Heather Hafer

Her belief in the need for treatment specifically designed for specific populations, as well as her organizational skills and therapy experience contribute to her ability to fulfill programmatic goals.

As clinical supervisor for the teen and young adult programs, Heather is responsible for supervising therapists and designing and implementing program schedules and treatment components tailored to each group’s treatment needs. To ensure effective treatment, she works with medical and psychological staff at Caron as well as with her team and patients, using their feedback about what was most impactful for them.

She is trained in both cognitive processing therapy (CPT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), which has allowed her to work with colleagues to develop DBT-informed programs for patients, giving them another tool to use to look at themselves and their experiences through a nonjudgmental lens. She also has training in trauma-informed expressive arts therapy, an approach that uses the arts — music, storytelling, and others — to address trauma.

She came to Caron in 2009 as an undergraduate intern. Since then, she has worked as a counselor assistant, an associate therapist, and an addictions counselor before becoming a clinical supervisor in 2017.

Heather has a Master of Science degree in psychology from Capella University and an undergraduate degree in applied psychology from Pennsylvania State University. She is currently working on her Ph.D. in addiction psychology with Capella University. She is also a certified advanced alcohol and drug counselor and a certified clinical supervisor.

"At Caron, we continue to develop and refine treatment programs that speak to patients' specific needs, addressing barriers to treatment and how to best support their recovery efforts. Caron stands by and fulfills its mission and values to provide state-of-the-art, top-quality, individualized care. Being able to be part of that is rewarding, especially when we see alumni return and tell us about how they have been able to re-engage in their lives now that they are in recovery."