MSW, LCSW-QS, MCAP, CEDS
Founder, CEO & Wellness Visionary | True You Always
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (FL, WI, MO)
Pronouns: She / They
Specialties: Disordered eating, body image, substance misuse, first responders
(Teens and adults)
“If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be!” -Maya Angelou
Amber Hartnett is a licensed clinical social worker specializing in eating disorders and addictive coping patterns. She works primarily with high-achieving adolescents, young adults, and professionals who appear successful on the outside but privately struggle with perfectionism, anxiety, food control, body image distress, or reliance on substances and other behaviors to cope with stress.
With nearly two decades of experience in the mental health field, Amber is known for working with complex eating disorder presentations and high-functioning individuals who often fall through the cracks of traditional treatment models.
Amber’s clinical work focuses on the intersection of eating disorders, perfectionism, and coping behaviors that develop under intense pressure or chronic stress.
Her areas of focus include:
Amber works with individuals across identities and has particular experience supporting members of the LGBTQIA+ community navigating identity development, body image pressures, and eating disorder recovery within affirming care.
She also works with families supporting loved ones through eating disorder recovery.
Many clients describe feeling as though they are holding everything together on the outside while internally feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, or trapped in patterns they cannot seem to break.
Clients often say early in the work together:
“Amber understands what I’m struggling with before I even know how to say it.”
Therapy with Amber is collaborative, honest, and grounded in real life.
Amber often describes the therapeutic process as stepping into a boxing ring — not to fight yourself, but to confront the patterns that have been controlling your life.
She isn’t standing outside the ropes giving instructions.
She steps into the ring with you.
Clients often describe Amber’s approach as:
Some sessions focus on building emotional awareness and regulation. Others involve challenging patterns directly and developing practical strategies for change.
Humor and honesty are both welcome in the therapy room.
Amber specializes in outpatient eating disorder treatment and works with individuals across the full spectrum of recovery, from early intervention through complex and long-standing eating disorder presentations.
Many of her clients also navigate overlapping challenges such as substance misuse, obsessive-compulsive patterns, perfectionism, anxiety, and burnout.
As both a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS) and Master Certified Addiction Professional (MCAP), Amber integrates expertise in eating disorder and addiction treatment when these patterns intersect.
Her work draws from evidence-based therapeutic approaches including:
These approaches help clients develop sustainable coping strategies and rebuild a life that is not organized around control.
Amber also brings a neurodivergent-informed perspective to her work.
As a board member of Lotus (Leaders Outreach for Thriving Unity & Support) — a nonprofit supporting neurodivergent individuals and families — Amber has developed a deeper understanding of how neurodivergence can influence anxiety, sensory regulation, identity development, and coping patterns.
Amber is also a member of the LGBTQIA+ community and brings both professional expertise and lived experience to her work supporting clients navigating identity, body image, and recovery within affirming care.
For many clients, understanding their neurodivergence helps reframe patterns that were previously experienced as personal failure.
Amber has worked in the mental health field since 2007 and has nearly 19+ years of clinical experience across outpatient therapy, residential treatment programs, addiction treatment services, and leadership roles overseeing multidisciplinary treatment teams.
Earlier in her career, Amber helped restart the Jefferson County Drug-Free Communities Coalition, helping the community secure a federal Drug-Free Communities grant supporting prevention and substance misuse education initiatives.
While working in Jefferson County Human Services, she helped redesign and implement the county’s evidence-based Intoxicated Driver Program, collaborating with courts and community systems to improve treatment outcomes.
In addition to her clinical work, Amber frequently provides consultation and training for professionals on eating disorder treatment and recovery. She has been invited to present, participate in expert panels, and lead speaking engagements for both professional and community audiences.
Amber’s work has also been featured in interviews and community initiatives related to eating disorder awareness, substance misuse prevention, and recovery education, including the Hidden in Plain Sight exhibit and related prevention programs.
Many of the people Amber works with are used to holding everything together for everyone else. From the outside, their lives may look stable or even successful. Inside, they feel exhausted, stuck, or ashamed of patterns they haven’t been able to change.
Amber’s work is about changing that — understanding those patterns, loosening their grip, and building a life that doesn’t require holding everything together alone.
In Amber’s therapy room, the eating disorder, anxiety, or coping pattern is the opponent. Not the person.
And shame doesn’t get to win.
160 Island Beach Blvd
Merritt Island, FL 32952
(321) 613-8685
Counseling offered via online
telehealth in Wisconsin & Florida.
Life Coaching offered via telehealth in all states
