A message from Dr. Heckler:
Through the years I have had the great privilege and honor of working with many wonderful people through my private counseling practice.
As you read the testimonies that follow I think you will find that they are written from the hearts of clients I have served. The testimonies were provided willingly in order that you may gain a better understanding and feeling for me as a counselor and neurotherapist. With great appreciation I thank each of the individuals and families who took the time to contribute their testimonies and experiences. Through Him I am provided the knowledge, understanding and wisdom to help others. It is also through Him that each of you has graced my life, contributed to my skills, and helped me to become the person and counselor that I am. I truly miss each of you and the special relationships that have developed through the years.
My hope is for you as a reader to relate to the following testimonies and to recognize that when you and/or your family members participate in services with SCI it is with integrity and dedication that you are served. You will be valued, appreciated, and respected at SCI and we look forward to serving you.
Client Testimonials
Testimony for Neurofeedback
"Performance anxiety is an unspoken, yet prevalent affliction among musicians. The demands placed on professional musicians by the misconception of the general public to execute a flawless performance is one of the main culprits of this affliction.
Neurofeedback is the fastest, most effective means to controlling performance anxiety. It is also the most reliable. With 20 years experience in biofeedback, deep relaxation and visualization mind control techniques which aide in controlling performance anxiety, I was anxious to try neurofeedback. Neurofeedback can accomplish in a matter of months or possibly even weeks, what it would take some people years to accomplish by other mind control methods. By combining these methods, results can be achieved even more rapidly. Add Sonya’s expertise in counseling, and experience in the field of neurofeedback and the results are a win win situation.
As a professional musician I have seen many forms of performance anxiety. I have experienced first hand the symptoms of severe performance anxiety. Neurofeedback not only provided me with a fast and reliable solution to the problem but also provided additional benefits as well. Peak performance was achieved, creating faster and easier memory of the music. Less time was required to produce results for improvement in learning new music.
Physical aspects were an additional benefit. Beta blockers had been prescribed for conditions unrelated to the performance anxiety suffered. Relaxation levels achieved through neurofeedback caused blood pressure to be lowered. Heart rate issues were resolved resulting in discontinuation of beta blockers altogether.
To this day I have continued to be medication free and enjoy naturally achieved resolution of physical symptoms even under performance conditions."
Sharla Van Cleave, Age 49, Professional Musician, Abilene, Texas
www.pianosarefun.net
Testimony for Counseling Family, Children and Parenting Support
'Three and a half years ago God placed a precious, 3 year old little girl in my home. She had been physically abused and neglected for most of her short life. I brought this little girl into my heart and my life, and she became my own little girl. Sonya counseled us for three years, until her recent move to Kerrville. There were lots of turmoil’s and obstacles to overcome both with my little girl’s problems from her previous life and my fighting to keep her safe. Sonya has been there through all of this with us and has, by far, been our greatest asset. I honestly don’t know how we would have gotten through things with out her. Sonya made such great progress with my little one through her weekly counseling sessions and she helped my little one to overcome some very serious issues and problems. Sonya gave me the knowledge and support, through her parent training, that I needed to continue helping my little one heal. Her knowledge and understanding of children are amazing. Most would think that someone who doesn’t have children could not understand the issues of parenting, but Sonya does. She has such a gift! Rarely do the suggestions she gives fail. Her knowledge of the problems that abused children face is also outstanding. She knows how to recognize and deal with these problems and is able to pass that knowledge onto those parenting these children so that may begin to deal with them at home.
She has testified in court several times for us as an expert witness. That testimony played a large part in my winning the fight to keep my little girl safe and to give her the life she deserved. She knows how to testify so that both a judge and jury will understand the issues, which is hard to do. Most counselors and psychologists get so far over a jury’s head that they can’t even begin to understand the real issues. Sonya is able to get on the level of the average every day person so that they can understand those issues. This is so important when you are fighting for the life of a child.
Sonya is one of the most compassionate, caring people I have ever known. We were so blessed to have her in our lives and will miss her very much. My little one still asks when we are going to go see Sonya again. She was such a big part of our lives and will forever be in our hearts!!"
AF, Parent in Abilene, TX
Testimony for Counseling Children, Adolescents, Groups and Parenting Support
"Anyone looking for a counselor who will treat your child as an individual and not just another client would be interested in Sonya Heckler. I work for a children's home and for the last 6 years I have trusted my boys' care to Sonya. She has gone to the schools, come to our home, taken them on outings, and even observed them in their interactions at school and helped them to work on their social skills. At one time, when I was having extreme difficulty with all of them fighting all of the time, she did group sessions with all of them and helped them to relate with each other better. She has always been available to us in any capacity we needed her to. My boys were truly crushed when she moved.
