Heather Lee Leap
MSW, LICSW, ECMH-E®
Child & Family Therapist
Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist
Nurturing Therapy for Families
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Maternal Mental Health
Child-Parent Psychotherapy
Pregnancy & Parenting After Loss
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Play Therapy
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Parenting Classes
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About
I believe...
I believe in nurturing primary attachment relationships, nurturing families, and building relationships across systems that help everyone thrive. I am committed to the fields of perinatal and early childhood mental health because our early care and experiences shape our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Early stress can lead to difficulty with learning, developing relationships, behavior, and overall health. Similarly, safe, loving, and enriched environments help children reach their full potential.
I am a child and family therapist licensed in Washington state. My focus is on caregiver and early childhood mental health with an emphasis on supporting families through pregnancy after loss or other perinatal stressors. I bring mindful compassion, a practice of wondering, and an ongoing commitment to personal and professional growth to my work.
My early training and roles as a prenatal massage therapist, infant massage instructor, and La Leche League Leader formed the foundation of my passion for infant, early childhood, and parent development. I completed a Graduate Certificate in Infant Toddler Mental Health (ITMH) in 2020 while completing my Masters in Social Work. In 2024 I completed an intensive15-month Advanced Clinical Training program through the Barnard Center for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, and in November 2025 I completed an 18-month Child Parent Psychotherapy learning collaborative.
Formal continuing education is one key to professional growth, but I feel that the children, families, and communities with whom I work are my primary teachers. Parents and caregivers are the experts on their children. They may need information, resources, and tools I can offer, but I must learn from them how best to present those tools. Part of my philosophy of wondering requires being comfortable admitting I don't have all the answers. This vulnerability often creates a space that invites more open communication, which builds trust. I learn and grow when I bring curiosity to my interactions, and I invite others into that space of wondering. I embrace the early relational health value of reflective practice and welcome the opportunity to reflect with colleagues about our work, and to seek support and supervision from mentors.
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Mindful Parenting & Writing
Wellness & Words...
Mindfulness, writing, and parenting education are some of my passions. Please contact me for private or small group classes.
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Infant massage embodies all the components of bonding and developing secure attachments. During massage, you and your baby will connect through all your senses: sight, touch, hearing, smell, even taste. (Babies are always putting their hands - and toes - in their mouths!)
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In a 5-week class, you will learn so much more than a series of strokes. You will learn to communicate your love to your baby through touch, develop skills to read your baby's unique cues, strengthen your attachment, and deepen your relationship with your infant.
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Attachment Vitamins & Circle of Security Parenting are 8-10 week parenting groups which help parents develop skills to better understand themselves as parents and to truly connect with and understand their children in a way that builds connections, and shifts child behavior through strengthening relationships between caregivers and children.
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​Through story and writing, children, youth, and families learn self-expression and confidence while building creativity and connection with others. Writing can be a path for healing from loss and toward reclaiming our voices.
I am an AWA Affiliate, certified to lead workshops in the AWA method as described in Writing Alone & With Others by Pat Schneider, Oxford University Press. I occasionally facilitate Mindful Writing Workshops through Portland Community College Community Education.
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Education, Training, & Experience
Child Parent Psychotherapy Learning Collaborative - Washington state - 2025
Advanced Clinical Training in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health - 2024
Barnard Center - University of Washington
Graduate Certificate in Play Therapy - March 2023
Antioch University, Seattle, Washington
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Master of Social Work - 2022
Portland State University, Portland, Oregon.
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Graduate Certificate in Infant Toddler Mental Health -2020
Portland State University, Portland, Oregon.
Bachelor of Arts - Child, Youth, & Family Studies;
Minor - Women’s Studies - 2019
Portland State University, Portland, Oregon.
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Certified Educator of Infant Massage (CEIM)
- Infant Massage USA
Certified Infant Massage Instructor (CIMI)
- International Association of Infant Massage
AWA Affiliate - certified to lead workshops in the AWA method as
described in Writing Alone & With Others by Pat Schneider, Oxford University Press
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Member - NASW - National Association of Social Workers
Member - ORIMHA - Oregon Infant Mental Health Association
Member - Zero to Three
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Registered Circle of Security Parenting (COSP) Facilitator
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Attachment Vitamins Parenting Group Facilitator
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Additional Training
40+ hours of trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness teacher training through the Daya Foundation, Street Yoga, and Living Yoga (2017 - 2018)
Stewards of Children Training, through Children’s Center, Oregon City, OR (2017, 2020)
Yogajoy 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training, with Sarahjoy Marsh (2016)
Yoga Calm Youth Yoga Instructor Levels I-III; Next Generation Kids Yoga Instructor ages 3-12.
Personal & Professional Values
Eyes to the future...
I am a life-long learner, engaging in regular continuing education, collaboration, and reflective consultation with colleagues to continue to offer the best possible support to families I serve while maintaining my personal wellness.
I find joy in nature and aspire to spend more time on or near water. For fun I read, knit, cook, swim, dance, meditate, practice yoga, study Italian, and spend time with friends and family.
As a long-time mindfulness practitioner, I am always seeking ways to bring mindfulness and self-care into my work supporting families and communities. I am particularly interested in perinatal mental health and how support for families both pre- and postnatally can improve outcomes for infants and young children otherwise at risk for emotional or developmental challenges. ​
I am passionate about all levels of service: promotion, prevention, intervention, and treatment, and prefer to work in collaborative multidisciplinary teams where I have the flexibility to support families and communities through clinical practice and education.