Jessica Shook, LMHC

Jessica Shook is a licensed mental health counselor in Washington. She has 15 years of experience helping people who face trauma, grief, low self-esteem, career stress, and major life changes. Her manner is direct and practical, aimed at helping people take manageable steps forward.

Jessica uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice unhelpful thoughts and try new behaviors. She also draws on Client-Centered Therapy to build a respectful, listening space so clients feel heard while they work through hard issues.

In sessions she helps people name recurring patterns that keep causing pain. She focuses on concrete strategies for coping with strong emotions, handling loss, and improving day-to-day functioning. Sessions are organized to balance understanding what happened with building skills for the present.

Her wider areas of focus include aging and geriatric issues, attachment concerns, chronic pain or illness, communication problems, disaster-related stress, divorce and separation, substance issues, family of origin dynamics, first responder stress, guilt and shame, intellectual disability considerations, loneliness, mood disorders, and postpartum depression. That list reflects topics she has supported over time.

Jessica offers different session formats, including video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. She works in English and practices as a Washington LMHC. To begin, clients follow the site's matching steps and schedule sessions based on availability.

How Jessica Uses CBT and Client-Centered Methods Online

Jessica often uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people spot patterns in their thinking and try different behaviors. CBT sessions focus on practical exercises and tools that address anxiety, depression, grief, and stress related to life changes.

She also uses Client-Centered Therapy to provide warm, nonjudgmental listening. That approach emphasizes understanding a person’s experience and pacing work according to the client’s needs, which can help when processing trauma or attachment concerns.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences, and what feels most useful, and then adjust methods as needed. Clients and the therapist decide together which strategies to emphasize over time.

Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video works well for face-to-face conversation and skill demonstrations. Phone sessions can be a good option when bandwidth is limited or a simpler check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging allow short, flexible check-ins between longer sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy schedules and to keep consistent momentum between appointments.