks her advice By chance I ran into her recently and couldn’t even say hello as I was overcome with emotions trying to express to her my overwhelming gratitude. In this world there are ok therapists/coaches, good therapists/coaches, and then there are a few who can be called exceptional. In my family and my eyes, Heather belongs in this category."
"Heather has been a true blessing in our lives. She has coached me and my husband both individually and as a couple. Her insight and her ability to truly listen and see beyond the surface in order to get to the roots of issues have helped us both to prosper as individuals and to understand each other better. Her no-nonsense approach has been refreshing and appreciated. Heather doesn't tell you what you want to hear, but rather what you need to hear in order to help spark growth personally and as a couple. Her guidance and wisdom are a great help to healing and excellence on your life journey. I would strongly recommend Heather as a counselor and coach."

Satisfied couple

2017-08-02T02:36:00+00:00

Satisfied couple

"Heather has been a true blessing in our lives. She has coached me and my husband both individually and as a couple. Her insight and her ability to truly listen and see beyond the surface in order to get to the roots of issues have helped us both to prosper as individuals and to understand each other better. Her no-nonsense approach has been refreshing and appreciated. Heather doesn't tell you what you want to hear, but rather what you need to hear in order to help spark growth personally and as a couple. Her guidance and wisdom are a great help to healing and excellence on your life journey. I would strongly recommend Heather as a counselor and coach."
"I never dreamt that my husband would agree to couples therapy. Everything about his background --- his religion, his culture, his family, his home country-- is anti-therapy. However, with our marriage in crisis he had somehow agreed to accompany me to one session with Heather and in his words "would sit next to me but not speak". In that first meeting Heather proved herself as a skilled, caring professional. She made sure my husband and I were comfortable, and opened up a relaxed conversation which my husband participated in easily. Her adeptness and wisdom never faltered during our time working on our relationship with Heather. I am most impressed on how she fairly helped us take on responsibility, rather than blame, for aspects of our relationship. She not only delicately navigated the tricky waters of a bicultural relationship of two individuals with different native languages, but also guided us into recognizing that many of our conflicts were common to any couple regardless of backgrounds. My husband and I are in agreement that we would not be happily married today if we had not had the excellent guidance, compassion, and expertise of Heather's coaching."

Una pareja feliz y agradecida / A Happy and Grateful Couple

2017-08-02T02:44:11+00:00

Una pareja feliz y agradecida / A Happy and Grateful Couple

"I never dreamt that my husband would agree to couples therapy. Everything about his background --- his religion, his culture, his family, his home country-- is anti-therapy. However, with our marriage in crisis he had somehow agreed to accompany me to one session with Heather and in his words "would sit next to me but not speak". In that first meeting Heather proved herself as a skilled, caring professional. She made sure my husband and I were comfortable, and opened up a relaxed conversation which my husband participated in easily. Her adeptness and wisdom never faltered during our time working on our relationship with Heather. I am most impressed on how she fairly helped us take on responsibility, rather than blame, for aspects of our relationship. She not only delicately navigated the tricky waters of a bicultural relationship of two individuals with different native languages, but also guided us into recognizing that many of our conflicts were common to any couple regardless of backgrounds. My husband and I are in agreement that we would not be happily married today if we had not had the excellent guidance, compassion, and expertise of Heather's coaching."
Heather was such a huge help to me and my children during my extremely messy divorce. Her guidance and coaching helped me navigate through the unknown, making sure I was able to provide my children with the stability and guidance they needed during this time of crisis.

4 years later, I feel so fortunate to have had Heather in our lives.  My children are well adjusted and have come out of my divorce unscathed. I was able to move forward without the emotional baggage I expected. I credit Heather's coaching to my family's success. Thank you!

Single Mom of 4 - Playa flamingo, Costa Rica

2017-07-26T21:04:06+00:00

Single Mom of 4 - Playa flamingo, Costa Rica

Heather was such a huge help to me and my children during my extremely messy divorce. Her guidance and coaching helped me navigate through the unknown, making sure I was able to provide my children with the stability and guidance they needed during this time of crisis. 4 years later, I feel so fortunate to have had Heather in our lives.  My children are well adjusted and have come out of my divorce unscathed. I was able to move forward without the emotional baggage I expected. I credit Heather's coaching to my family's success. Thank you!
"I first met Heather a few years ago in Costa Rica. I was a mid 30's male form the states, dealing with family, marriage, and life/business issues. I had been living down in Costa Rica for several years. I found Heather to be very easy to talk to. She listened, then would help me reflect on the issues I was dealing with. She was always very fair, but sometimes (most of the time) brutally honest. This worked for me and I found the help I was looking for. Since my experience with her I have recommended her services to several of my friends. My life has been headed in a completely opposite direction from when I first started seeing her and I have found peace and happiness again in all aspects of my life. If you have struggles or just need some guidance, I highly recommend reaching out to her."

The Professional Beach Bum

2017-09-08T18:40:56+00:00

The Professional Beach Bum

"I first met Heather a few years ago in Costa Rica. I was a mid 30's male form the states, dealing with family, marriage, and life/business issues. I had been living down in Costa Rica for several years. I found Heather to be very easy to talk to. She listened, then would help me reflect on the issues I was dealing with. She was always very fair, but sometimes (most of the time) brutally honest. This worked for me and I found the help I was looking for. Since my experience with her I have recommended her services to several of my friends. My life has been headed in a completely opposite direction from when I first started seeing her and I have found peace and happiness again in all aspects of my life. If you have struggles or just need some guidance, I highly recommend reaching out to her."

If you have any questions or are not sure where to start

My Pura Vida Opinión

Feel free to submit a question and I will do my best to respond to you personally and post some of my favorites in the Q & A section.

All questions are completely confidential and only come to my private email. When I post the question and my response,
I don’t list any names.