Spring Advisory Continuing Education

Hope Heffner-Solimeo, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, ACC is a Registered, Board-Certified Art Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor, and Associate-Level Certified Leadership Coach who has combined her passion for supporting individual people’s growth, humanity and research at the intersection of social justice, cultural humility, healthcare, and andragogy over a 15-year professional career. Within her Art Therapy work, Hope has sought to provide a culturally responsive space for healing across a wide range of clinical settings, including an inpatient medical hospital, inpatient psychiatric hospital, partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient program, and a shelter for unhoused veterans. For over a decade, she has served at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), spending 8.5 years providing bedside care to children and adolescents navigating complex physical and mental health challenges such as cancer, kidney disease, disordered eating, anxiety, depression, and self-harm. Her person-centered, narrative-informed, and justice-driven approach shapes her clinical practice and guides her work to empower change at all levels: individually, systemically and communally. In 2022, Hope transitioned from frontline care to a leadership role as a Manager in Human Resources where she now supports through trainings and coaching interdisciplinary team members provide care to children and their families who have come from local, national and international regions. Hope attained her bachelor’s from Bucknell University and master’s from Drexel University, where she is also an Adjunct Professor in the Creative Arts Therapies Department at Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions. There she educates graduate level master’s students around topics of social and cultural foundations in counseling and professional identity development. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes critical consciousness, applied advocacy, and the transformative power of creative arts therapies to drive social change. Integral to her life purpose is Hope’s commitment to fostering inclusive care and education environments that advance justice-oriented research and anti-oppressive practice.