Heather says that coming to Alsana felt a bit like coming home. In her role as Chief Clinical Officer, Heather is responsible for nurturing the growth and success of our clinical treatment teams and maintaining the integrity and efficacy of our Adaptive Care Model®’s Therapeutic Dimension.
Heather is deeply passionate about helping people find a better relationship with themselves and says she finds great fulfillment when clients’ perception of what their life could be begins to expand and grow.
In her previous Alsana role as Regional Executive Director over Westlake Village programs and Virtual programs, Heather has proven to be a talented, natural servant leader with an authentic passion for supporting clients as well as each member of our treatment teams. Most importantly, Heather exemplifies a strong commitment to our Guiding Principles and the Alsana culture.
Heather holds both an MA in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University and an MS in Organizational Leadership from Grand Canyon University. She is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist Supervisor (CEDS-S)
Heather has served as a clinician and clinical leader in eating disorder treatment for 15 years. Most recently, before joining Alsana in 2020, Heather served as the Regional Assistant Vice President of a multisite national eating disorder treatment provider where she focused on clinical consistency and the implementation of evidence-based practices.
Earlier in her career, Heather served in clinical leadership over other multisite providers as well as single program site treatment providers. She helped to develop and launch co-occurring eating disorder and substance use programs, recognizing the importance of transdiagnostic treatment.
Heather has been a chair of several well-known associations, including the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals, Los Angeles Chapter.
Between work, school, and three kids at home (including four-year-old twins!), Heather says she doesn’t have an abundance of free time but loves what she does.
She’s excited to be part of a team that embraces a compassionate approach to eating disorder treatment, and says it is the happiest privilege and honor to witness and support clients’ recovery.
I intend to support our teams by building on what they already do so well; we will get back to the foundational elements of Alsana, re-energize around our Guiding Principles, and nurture our Adaptive Care Model. We will explore how our therapeutic services can continually align with cutting-edge research in the treatment of eating disorders and co-occurring illnesses.”
-Heather Russo, LMFT, CEDS-S
Chief Clinical Officer for Alsana
