Julia Heffernan, LCAT, ATR-BC

Julia Julia Heffernan (she/they) is a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist (LCAT) and Board-Certified Art Therapist (ATR-BC) with a deep commitment to child-led, relationship-centered care. She brings experience supporting children, teens, and families in clinics, schools, and community settings, with a focus on anxiety, depression, ADHD, autism, Tourette’s/tic disorders, selective mutism, gender dysphoria and OCD. Julia believes that healing begins in spaces where clients feel fully accepted and free to express themselves, whether that’s through art, play, quiet presence, or shared storytelling.

Julia’s approach is grounded in warmth, creativity, and attunement. She integrates art therapy, play-based techniques, and psychodynamic talk therapy to meet children and families where they are. Guided by trauma-informed, strengths-based, and developmentally sensitive practices, she tailors each session to reflect the unique voice, pace, and needs of the client. She is especially passionate about working with neurodivergent and gender-expansive children, and strives to offer spaces where they can explore their identities, emotions, and relationships without pressure or expectation. Julia works to create inclusive, affirming spaces for exploration of race, gender, sexuality, and neurodivergence, and strives to show up for young people not just during major breakthroughs, but in the quiet, everyday moments of connection and growth.

Julia holds a Master of Arts in Clinical Art Therapy & Counseling from Long Island University and a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration & Children’s Literature from NYU’s Gallatin School. Her clinical experience includes work at Thrive Creative Arts Therapy, Wellness Counseling Services, and the Brooklyn VA, where she facilitated trauma-focused art therapy with veterans. She continues to deepen her practice through ongoing training in play therapy, body-based interventions, and collaborative caregiver work. Outside of the therapy room, Julia draws inspiration from her background as an illustrator, her love of stories, and her belief that creativity is a vital force for healing and connection.