Heather Perkins

Heather Renee Perkins is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist, and one of North Carolina’s most respected voices in first responder wellness. A 2025 Most Influential Women awardee, Heather serves as an Instructor and Developer at the North Carolina Justice Training Academy, where she designs and delivers statewide officer wellness training rooted in real-world public safety experience.

With a background that spans military mental health, narcotics work, crisis intervention, and critical-incident response, Heather has dedicated her entire career to serving the people who run toward danger. She is an FBI-trained crisis and hostage negotiator and an Emergency Responder and Public Safety Certified Clinician whose work has placed her on the front lines alongside law enforcement officers — corresponding to 911 calls, supporting negotiations, managing CISM responses, collaborating on case work, and assisting specialized divisions including SVU, Narcotics, CID, Community Relations, and Patrol.

Heather has taught at the Basic Law Enforcement Academy and regularly instructs courses in Controlled Substances, Responding to Victims in the Public, Mental Health, Crisis Intervention, and first responder–specific resiliency. She has treated every category of first responder and has conducted extensive research on officer suicide, occupational trauma, and the unique demands placed on law enforcement and telecommunicators.

Heather’s mission is simple: strengthen the people who hold the line by giving them tools, language, and support that honor both their humanity and the complexity of the job.