The Heart Behind Heartwood
Hi, I’m Danielle! I’m a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, former Division I athlete, and the owner of Heartwood Counseling in Prairie Village, Kansas. I created Heartwood to be a warm, supportive space for women, teen girls, former athletes and female athletes to come exactly as they are.
So many of the women and girls I work with are the ones who seem to have it all together. They are driven, responsible, caring, high achieving, and usually pretty hard on themselves. On the outside, everything might look great. On the inside, there can be anxiety, overthinking, perfectionism, people pleasing, relationship struggles, burnout, or the constant feeling that they should be doing more.
If that sounds a little like you, you are exactly the kind of girl I had in mind when creating Heartwood!
The Heart Behind Heartwood
In a tree, the heartwood is the strong, steady center. It’s the part that remains rooted through changing seasons and supports the growth happening around it. I believe we have a heartwood within us too, a core of strength, worth, and resilience that can sometimes feel harder to reach when life gets heavy. Some of the most meaningful healing happens when we have someone we trust to walk alongside us as we find our way back to that center. That’s what I hope to offer at Heartwood.
Therapy with me is not about having the perfect words or knowing exactly what you want to work on. Some days we might talk through something heavy. Other days we might work on practical tools for anxiety, relationships, boundaries, or confidence. And yes, there will probably be some laughter mixed in too.
My approach to counseling is warm, relational, trauma informed, and personalized to you. I incorporate EMDR, a strengths-based approach, CBT interventions, and other interventions depending on what you need. More than anything, I want therapy to feel human. I want you to feel comfortable enough to take a breath, put your guard down, and know that this is a space where you can be fully yourself.
A Special Heart for Female Athletes
Working with female athletes is especially meaningful to me because I have been one too.
Before becoming a therapist, I played Division I soccer at Colorado State University. I know what it is like when your sport becomes a huge part of your identity. I understand the pressure to perform, the perfectionism, the fear of letting people down, the confidence struggles, and how difficult it can be when the sport you love starts to feel heavy.
At Heartwood, I support female athletes navigating sports performance anxiety, confidence, injury, burnout, perfectionism, identity, and life after sport. You can be incredibly driven and still need support. In fact, sometimes the strongest girls are the ones who have gotten really good at pushing through everything without realizing how much they are carrying.
Therapy for Women and Teen Girls
You don’t have to be an athlete to belong here! I also work with women and teen girls navigating anxiety, self worth, relationships, life transitions, people pleasing, perfectionism, and the pressure to hold everything together.
Maybe your brain never seems to shut off. Maybe you are constantly worried about disappointing people. Maybe you are going through a season of change and do not quite feel like yourself. Or maybe you simply want to understand yourself better and create healthier patterns moving forward.
You do not have to wait until you are falling apart to come to therapy. Sometimes therapy is simply a soft place to land while you figure things out.
Come As You Are
Heartwood Counseling is located in Prairie Village, Kansas, and serves women, teen girls, and female athletes throughout the Kansas City area, including Prairie Village, Overland Park, Leawood, and surrounding Kansas communities. I also offer online therapy for clients throughout Kansas.
If faith is an important part of your life, it can also be incorporated into our work when requested. And if that is not something you want included in therapy, that is completely okay too. This space is about meeting you where you are.
At the end of the day, Heartwood is for the girl who is tired of feeling like she has to have everything figured out. The girl who takes care of everyone else. The girl chasing big goals while quietly questioning herself. The athlete figuring out who she is beyond her performance. The woman who is ready to feel a little more like herself again.
If you have been searching for a therapist for women, teen girls, former athletes, or female athletes in Prairie Village or the Kansas City area, I would love to connect with you.
You can show up exactly as you are. I’ve got you!
