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Holly Priscu, JD, LCPC, CMHPP,CFMHE/CFP, CCTP-II
Welcome! I'm Holly, and I’m a Montana native and the founder of Mountain Heart Counseling, formerly known as Spanish Peaks Mental Health. My path to becoming a therapist was a unique one—I started my career as an attorney but quickly realized that I wanted to help people in a more meaningful way. That realization led me to become a licensed counselor. After achieving my goal of working with incarcerated individuals in correctional settings, I founded Mountain Heart Counseling to specialize in helping people heal from the effects of complex trauma and chronic stress.
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I’m a Certified Mental Health Professional Person in Montana and have experience providing expert testimony for involuntary commitment cases. I’m also a Certified Forensic Mental Health Evaluator and Certified Forensic Psychometrist through the National Board of Forensic Examiners, which allows me to provide psychological testing and mental health evaluations.
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As a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, I’ve completed extensive training to deepen my understanding of trauma, including complex PTSD—how it affects the brain, how it’s diagnosed, and, most importantly, how it can be treated. I’m trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Therapy and am currently working toward EMDRIA certification. I’m passionate about helping people heal, build resilience, and move forward after trauma.
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When I’m not working, I love spending time with my family and my pup, Dobby. I’m a bit of a homebody and love nothing more than relaxing with a good book, but I also have an adventurous side—I especially love scuba diving and exploring the ocean around the world. I know that finding the right therapist is an important step, and I want you to feel comfortable in that process. If you’d like to learn more about me and how I work, I’d love to connect. You’re welcome to book a free phone consultation so we can talk about what you’re looking for and see if we’d be a good fit.
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“Trauma therapy isn’t about reliving the past; it’s about reclaiming the present.”
-Peter Levine
Mountain Heart Counseling works with individuals experiencing symptoms related to PTSD, complex trauma, borderline personality disorder, anxiety, dissociation, and more.
Holly Priscu's Experience:
Holly's experience consists of working with clients ages four to 74 years-of-age, including families, couples, and groups. She has extensive experience with individuals experiencing issues including PTSD, mood disorders, personality disorders, schizophrenia/psychosis, dissociation, substance use, OCD, and more. Holly has completed multicultural competence training and has enjoyed working with members of the LGBTQIQA+ community and individuals of different ethnicities and cultures. Holly specializes in diagnosing and treating Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (cPTSD).
Mountain Heart Counseling Specialties Include:
Treatment Approaches
DBT is a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy based in mindfulness that focuses on helping people tolerate distress, process difficult emotions, and increase interpersonal effectiveness skills. DBT recognizes there is a difference between pain and suffering, and teaches you "how to be okay when life is not okay." Originally founded by psychologist Marsha Linehan in the 1980's to treat borderline personality disorder, studies show DBT is also successful in treating depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, and more.
EMDR is a psychotherapy that facilitates the processing of traumatic experiences. It is widely recognized as one of the most effective treatments for trauma-related disorders, including PTSD, anxiety, and depression. EMDR be conducted remotely via telehealth, providing patients with a convenient and accessible option for receiving treatment from the comfort of their own homes. Using bilateral stimulation, typically in the form of eye-movements, EMDR helps individuals reprocess traumatic memories and move towards healing and recovery.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy that focuses on helping people change the relationship they have with their thoughts and emotions instead of trying to directly change them. You are not your thoughts or your emotions - they are part of you, but do not have to define you or how you live your life. Instead, ACT encourages living a life in accordance with one's values instead of getting stuck in what ACT expert Russ Harris calls "the happiness trap" in which we think, "if only ______, then I'll be happy.
