Share This

November 18, 2024

Meet Heidi Moser, LPC

Heidi Moser’s favorite place on the farm is on the stone wall, pictured above. A resident recently added cairns to the wall, short piles of stones that guide hikers on otherwise unmarked treks in the wilderness. To a hiker, those cairns say, “This is the way.” It’s hard to believe but until recently, Heidi did not know what those cairns signified; however, it seems that they’ve been guiding her way forward all along.

The Journey Begins

Heidi’s pathway to Hopewell began after college when she lived in Manhattan. Her first introduction to the world of counseling was as an administrative assistant in the department of counseling and clinical psychology at Columbia University’s Teachers College. Eventually she realized she wasn’t really a city girl (as she puts it) and returned to Ohio to live near her parents. Imagine an invisible cairn showing the way – a first left turn in her journey.

“I looked back at my life and animals were very important to me. I didn’t want to become a veterinarian, so I pursued an Associates of Applied Science in Veterinary Technology,” Heidi said. “Most people think of vet techs as the nurses of the veterinary field, but I found a position at a diagnostic vet laboratory. I loved being a scientist and I stayed for 18 years.”

Heidi bought a home on the Mahoning River and discovered a new love of kayaking. “I love being in nature but I had never set foot in a kayak until I bought the house. I made my maiden voyage in my backyard,” she quipped. “Being on the water brings me a real sense of peace, tranquility, and connectedness to the natural world.”

Back to Psychology

In 2015 Heidi picked up a remote position at the A.K. Rice Institute, a nonprofit organization that studies how unconscious thoughts and feelings impact our lives when we are in groups. This brought her back to the world of psychology, and a realization that she needed to find more satisfying work. Cue another turn on the pathway.

Heidi returned to school, earning a Master of Science in Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in 2021. She worked in an outpatient substance abuse and counseling facility as well as a private practice, and earned her credential as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC).

Finding Hopewell

“At one point I found a Hopewell brochure and I started following Hopewell on Facebook. I remember saying to myself, ‘That’s my dream job!’” Heidi said. When she learned about a job opening, she applied and joined the team in February 2024. Those invisible cairns were leading her to a new resting place.

At Hopewell, Heidi provides individual psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral group therapy to residents. She co-facilitates a 12-step informed recovery group and a group using Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and she is training for certification in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

“Every day at Hopewell has something to offer. I enjoy interacting with residents and participating in community activities. Taking residents on a nature walk is one of my favorite activities,” Heidi said. “It’s so cool to see people improving, making changes, and watching their lives improve. That’s an encouraging thing to see and it’s what keeps me going.”

The Traveling Life

Heidi has always carved out time to travel, looking for beautiful landscapes and nature both at home and abroad. A big believer in independent journeys, she often adventures solo. “I do a lot of homework in advance so I can be spontaneous and do my own thing. Even as a woman alone, that’s more appealing to me,” she said. To keep track of her travels, you’ll need a global map and some pins.

She has visited Italy a couple of times and has made a few trips to Great Britain. Her last big trip abroad was just before the pandemic in March 2020, when she went to Iceland, rented a car, and drove the Ring Road around the entire perimeter of the country by herself. Heidi recalled, “It was quite the experience. Over ten days I saw incredibly beautiful fjords, glaciers, waterfalls, and even some reindeer on the winter tundra landscape.”

Heidi really lights up when she describes one of her travel bucket list items: walking the longest Pembrokeshire coastal pathway in Wales. “This is the most mind-blowing coastline in Britain. I’ve hiked part of it before but I’d love to hike the whole thing, which is 186 miles long. One website has broken down the hikes into chunks you can do in a day, then a bus takes you to overnight accommodations.” She’ll likely find plenty of cairns marking the pathway.

Care to Cycle?

Heidi’s love of professional cycling led to some stateside wandering experiences. She traveled in California and Colorado working as a marshal for week-long staged races. “It was really fun, riding around from spot to spot with a team of people in a van, seeing beautiful areas, then jumping out to direct the racers. Unfortunately, the pandemic put a fork in that as racing lost sponsorship,” she said. “Now I’d attend races as a fan: just walk up a mountain and watch a race go by.”

The Tour de France captures Heidi’s interest every year. “Another travel goal is to watch the first stage of the race, the Grand Depart, when cyclists often begin the race in other countries. Then I’d go to France, have a picnic in a field and enjoy a good French cheese as the riders go by.” Quite the relaxing visual!

Free time at home means hanging out and hiking in the woods with her two corgis, Patch and Ducky. Heidi used to go mountain biking but now finds it more enjoyable to travel with her bike. Recently she rode the trails with a friend in a beautiful area known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. If she gets lost or wanders away from a trail, you know she’ll be looking for cairns to guide her way home.