Breann Hirst
Clinical Social Worker
Breann or Bre is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the states of Illinois and Iowa. She received her Associate of Arts Degree at Black Hawk College, Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Sociology with a concentration in Social Welfare, and her Masters of Social Work at St. Ambrose University. Bre’s experience includes providing Non-Clinical and Clinical Social Work Services to the Quad City Area for over 10 years. Her experience includes working as a Direct Support Professional, Graduate Assistant to the Director of the School of Social Work at St. Ambrose University, non-clinical family support roles, clinical school and office based therapist through local mental health agencies of various sizes, and has taught locally as Adjunct Professor for Black Hawk College and Adjust Professor and Field Practicum Supervisor for St. Ambrose University.
Bre is currently a member of the National Association of Social Workers and adheres to their Code of Ethics which can be found by clicking here. She also sits on the Social Work Advisory Committee for the State of Iowa and is a Board Member for Girls on the Run Quad Cities. Recently, Bre was featured in the May 2025 GlobalMindED Newsletter for Mental Health Awareness Month. Click here to read the article: Redefining Mental Health Through Compassion, Community, and Critical Practice: Meet Breann Hirst. Bre currently Co-Hosts a conversational podcast with a Social Work Collage and Friend, InterConnections With Made and Bre, you can follow along on Spotify and Apple Platforms.
Bre is currently providing services in the forms of Clinical Social Work Services and Community Learning. From Bre’s perspectives, Clinical Social Work Services refer to the HIPAA Compliant, Self-Pay and Insurance-Oriented Individual, Family, and Group Psychotherapy Services whereas Community Learning refer to the presentations, workshops, and other collective learning opportunities. See below to learn more about each service and how to connect with Bre.
Clinical Social Work Services
Clinical Social Work Services refer to therapy and consultation oriented connections between Bre and the identified participant(s). Therapy connections are insurance oriented and facilitated via individual therapy or group therapy, and occasionally family sessions may be utilized to support communication between the participant and their family. Consultation services are non-insurance oriented connections and have included support with 504 Accommodation Planning, Individual Education Plans (IEPs), and situation specific solution-focused strategizing.
All Clinical Social Work Services focus on compassion, collaboration, and learning about influential brain-body systems and relationship dynamics to support healing, wellbeing, and thriving practices unique to each of us. Bre aims to provide a brave and inclusive space to heal and communicate through play, movement, creativity, and conversation. To support trauma-informed practices and connections, Bre completed the St. Ambrose Trauma Informed Care Microcredential Course in May 2024 and became a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional Level II: Complex Trauma (CCTP-II) in June 2025.
Bre manages her contracting and billing with insurance companies through her individual business, Wholehearted Connections. Services can be provided via Telehealth, at the Blue Tree Office, or at schools and places of employment. While Bre provides Clinical Social Work Services to people of all ages and identities, she is currently at capacity for clinical social work services.
Insurance Accepted for Psychotherapy Services Include:
Aetna, BCBS, UHC, UMR, Cigna, Molina, Iowa Total Care, Wellpoint
Community Learning
Community Learning includes presentations, workshops, and other collective learning opportunities for groups of various sizes and dynamics including school buildings/districts, business or workplace teams, agency/organization trainings, and individual consultation. Presentations primarily focus on facilitating learning through collaborative conversations between facilitator and participants; workshops will additionally provide participants hand-on activities that creatively support the learning process.
While learning opportunities are curated for each unique audience and can be scheduled for any duration needed, research concepts and theories of focus include our nervous system or polyvagal theory, sensory and attention systems, relationship dynamics, compassion, ecological systems theory, and transformative justice.
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Hirst, B. (2025) Understanding Mental Health and Wellbeing, Utilizing Bodily Systems and Relational Framework. Black Hawk College Empowering Through Awareness Conference. March 14th, 2025
Hirst, B. (2023) Understanding Mental Health and Human Behavior Through A Polyvagal-Informed And Language-Oriented Lens Part 2. You Need a Training Podcast. August 30th, 2023.
Hirst, B. (2023) Understanding Mental Health and The Human Behavior Through A Polyvagal-Informed And Language-Oriented Lens. Part 1. You Need a Training Podcast. June 14th, 2023.