As a parent, she worked with me to help me find different ways of relating to the boys and their individual needs, I always felt included and involved in their counseling, I never once felt threatened or closed out of anything that was going on in their sessions. I knew that she would keep their confidences and trust, but fill me in on anything that I needed to be aware of at the same time. I considered Sonya a parenting partner and she made my job much easier. I would recommend her highly to anyone seeking help with their child I have had children with functional autism, obsessive compulsive tendencies, tourettes, ADHD, narcissism, abuse, neglect, you name it, and she has been helpful in all of the these areas. If she didn't know what to do in a specific area, she researched it, or directed us to the right place for help. We considered it an honor to have Sonya as a counselor, considered it a great loss to lose her."
-Teresa G.
Testimony for Counseling Children and Family
"We have been blessed to know and work with Sonya for over three years. During that time, she spend endless hours with four of our foster children, helping them to adjust to our home as well as helping them to heal from previous abuse / neglect in their previous home.
Sonya is extremely gifted in working with families. We found her to be open and honest with us and the children. She spent time getting to know us, the dynamics of our home and how the children interacted with each other. When it was requested that she testify in court, she drove an hour and a half one way and spent several hours explaining the children's situation to the judge.
Our entire family was saddened when she left Abilene, but we all wish her the best in her new home. Our loss is The Hill Country's gain."
We all love and miss you,
Todd & Darlene Pruett & a bunch of kids
Abilene, Tx
Testimony for Family and Blended-Family Counseling
"Counseling with Sonya saved our family or rather made it something entirely out of the ordinary and special. What I'm referring to is our not so average family of six. I had no children until I married the second time in which I became a step mother of two boys (a 6-year old and an 8-year old). At the time they lived with their mother, and myself and their father had extended visitation. We all lived in the same town and went by the rules of the divorce decree. I had never spoken with their mother and all communication between her and the boys dad was at best very tense. The boys needed to see a counselor to learn to deal with the big changes that had happened in their lives and we were willing to pay for it, however, their previous counselors that had been solely picked by mom had not been unbiased and my husband was really anti-counseling because of it!!! We searched for counselors and interviewed a few and finally agreed on Sonya. She had a really good reputation in town and our attorney knew that she would be fair and unbiased just as a counselor should be. So mom took the boys once a week and I needed help dealing with being a new mom and all the changes that we had in our lives so we went to our own session once a week. We were always encouraged when we left and never felt judged. Sonya's "out of the box" approach to family and life was exactly what all of us needed. In as little as seven months the three parents of two wonderful boys actually sat down and talked about what was best for the boys and for us as a big crazy family. As it turns out mom and I communicate one to two times a week now and have actually become friends. When dad and her do talk it is much more pleasant and many things get accomplished unlike before. When we do run into snags, and I suppose there will always be snags, we go back to a few lists Sonya made for us and remember the things we learned from her during our sessions. I think that everyone will agree that raising kids is the hardest job anyone can ever do, but I can say that it is much easier with three parents instead of one or two. I know that the success we have had was really fast and not the norm. I also know that without God's help daily none of this would've been possible. However, I know for a fact that without Sonya listening to us and helping us through the most difficult time in our lives we would not be where we are today. So if you are counting family members and find that one is missing, you are right. The other person in this family is mom's boyfriend. He is a wonderful man from what the boys and mom say and tonight for the youngest one's seventh birthday celebration we are all going to have dinner together. This was per the birthday boys request and who can say no to a blond haired blue eyed seven year old!!! THANK YOU SONYA WE WILL NEVER FORGET WHAT YOU DID FOR OUR FAMILY!!!!"
Sincerely,
Jennifer Scalia (luckiest mother in Abilene, Texas)
Testimony Counseling and Neurofeedback
"I met Sonya about 1 year ago and started counseling with her shortly after. I have bouts of anxiety and depression and have for years. I have counseled with many professionals but Sonya helped me in two distinct ways. She introduced me to neurofeedback and fine tuned it to fit my needs. This alleviated a great deal of anxiety for me. The second way she impacted my life was through her true concern for wanting to help her patients. She truly listened to what your needs were and formed a plan to help meet that particular need. I am 39 and have been to many professionals in this field but Sonya is by far the most dependable, reliable and caring professional counselor I have worked with. I miss her greatly, along with Riley. We pray she will be blessed in her work in Keerville as she blessed our family here in Abilene. Thank You!"
Shelly and Riley, Abilene, Texas