About Me

Hola, I am Heather Allenby, I’m a therapist, coach, wife and a proud and thankful mother. I have lived as an ex-pat in Costa Rica for the past 10 years and I have been a Marriage and Family Therapist for 16 years. I was licensed in California and worked for many different family service agencies specializing in family mental health. I had a private practice in San Diego working with couples, families and individuals. I have always incorporated “coaching” (goal setting, support, advocacy, and accountability) into my practice.

I have worked with individuals and families with a wide range of needs from communication and conflict resolution to more clinical issues of depression and anxiety. I have been a licensed Clinical Psychologist in Costa Rica for the past 7 years.

Over the past 7 years while living in Costa Rica, I had a successful private practice in a small beach town working with expats from all over the world.

My husband and I moved to Costa Rica 10 years ago after a long and stressful battle with infertility. After visiting multiple doctors in the US and finding no answer to our problem, we decided we would move forward with adoption. We choose to go the adventure, later to be defined as naive, route and try to adopt as residence in Costa Rica. During this 4 year period of ups and downs, painful waiting, insane moments and hopeful dreams, we made Costa Rica our home, living as ex-pats in a small beach community on the Pacific Coast. We made friends from all over the world, we struggled with bureaucracy that seemed impossible, chased desperate leads towards becoming parents and in the end we experienced two painful and life changing failed adoptions. Desperation kicked in and we re-grouped and made a plan that worked for our family. We sought out a fertility specialist in Costa Rica for one last option before we moved on with letting go of the dream to be parents. This last effort paid off and we finally became a family of 3. We now are blessed with our sweet little 6 year old boy. I became a licensed psychologist in Costa Rica, opened a private practice, and soaked up every minute with my new little boy. Over the next 6 years, I had the opportunity to work with clients from over 13 different countries in one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

“The beautiful journey of today can only begin when we learn to let go of yesterday.” ~ Dr. Steve Maraboli

Currently my family and I are traveling and getting ready to settle back in the United States for a few years. Due to the online nature of my practice, and having clients in many different states and countries, I am currently only working as a relationship and life coach with adults and couples. I have an extensive background as a therapist but have found the majority of my clients are high functioning individuals and couples looking for coaching support rather than mental health therapy. For this reason, I am not currently offering mental health therapy at this time. Please see FAQ page to see if coaching is the right fit for you or if you are more interested in a mental health therapist.

Am I the right person for you? My style of coaching is supportive, open and direct. I build a trusting relationship so I can hold you accountable for the goals you have set. I incorporate fun into the learning and growth process. I work to create a comfortable and honest relationship so that you allow me to address the resistance and excuses that hold you back from the goals you have set for yourself or your relationship. I will not hesitate to point out patterns of behavior that may be keeping you stuck or be hurting your relationships. We utilize your strengths to drive your goals and motivate you to jump over the walls that have been built but serve no purpose. As a coach, we don’t do intensive work around your past but we do visit it on occasion to help you move forward. With couples, I help them to feel equally heard and make changes that work for BOTH partners, not just the one seeking the help.

How do we do this? Well, with my magic wand of course:) Actually, we get there through a lot of hard work, commitment to yourself and partner, trust in the process and open and healthy communication. I don’t have a specific formula because each person is an individual who brings different backgrounds, temperaments, and skills sets. I get to know each one of you individually, each couple individually and work with your strengths, your stubbornness, your sarcasm, and any other awesome trait you bring to the table. In the end, this is to support you becoming healthier and happier in your daily life.

Will it be easy…..nope. Change is very difficult and it takes time, commitment, and support if you want it to become real and authentic. I will hold you accountable and help you see that it is possible, that small setbacks do not mean it’s not working or you can’t do it. I coach you to see your full potential and help you learn and accept that struggles are a part of life, obstacles to over-come, they are not personality flaws or relationship failures.

Qualifications

 

  • Certified Wellness Coach
  • Masters degree in Clinical Psychology
  • Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
  • Licensed Clinical Psychologist in Costa Rica
  • 1000’s of hours of experience over the last 16 years with some of the most amazing clients ever. I have learned so much from all of my clients and continue to grow everyday. I don’t claim to have a magic answer or a quick fix, I do claim to have an incredible amount of success with many happy clients that have changed their lives through my guidance, support and accountability.