Hirst, B. (2023) Supporting Youth Mental Health Through Caregiver Cancer Diagnosis. Cancer Support Community, Virtual Psychosocial Oncology Professionals Symposium. October 12th, 2023
Hirst, B. (2023) Adolescent Mental Health. Bettendorf Middle School. Bettendorf, Iowa. May 16th, 2023
Hirst, B. (2020) Covid Caring 6: Parent Teaching 101/Six Steps To Survive Homeschool 2020. The Heart of the Story with Gary MetivierPodcast. April 8th, 2020.
Hirst, B. (2020) Social-Emotional Learning: A Reflective Approach on Implementing the Zones of Regulation. Madison Elementary School. Davenport, Iowa. January 17th, 2020.
Hirst, B. (2017) Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences: Building Self-Healing Communities. Mandala Integrative Medicine. October 25th, 2017.
Nelson, B. & Welch, A. (2016) Trauma Informed Communities: Implications for the Workplace. Social Justice Conference, St. Ambrose University. Davenport, Iowa. May 11th, 2017.
Konchar, M. & Nelson, B. (2016) Parenting through Childhood Stress: Understanding childhood stress, its effects on our kids, and making Lemonade for Life. Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University, Kerala, Inda. January 11th, 2016.
Research Assistant (2013-2014); Croll, Paul R., Eric Tranby, Penny Edgell, and Douglas Hartmann (Principal Investigators). 2013-2014. “Collaborative Proposal: Boundaries in the American Mosaic: Inclusion and Exclusion in the Contemporary United States (Award Number 1258933).” National Science Foundation. ($263,145)
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Breann started working with my son in 2021. Since starting with Breann, my kiddo continues to learn and grow in all areas of life. Beyond being a safe, connected and nurturing professional for my son, she has also walked alongside me during difficult parenting times. She continues to teach me how to communicate with compassion, different ways to respond to my child when he needs co-regulation and connection, and has helped rewire my brain regarding outdated parenting techniques. She continues to be a safe support for me and my son in different areas of life.
- Parent of Clinical Social Work Participant, Spring, 2025
Bre is the best therapist. We went through a couple of other therapists with no success. She knows how to talk to children in a way that makes them feel comfortable. She does arts and crafts with them while they are talking which my son absolutely loved. He was always so happy when we would leave our sessions. And he always looked forward to going and seeing her. He never wanted to go see the other therapists he had seen in the past. I absolutely recommend everyone to see her, especially if you have a child with behavior problems like mine.
-Parent of Clinical Social Work Participant, Fall 2023
Breann has been a breath of fresh air in my recovery process. She always offers a different, refreshing point of view and is so gentle with the way she speaks about my disorder, my feelings, and my experiences. I have been to many therapists throughout my life, but Breann truly is one of the best. You can tell that she is always willing to continue learning as a therapist herself so that she can also continue teaching an abundance of different techniques and see things from multiple points of views. Something I appreciate about her is that I can feel her personality shine through within our sessions, which makes each session feels warm and welcoming instead of cold and discomforting. While she is very professional, it doesn’t feel uncomfortable to go to my appointments as if I can’t come as I am. I get to be my messy self and still feel like I deserve good things in life by the end of our sessions because of her encouragement. I love how kind and non-judgmental that Breann is because it encourages me to be as open and vulnerable as possible. She always is realistic with therapy goals and how recovery may look for me as an individual. I couldn’t say enough amazing things about Wholehearted Connections and how well taken care of that Breann has been! It feels like talking with a really good friend who is also really insightful, smart, and able to give guidance on my next steps. She makes me feel like it’s okay to just be ME, and that is something that I will always be grateful for!
-Clinical Social Work Participant, Summer 2023“Breann is such a knowledgeable and engaging presenter! She recently [May, 2023] presented to a group of parents on teen mental health and practical strategies for them to use. Everyone took something away from her presentation and we were so grateful to have her!”
– Learning Participant, Spring 2023
“One of my favorite things about learning from Bre, both as a professor and supervisor, was that her feedback always felt genuine and supportive. I learned a wealth of information from Bre, but I grew internally as well. I thought more deeply, I spoke more thoughtfully, and I practiced more intently. Bre always let me form my own opinions. She never swayed my experiences but helped me process them, challenged me, and encouraged me to think for myself. Bre loves Taylor Swift and often plays it while working in her office.”
– Learning Participant, 2021-2022
Connect with Bre for Clinical Social Work or Community Learning Services:
Email: Breann@BlueTreeCounseling.org
Phone Call or Text Message: 563-949-1114